Led Lighting

[stang12]

Hey everyone,

A couple of quick questions.

Is there any reason that i couldn't use led lighting on my tank?

What is the best Kelvin rating for plants?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DrRob]

Hi,

No, no reason why not.

There's no answer to the Kelvin rating question that I'm aware of, it doesn't give you the full spectrum information, but rather refers to the apparent colour that humans perceive. Higher Kelvin lights will look bluer, as an idea, the Fluval Ebi ships with a 10,000K lamp. My tank that stands next to it has a yellower tinge with 6,500K lights. The plants grow beautifully in both.

I've seen hydroponic lights, which tend to be a mixture of mostly blue with a few red, but I wouldn't really like the aesthetic of a tank under them.

You could always get very technical and put a mixture of blue and red lights as per hydroponics, with some white for appearance.

There's plenty of people here who know more about the science of it than me, and some good DIY sets described in the hardware section.

 

[stang12]

Top man.

Have been looking into Led lighting technology for use on our marine tanks so i have a reasonable understanding of it. I wasn't sure though what the best setup would be for fresh water tanks that are planted. If it's around 6500K then it's a simple enough diy build for me.

I'll check the hardware section though to get a better feel for the correct balance of colours.

Hi,

No, no reason why not.

There's no answer to the Kelvin rating question that I'm aware of, it doesn't give you the full spectrum information, but rather refers to the apparent colour that humans perceive. Higher Kelvin lights will look bluer, as an idea, the Fluval Ebi ships with a 10,000K lamp. My tank that stands next to it has a yellower tinge with 6,500K lights. The plants grow beautifully in both.

I've seen hydroponic lights, which tend to be a mixture of mostly blue with a few red, but I wouldn't really like the aesthetic of a tank under them.

You could always get very technical and put a mixture of blue and red lights as per hydroponics, with some white for appearance.

There's plenty of people here who know more about the science of it than me, and some good DIY sets described in the hardware section.

 

[StandbySetting]

DIY is the way to go with 3W imitation Luxeon's from ebay.

 

[stang12]

DIY is the way to go with 3W imitation Luxeon's from ebay.

You're right DIY is the way to go but not with imitation Luxeon's I'm sorry to say.
You will pay say £2.50 to £3 each for them and only get max 80 Lumens out of them at 750mA. Cree Led's will give a far greater output at the same current. Eg: A Cree XM-L which can be brought for £5 to £6 will give out 280Lm at 700mA. and over 1000Lm if you run them at their max of 3Amps. When i started researching this i also thought that the cheaper chinese made Led's were the way to go, but now i have a better understanding of the technology, i will be staying well clear of them. Even the Luxeon rebel led's that are available cannot compare to what Cree now make.

 

[mishmash]

DIY is the way to go with 3W imitation Luxeon's from ebay.

You're right DIY is the way to go but not with imitation Luxeon's I'm sorry to say.
You will pay say £2.50 to £3 each for them and only get max 80 Lumens out of them at 750mA. Cree Led's will give a far greater output at the same current. Eg: A Cree XM-L which can be brought for £5 to £6 will give out 280Lm at 700mA. and over 1000Lm if you run them at their max of 3Amps. When i started researching this i also thought that the cheaper chinese made Led's were the way to go, but now i have a better understanding of the technology, i will be staying well clear of them. Even the Luxeon rebel led's that are available cannot compare to what Cree now make.

+1 to that. Even just seeing the cree's vs cheaper ones was remarkable. Also, my LFS guy bought in some cheapo Chinese ones to see what they were like and not one of them had all LED's working after 4 weeks running. He doesn't stock Cree stuff either so its not like he was trying to get a big sale from me

 

[StandbySetting]

I got mine for less than £1 each from ebay.

I wasn't aware of the cree LED's, I may have a go with some to replace my current LED's.