# CHEAP LED light alternative for fresh water tanks



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Just posted this on the marine section. These lights have been used for planted fresh water tanks with great success:

http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?p=318067#post318067


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## juyun1 (Apr 7, 2012)

*LED Light*

I've had one of these over a 10gal with annubias since the beginning of February and it seems fine!!


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

juyun which one did you get?


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

Thanks for the idea! I think I'll buying some chips instead of the full bulb and try it on a custom canopy!

I've considering LED for awhile, but it's incredible how fast things changes and becoming so much more afforable!

I am curious to hear if anyhow else have gone this route and what their results were - specifically for planted setup.

Thanks.


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## Mlevi (Jan 28, 2012)

LTPGuy said:


> I am curious to hear if anyhow else have gone this route and what their results were - specifically for planted setup.


I would love to find out as well. They are priced pretty cheap, compared to a T5 setup, and consume less power. I'd love to know how they work with plants.

Al.


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## MDR (Feb 20, 2012)

I am running 2x20w floodlights on my 125g aquarium, I couldn't be happier with them, no signs of stopping and I've had them for just over a year.

These are intense lights, when I first turned on the 20watts on the 125 I found them very bright (spotlight effect almost). For a planted setup, these lights should be more than appropriate.

Here is a link to another LED thread, you can see my setup on the 1st page. They are bright indeed.
http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39810


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Hey MDR, which LED company or ebay seller did you go with? Is it the same guy I posted?


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## MDR (Feb 20, 2012)

I bought mine through hkpowerstore. They all are likely made by the same factory over there.

http://myworld.ebay.ca/hkpowerstore/?_trksid=p4340.l2559


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

damn they are cheaper than the other seller. How long did the delivery take?

but they don't have the blues and reds and greens. did you measure the par on yours?


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## aznphil (Jul 20, 2011)

what kind of retrofitting is required?


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

aznphil, that's the beauty of these flood lights. It's plug and play. no extra thing required. Just put htem on top of your tank, anyway you want. many of these come with some water proofing too, coz they are made for outdoor use.


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## MDR (Feb 20, 2012)

Bayinaung said:


> damn they are cheaper than the other seller. How long did the delivery take?
> 
> but they don't have the blues and reds and greens. did you measure the par on yours?


Delivery was less than a month. I think it was around 3 weeks. I'm not sure what par is so it is safe to say I did not measure it. If it relates to plant growth I can say that I do have a byproduct of intense lighting. Looks just like the algae here: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=896268&d=1364213784

Apparently it is Black Beard algae and is a result of intense lighting. I don't actually mind it as it is short and waves in the current on the rocks. I would think these lights would be more than enough for demanding plants but use your own judgement.



aznphil said:


> what kind of retrofitting is required?


Mine came with 6" of wrapped wires. One positive, one negative, one ground. I used a plug from Home Depot for mine.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/202664...d=10051&N=5yc1vZc336&R=202664475#.UVM2khmAEy4

Just strip a bit of wire, tighten on the plug and run a cord to it and you are good to go.


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## Fishyfishyfishy (Mar 3, 2008)

This is the lights to get everybody. Cheap and wonderful. Recommend to all.


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## Vinoy Thomas (Jan 4, 2013)

Hey Everyone,

Been following this thread.

You guys think these will work in a reef system? (wrong section, I know)

Thanks,
Vinoy


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Vinoy Thomas said:


> Hey Everyone,
> 
> Been following this thread.
> 
> ...


Vinoy,
I'm following that thread on the other site. From what I can tell, while posters claimed the corals were doing fine, there's been no update after a year of this. Also, no PAR reading's been done. So something that might be a more sure-fire option would be Taotronic's LED lights. They are just marginally more expensive than the LED flood lights, but are dimmable, gets PAR of about 200 at a depth of 24" (going from memory) and suitable for regular to larger-sized aquariums. (no nano options which sucks for me)

What's absolutely certain is that the LED flood white lights do work, as I'd been in touch with a fresh water plant enthusiast, who is getting great results on her high light requirement plants. She bought the 20w LED flood and she thinks it's too much for her 29 gallon tank (while 10w seemed not as bright).

