LED lighting vs fluorescent lighting.

[Alice B]

somewhere in my house, maybe in my attic, there are 3 light fixtures 48 inches long with bulbs I think. Now the last time I saw them they were leaning on the dresser in my fish room. I stored the tanks outside, still need to do seals, sold one tank, and maybe a fixture with it, but I know I didn't throw those fixtures out.
I bought a 55 gallon on sale in December and it came with LED hoods. I hate the color of the light, it's yellow green. I have just cleaned up red cyanobacteria in a tank for the first time since my reef.

If I could find those fixtures I have pennplax bulbs that are heavy on red/blue and don't grow a lot of algae. I'm hunting for a used one right now until I find those. but what I see for sale is all LED. Tell me there is some LED that isn't glow in the dark chartreuse? I have a planted tank I have to have lights but I hate this.

 

[outofwater]

Have you checked adjustable LED lights? I've got a hygger one and you can adjust the intensity of all 3 diodes (white, blue and red) independently of each other, and also time them as well for a fully automated process.

 

[Colin_T]

Most newer LED light nits have a range of colours and you can vary the colour and intensity.

The yellow green colour is caused by lack of blue light. You can either buy a blue fluorescent globe and use that in addition to the LED, or look for a LED light unit with blue in them. They just about all do nowadays.

If you get a fluorescent globe, get one with a 6500-8000K rating. that will give heaps of blue light but no UV light. Above 10,000K takes you into the UV spectrum, which isn't wanted in most freshwater aquariums.

 

[Byron]

The LED lighting you have is quite likely the best for the plants. Aquatic plants need red and blue light for photosynthesis, but adding green does allow for maximum plant response. "White" light is composed of colour wavelengths, which is what this refers to. Red is the most important in photosynthesis. I personally think the colour in the photos is probably quite good.

You mention red/blue tubes, but the green is likely missing (I had "growlux" tubes many years ago). Too much blue without sufficient red will cause problem algae. For the record, cyanobacteria is not due to light, but to the organics level in the presence of light, good or bad.

 

[Alice B]

For the record I have cleaned the glass, moved the algae eater with fin rot to an empty medication tank with a biological filter, I did a large water change last week and will try to do one tomorrow or wednesday and I have turned the lighting timer down to 5 hours. I can't even bring myself to decorate the tank, it doesn't look like much. the light is too bright. I grow anubias and it doesn't need that much light, does fine with minimal algae on the fluorescents on the smaller tanks. Maybe I need to go to more expensive leds but these are mounted in the hoods from petsmart, and the glass lids don't fit the tank A simple light won't have a hood, and the humidity in my house would be miserable without lids, especially in summer.
Is there any way I can change or remove or maybe paint with nail polish these little led bulbs.

 

[Byron]

Spectrum is one important issue, but the intensity of course is the other. The easy solution here is floating plants. They are fast growing so they need more light and nutrients, and I have always found their shade for Anubias and Java Fern to be beneficial.

 

[Alice B]

I have frogbit. Tank is still yellow green but I have it. I also am using pothos ivy as a shade, I hate the color, but until I learn more about controling LEDs and maybe purchase better ones? I am beginning to think the tank was a great price, the dimensions of the rim only allow petsmart plastic led lids, or I will have glass overhanging on both ends, but these lights are not impressive. Fortunately they were amazingly cheap so I won't feel bad putting in the back of the shed when I find something better.

This is my new 29, also a petsmart or petco tank, it came with an LED lid which is lost in my house somewhere. The glass lid overhangs about 3/8 of an inch so the light tilts but I don't much care. I like the color of this fluorescent bulb. It's good enough for anubias, and isn't amazingly bright.

Since I always recycle my fluorescent bulbs I'm pretty sure my old lights are here somewhere

 

[Byron]

I have frogbit. Tank is still yellow green but I have it. I also am using pothos ivy as a shade, I hate the color, but until I learn more about controling LEDs and maybe purchase better ones? I am beginning to think the tank was a great price, the dimensions of the rim only allow petsmart plastic led lids, or I will have glass overhanging on both ends, but these lights are not impressive. Fortunately they were amazingly cheap so I won't feel bad putting in the back of the shed when I find something better.

This is my new 29, also a petsmart or petco tank, it came with an LED lid which is lost in my house somewhere. The glass lid overhangs about 3/8 of an inch so the light tilts but I don't much care. I like the color of this fluorescent bulb. It's good enough for anubias, and isn't amazingly bright.

Since I always recycle my fluorescent bulbs I'm pretty sure my old lights are here somewhere

That light will likely be OK for low-light plants, so that may work well. I would suggest a plain background, black construction paper works very well, as this calms the fish, and makes the fish and plants stand out more.

