Switching To Led Lighting For Freshwater?

[L4byr1nth]

Hey everyone!

I have a Fluval Roma 240 tropical community tank in my front room.

Recently, a friend upgraded to LED's, and I can't help but be jealous over the bright, white light he gets compared to my gloomy yellow colour. The shimmer effect is also very desirable!

The Fluval Roma 240 is fitted with 2x 40W T8 tubes; each measuring 117cm long.

What would be the easiest (not necessarily cheapest, but I don't want to spend silly money if you know what I mean?) way of converting to LED lights? How many will I need? How would I fit them?

Bear in mind the tank cover is just a strip of plastic with the ballast, lights, and reflectors screwed on to it, so not much of a hood to speak of. I also have a fair few jumpers in my community, so a luminaire isn't ideal.

Cheers!

Ben.

 

[BigC]

[font="arial][size="2"]You can make your own...all is available on Ebay
Buy what ever length you need (can be cut), Buy a little transformer and wire it up
simple and cheap

All wired up and ready to go!!!!

30 bright LED's per 2' length of adhesive backed waterproof strip

Now installed...they solve the problem to get lighting into a tight spot...
Regards
C[/size][/font]

 

[Ps3Steveo]

If your handy with tools you could build your own hanging unit, ledworld on eBay do warm white sets, 2x LEDs, 2x drivers, 2x lens's, 2x heat sink's. Quite cheap and they're 3watts each and very bright. I made a unit from some oak flooring I had in the shed, there's a link in my sig mate to show you the quality of these units.

 

[StandbySetting]

I also used the luxeon LED's as Steve did to create a luminaire, very cheap and works well.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

If your in the southeast I'd build ya one, got so much time on my hands lately lol.

 

[L4byr1nth]

Unfortuately, I don't have the time or skill to make my own unit, else I would in a flash!

Thanks for the offer Steve, but a luminaire/hanging unit wouldn't suit my inhabitants, and also as I live in a rented flat, I'm not allowed to drill into walls or ceilings, etc.

I've decided to go with Arcadia Eco LED lights. There doesn't seem to be a controller available, which is annoying and means I need a load of spare power sockets.

But what I mainly want to know is - how many will I need to get that really bright look?

Cheers for the replies!

Ben.

 

[Philuk]

my 5ft tank had 5ft led strips in it when i got it which when it was empty looked mint. As soon as it was filled with water and sand it looked so dark. Im using 2 4ft tubes and it still is really dark

 

[L4byr1nth]

At the moment, I'm looking at 4 x Arcadia EcoLED units, the 18W T8 equivalents.

Probably 3 x Daylight, 1 x Tropical.

I hope these will be bright enough to give me that great, white shimmering light effect.

Ben.

 

[StandbySetting]

You wont get much of a shimmer with the tube LED's due to lots of bulbs (it'll be pretty similar to a fluorescent tube really), if you want a shimmer you want less LED's but more powerful ones.

 

[AshliMeley]

There doesn't seem to be a controller available, which is annoying and means I need a load of spare power sockets.