Michigan Cichlid Association
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Kaia on July 05, 2013, 09:47:52 AM
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Was just curious what everyone thought about LED lighting? What is the best lighting to have that will show good colors?
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I like to use a hood with a good lightbulb that shows colors really well, an then marine land hidden LEDs as accents
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The only tank I have with a dedicated light, uses a 36" marineland double bright . It's a 75gal & I'm satisfied with it.
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You wanna use a actinic and a super actinic. These will help with color popping. a long with with that there is 454 bulbs along with 75.25 bulbs that will also help make color stand out as well. The led light have both actinic and super actinic in them so it will help along with that leds will make a shimmer look of the water.
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I have looked at LED lighting! What I like about it is that you can change from day light to night time. Where does the hidden LEDs go? I have glass lids on this tank.
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This tank that I bought has standard fluorescent bulbs in them, and it makes the water look yellow and dingy. I also don't feel like it's showing the true colors of the fish.
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They clip on the inner trim of the tank. Not sure which bulb I'm using but it has a purple hue to it and really brings out colors in orange fish. What colors are you looking to bring out most
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I recommend a 3,000,000 candle power spotlight. Just aim it downward on the tank it'll look great. J/k anyway There are plenty of t5's and t8's that look great as well and way cheaper. LEDs you have more options with colors so you can customize the settings to your liking. I also think that LEDs have a tendency to have a shorter shelf life than claimed. Individual diodes may go bad but you'll still have plenty of light overall. There are give and take to both sides but in the long run its personal preference. PS I think LEDs are still pretty sweet.
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They clip on the inner trim of the tank. Not sure which bulb I'm using but it has a purple hue to it and really brings out colors in orange fish. What colors are you looking to bring out most
so essentially they are submersible and would be in a line?
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I recommend a 3,000,000 candle power spotlight. Just aim it downward on the tank it'll look great. J/k anyway There are plenty of t5's and t8's that look great as well and way cheaper. LEDs you have more options with colors so you can customize the settings to your liking. I also think that LEDs have a tendency to have a shorter shelf life than claimed. Individual diodes may go bad but you'll still have plenty of light overall. There are give and take to both sides but in the long run its personal preference. PS I think LEDs are still pretty sweet.
Interesting, because I was thinking LED used less energy and lasted longer. So really the only benefit to LED is being able to change the lighting colors in your tank? That can't be right either, because they sell all white LED...
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They clip on the inner trim of the tank. Not sure which bulb I'm using but it has a purple hue to it and really brings out colors in orange fish. What colors are you looking to bring out most
no colors in specific, just want to be able to see the true colors better.
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I use dual bulb T5 HO fixtures on my tanks. One bulb is actinic the other 6500k and they really bring out the colors, especially blues in fish. Then I use blue LED moon lights. I also have Hydor single spot LEDs in my peacock tank in both white and blue which I use sometimes to add a more dramatic lighting effect.
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They clip on the inner trim of the tank. Not sure which bulb I'm using but it has a purple hue to it and really brings out colors in orange fish. What colors are you looking to bring out most
so essentially they are submersible and would be in a line?
Yes, they're fully submersible and they look pretty cool too.
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To answer your question about the shelf life of LED lights, it just depends on the quality of the manufacturer. If you get a decent quality manufacturer, you can expect your light to last forever or about 50,000 hours, whichever comes first.
I recently bought two 36" Deep Blue fixtures from Kensfish.com last fall at the Ohio Cichlid Extravaganza that I'm pretty happy with. I use them on my 400 gallon which is over 30" deep and they provide plenty of light. Each bulb is a t5 bulb that is 21 watts, so it's pretty cheap to run them. It also has 6 LED moonlights that are always on. The only downside to this fixture is that the daylight and actinic have their own switch. So if you have them on a timer, you're cutting power to the entire fixture (so no moonlights). Here's the link to give you an idea of what they look like:
http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/aquarium-lighting/deep-blue-pro-t-5-ho-double-bulb-fixture-with-moonlights-36.html
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The only tank I have with a dedicated light, uses a 36" marineland double bright . It's a 75gal & I'm satisfied with it.
I am getting 2 marineland double bright for my 90 gal when I get it. I use a 36" marineland double bright on my 40 breeder and it really makes it the cichlid colors pop.
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I have a few tanks set up and so far if you have the ballast I have found 50/50 t8 bulbs work the best without going led which can get expensive depending on what you want. I know eBay has some nice lighting you can buy for cheap but I will say of you have blues and oranges that you want to pop the 50/50 does the trick for me right now
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I really like metal halide. It is far stronger then led, and far brighter then fluorescent.
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I really like metal halide. It is far stronger then led, and far brighter then fluorescent.
And far hotter and more expensive to run
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I really like metal halide. It is far stronger then led, and far brighter then fluorescent.
And far hotter and more expensive to run
Not to steal or get off topic here...but have you used MH lights danielratti where you could give us an idea of just how much more per month they do cost to run? Because I have kicked around the idea of MH lights myself for tanks as well as for a grow light on my bonsai trees but I've always heard they are pretty costly when it comes to energy consumption and that has always kept me from seriously looking into them. Just wondered if we're talking a few dollars more per month or if we're talking a LOT more per month.