 

[Alice B]

I think I have black background on a roll in the garage. (I used to have an online store with a lot of backgrounds) I have to either find my light or buy a light or find better led's but for now I just reduced hours by 3 or 4 hours. I don't know much about leds. I had a dream the lights had a dimmer switch, got up, nope they have an on off switch.

 

[StevenF]

The LED lighting you have is quite likely the best for the plants. Aquatic plants need red and blue light for photosynthesis, but adding green does allow for maximum plant response.

Just for background the primary pigment in plants is chlorophyl. It generates most of the energy plants need and gives plants their green color. It is most efficient at absorbing red and blue light but will absorb all visible wavelengths. There are other pigments in plants that can generates some of the energy plants need. But many also regulate growth. Each pigment will absorb colors differently.

Many recsearchers have focused on red and blue grow lights because this would reduce the amount of power needed and reduce the cost. But over the years it has become clear that not all plants do well with just red and blue lights. So whit light is the best choice if you have a mix of plants.

As to LEDs white LEDs do produce a wide rang of colors. But generally low kelvin rated while lights produce a lot of red but little blue. High kelvin rated lights however produce a lot of blue and little red. When I made my LED life for my old aquarium 3000K whilte LEDs worked great. But the plants which normally grow 1 to 2 inches tall were growing 4 inches or more. I added a small number of red LEDs and now the plants are the normal size and the light looks the same.

 

[Alice B]

Have you checked adjustable LED lights? I've got a hygger one and you can adjust the intensity of all 3 diodes (white, blue and red) independently of each other, and also time them as well for a fully automated process.

I think I need to look at these. I just lifted the hood on the 55 and the led lights are in tubes. these fixtures aren't adjustable. The fixtures fit the aquarium top, but maybe I can change the bulbs, or are they diodes? I am having to learn a new vocabulary. I tried to add led's to my reef tank light (along the shop light shade) years ago, they came in a strip and connected to a heat sink and power source or adapter, but I gave that tank away in 2012, and I haven't had time to look at details on anything since. so I just did some research with a search engine. And I found an airstone with blue leds on it. I don't know if it would be enough to make the tank less yellow green. I'm sure a water change wouldn't hurt, since driftwood blesses me with some of the yellow.

 

[outofwater]

Most, probably all; led lights these days don't use a heat sink anymore. Or it is integrated on the chassis itself, like mine, and they're so efficient that even at the brightest setting and most intensive time of day, the chassis gets barely warm to the touch.
Individual led can be replaced if one is so inclined, but it's a painstaking process, and most units are sealed anyway so you wouldn't be able to unless you crack them open, then you are opening a whole new can of worms because of the humidity.

As far as the jargon... led is light emitting diode, so yeah, by extension they all are diodes, although referring referring them as bulbs isn't uncommon at all.

I think led is definitely the way to go, and from what I've seen, fully programmable units (time and brightness) for a 55g tank don't go over $70 on amazon. I've seen light kits at the local chain pet stores for over $100 and I personally think they're not worth it.

 

[Alice B]

The trouble with changing the lighting on this tank is that the lights are integrated in the hoods, they are in a tube so that can be changed but when it comes to wiring I think I would have to have custom glass lids made, and I usually get safety glass with burnished edges so they aren't sharp and that is not going to be cheap. Alternatively I could do the not quite fitting glass lids but humidity and AC in Texas aren't all that compatible..... Still learning. I will have to research on amazon, guessing nothing that will go into my hood, but I will measure and look

 

[outofwater]

The trouble with changing the lighting on this tank is that the lights are integrated in the hoods....
Alternatively I could do the not quite fitting glass lids but humidity and AC in Texas aren't all that compatible..... Still learning. I will have to research on amazon, guessing nothing that will go into my hood, but I will measure and look

I missed the bit about the humidity. On my 29g I went "open top" when I changed to these lights. I don't have "jumpers" in that tank so open top isn't an issue for me. And my snails never come out above the water line.

I recently acquired a 15g tank that I decided to move a lone, deranged dwarf gourami to (from a 10g) and that was an older tank, the integrated lights were actual, filament light bulbs. I removed those and their housing and adapted a led strip to it. It works great, and from the outside it looks as if that's how it came originally. Granted, it is not a fancy led light strip as I have on the 29g tank, but I think if you're a bit into tinkering, it can be done with one of these lights I've been writing about (integrating them into the original hood).

Good luck!

 

[Alice B]

The hoods have integrated led bulbs in tubes so I could probably get another tube of led's that fits, the trouble is getting it adjustable. A little tinkering I can do. I have an old house. I took residential wiring 101 in 2011 to deal with some bad electrical. While my residential wiring book doesn't cover this, what do you think? I have no idea what country it's coming from. Found some others too.

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