LED PRoducts

[henward]

when you refer to COLOUR TEMP:

for my plants swords mostly, is 6500k ok?

or is a higher k ok?

i found some LED lights online - fits to a standard screw in bulb. very nice!

low watts - but the k rating.... is taht standard. so plants need a particular k rating and thats it?

or is there anything else?

[malevolentsparkle]

6500K is generally considered the best for plants, but thats about all I know on this issue

[phoenix44]

For an LED you're aiming at getting 6500K or 10000K and no higher for freshwater.

They do not make powerglo (18000K) LEDs

I've rambled about the watts issue before and LED lights are the perfect example of why. I'd be terrified to think about the output of a 100W LED if that's even possible.

I know if you have a pile of money you can buy light hoods that have 100 - 300 1W LEDs and they are frighteningly bright.

[henward]

hey p44

more below.

rated between 6500 to 8000k

screw in bulbs , i plan on gettingfittings and makin them myself and pointing down at the tank for my aro tank (no plants0 so thats ok

but cionsidering for plants.

each 4 foot t8 is 45 watt, its on for 12 horus a day, total i have 9 going at any given time!

this will cut the power consump tion by heaps and money invested will be recovered with in 12 months or so.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15734

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.34005

one is nto rated for 6500k, i would use that for the tank wtih no plants

and the other is 6500 to 7000k

for plants.

as you can see, these bulbs have long lives - im thinking in my rtg tank, i would need 3 maybe 4 MAX! littlet o no watts.

also on my palnts i would probably have 4? or 5? little to no watts, the watts together is not even one t8 bulb!

also, i assume these fit into the socket fitting straight from power, no special power reducing things needed?

[phoenix44]

Well it doesn't provide even lighting like a tube will, so I would just stick to the T8 / T5s.

Maybe good for night viewing though, as it would emulate the spotlight effect.

Having said that get one from ebay (I think you can get them from there) and trial it on a small tank (60L) with a few plants to see for your self how it is.

For your tank I think you should consider 2x 150W MH @6500K and suspend them above the tank.

That's not a lot of power consumption given the size of your tank.

[henward]

sof ro my rtg

just for light, one bulb is 150 lumens...thats alot of light!

i hav a flashlight with the same tyupes of cree led type bulbs and 200 lumens can light up 400 metres !

[Ira]

sof ro my rtg

just for light, one bulb is 150 lumens...thats alot of light!

i hav a flashlight with the same tyupes of cree led type bulbs and 200 lumens can light up 400 metres !

150 lumens is not that much light at 3 watts that's 50 lumens/watt. An average 23 watt compact fluoro bulb will be around 1500 lumens(65 lumens/watt), a 4 foot fluoro T8 will be in the 2000-3000(50-75lumens/watt) range.

Most of the led lights floating around have a similar or worse lumen per watt than your average fluoros. So you'll need 10 of those $9 leds to produce the same light as a $5 compact fluoro from the warehouse.

The only advantage leds get is they're easier to focus so at the same lumen/watt you get more light on target. But you're paying, in this instance about 10 times the price for that. You get a good reflector on the fluoro and they get close while costing a fraction of the price.

[Ice222]

I did some reading on LEDs when I was considering them (still might use some later on). The thing with Kelvin ratings though is that it tends to be a sum of the wavelengths put out by the light, and with LEDs, because of they way they work, it can be hard to tell if the peaks are are where you need them to be. Most companies that make LEDs have colour LEDs, try and find out what wavelengths their red and blue LEDs are. If red is between 610-720nm and blue is between 400-520nm then their white bulbs should be fine. That's because white LEDs are usually made up of a red, green and a blue bulb's light summing together.

Also, the focused light is not the only advantage. With LEDs you can use controllers or dimmers on the lights, creating a more natural day/night cycle. I also know that 100lm/wat LEDs are available, and not as expensive as everyone seems to think they are. I think you'd be looking at around $50 for 300lm. I've come to the conclusion that LEDs are great if you have a smaller or an odd length tank, but with standard 3ft, 4ft, 5ft or other larger 'standard' sizes, tubes for them are readily available and tends to get cheaper the larger you go.

[breakaway]

Another advantage with LEDs its that they radiate the heat out the arse end of them unlike conventional lights which radiate heat straight down and evaporate water. Beneficial in marine environments.

Depending on your driving current, prepare to install them all on an enormous heatsink.

[Ice222]

Another advantage with LEDs its that they radiate the heat out the arse end of them unlike conventional lights which radiate heat straight down and evaporate water. Beneficial in marine environments.

Depending on your driving current, prepare to install them all on an enormous heatsink.

Well you can get ones that already have a heatsink. The heatsinks are much larger than the actual LED itself but no bigger than a standard light bulb all together.

[livingart]

this company sent me some material on LED replacements for flouros with T8 fittings

haven't waded through it yet

http://hollandsolutions.co.nz/led%20hort.html