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I have experience with them you just look at the wattage they pull and figure out how much you will be paying per kilowatt hour. Ontop of that they are expensive in general along with the bulbs. We had a guy who ran a 100watt on his tank and couldn't keep it under 88. So really you need to be very careful using them in general. As for the price to run them depends on the unit its self.
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I would recommend the high output fluorescent lights over metal halide. Typically, you'll see metal halide setups at 175, 250, or 400 watts per bulb, and they'll wear out in less than a year. I've seen bulbs anywhere from $20-60 each.
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in my opinion metal halide will not be worth the amount of money you would spend to grow your bonsai trees. They are more cost effective on something harvested and sold in an inflated black market where you could recoup the cost of electricity and the price of your bulbs. T5s and t8s will probably be your best bet for those. Longer lasting, less money, although they are less lumens it still will work for your application.
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Also for plants look into cfl's . They sell them in daylight spectrums above 5500k all the way to 10,000k. 40w cfl= about 1400 lumens if I'm not mistaken.as for smaller led panels for aquarium applications they may be more reliable than the larger more industrial size panels. I know the larger ones with 3-5w LEDs in them have been known to burn out half their diodes in the firs 3-6 months.
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What he is getting at is the black market of coral...
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I ended up getting 3 marineland hidden LEDs they are blue and white day light and blue moon light. I don't know anything about electricity but these are .06W and 550 lumens. I'm able to direct the light where I want it as well. I like that! I also like how they clip on inside the tank.
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I ended up getting 3 marineland hidden LEDs they are blue and white day light and blue moon light. I don't know anything about electricity but these are .06W and 550 lumens. I'm able to direct the light where I want it as well. I like that! I also like how they clip on inside the tank.
looks good
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I ended up getting 3 marineland hidden LEDs they are blue and white day light and blue moon light. I don't know anything about electricity but these are .06W and 550 lumens. I'm able to direct the light where I want it as well. I like that! I also like how they clip on inside the tank.
You are typically charged in units of kilowatt hours for electricity. A kilowatt hour is 1000 watts run for an hour. You're probably paying $.15-.20 per kilowatt hour.
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The brightest is metal halide at 20,000k. It will grow plants really well and your tank will be very healthy. They are easy to build.
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Most plants grow well between 6500-8500k. Metal halide does have a high output, a 200w light will give off about 20,000 lumens. The downside is a short life span and over time the lumen output degrades. After about 6 months of a 200w mh light it will give off about 14000 lumens. Etc. For bonsai trees CFL's may be your best bet. They don't put off a lot of heat, theyre most efficient when ran 15 mi utes or longer and each bulb has its own ballast (the plastic bottom)
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I have metal halide for a 30 gallon high planted tank. I use two computer fans on the bulb, and one computer fan on the ballast. The bill is not that bad. The heat and the noise from the fans are my concern. It took a few different fans to balance the noise from the fans to the heat from the bulb. However, it's worth. I love planted aquariums. So, I have a planted tank with discus, angels and rams. The fish seem really happy and healthy. I think they grow faster also because of the added nutrients the fish get from the plants and protozoa. I tried led and fluorescents. The plants grow better under metal halide. Their are precautions with metal halide, but they are the best aquarium light.
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^ The lace rock in the center of the tank looks like a really nice piece!
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^ The lace rock in the center of the tank looks like a really nice piece!
It's fake, but they all like it. I like it because its light weight an probably will get more eventually
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Nice looking setup Kaia!!! I found this LED lighting system to be very enjoyable so far. It gives me alot of control over the amount of brightness and color.
http://www.current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/satellite-freshwater-led-plus
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Nice looking setup Kaia!!! I found this LED lighting system to be very enjoyable so far. It gives me alot of control over the amount of brightness and color.
http://www.current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/satellite-freshwater-led-plus
Thank you! The system you posted is really something! Maybe someday. A lfs has lighting set up to look like a rain storm with lightening and all...
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As Marty said... LEDs vary GREATLY depending on who makes them.
Just look at the difference in LED flashlights. Some are not better or worse than an old time bulb... where others are bright as all get out.
It addition to the light output... they can vary greatly also in the heat they generate. The one cheap LED flashlight I have is REAL bright, but it gets so hot you cant even hold it. I use it on my bike handlebars only because of this.
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Looks really nice! What lfs is that? I'd like to check that out some time
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^ The lace rock in the center of the tank looks like a really nice piece!
It's fake, but they all like it. I like it because its light weight an probably will get more eventually
Where did you get the lace rock from? I like the fact its lightweight
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The piece he is referring to came with the tank when I bought it
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Nice looking setup Kaia!!! I found this LED lighting system to be very enjoyable so far. It gives me alot of control over the amount of brightness and color.
http://www.current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/satellite-freshwater-led-plus
I really like these lights, thanks for sharing ?
I wonder can Christmas come earlier this year ? Say Sept !