I've been given contacts of a Canadian seller with low shipping rates for taotronics. PM me if you want info on this. For nano reefs I'm thinking flexxin might be a good option (or reefbrite whenever they get their products into the stores in TO).


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Is there a part number or something I can look up. There are so many different lights at these ebay stores and I don't know precisely what I'm looking for in the first place. Any help appreciated, I'd love to at least look at them.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Fishfur,

here are two sellers MDR and I had talked about:

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/Lamps-Lighti..._ipg=&_from=&_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ssn=hkpowerstore

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/Yard-Garden-..._ipg=&_from=&_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ssn=e-global1996

You can find others as well on ebay. as you know key in ebay is the seller's positive ratings. read the descriptions for the type of lights you want. Many usually spec the spectrum, lumens, kelvins, and wattage.


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

*Initial impression*

I took a dive and bought a 10W 6500K bulb from HKStore.

It took over a month to get here.

Here is my initial impression.

By it self, it looks bright and will provide decent spotlighting.

In my 10g setup, the LED appear much dimmer that 2x6" worth of T8. Colour wise, it is very similar if not identical to the T8 6500K bulb. I don't have a light meter so I can't be more quantitative.

I have two T8 hanging over my 3x10gal tanks. 2x6" means it is 6" from the end of the tubes which overhung this part of the tank.

I am actually quite disappointed from the brightness stand point. Of course, this could just mean that there may be less of the green spectrum which is dominant in cheap fluorescent bulbs.

I am hanging the lamp directly over L. Repens, H. Polysperma "Rosanervig" and M. Umbrosum in my sump to see how they perform in the long term.

Another point to consider is the light distribution. As the name of the lamp indicates, it is "spotty". The light is from a point source and thus, one would need multiple bulbs to have an even light distribution. Otherwise, there will be a lot of shadows, and spotty lighting.

For a 10gal setup, I would need about three of these bulbs to have decent intensity and light distribution. That's about $50 worth of bulbs.

I hope this help those who are curious about this type of LED lighting.

I'll update on the long term performance in a few weeks.

Can anyone else chime in with the performance of their setup?


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

what you need is a PAR meter. Its pretty expensive so I don't know who would have them.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Oh yeah for FW I think I'd go with 1 watt per gallon at a minimum and 1.5watt for high light requirement, so a 10 watt isn't going to do it. From the sound of it your light spread sounds just about right, it being focused. 

I think if you get 2 more of those you should be fine for your 3x10. good to know your shipping time. I bought LED bulb from china and it got here in 2 weeks. I am still waiting for the shipment from singapore.

for salt water corals I have 24 watts on my 10 gallon nano and it isn't all that bright (16 blues, 4 whites) so I'm going to do at least 3 watts per gallon.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Oh yeah AND, each flood light is same price or cheaper than the replacement bulbs for the T5s. Man, T5s are in trouble.

By the way, red and blue spectrums are used by plants most - thus this combo in hydroponic lights. I wonder if they would help fresh water plants 

So, you might want to try adding one RGB LED, with separate leds for red, blue, and green. R and B will be absorbed by the plants. Green will be reflected back by the plants and so that's what we'd see. something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC85-265V-10W-LED-RGB-COLOR-SPOTLIGHT-Flood-Light-Waterproof-Remote-Controller-/281105210097?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41732d1af1

That would work out to about 3.3watts for Red, 3.3 watts for blue, and 3.3 for green. The individual red, blue and green lights are not that intense (lux reading is low) so this light won't be bright. For a bit more brightness I'd go with 20watt RGB in combo with two 10watt white LEDs.


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## BBXB (Oct 7, 2012)

Hi, I bought one of these floodlights and went into lowes to buy a plug. The salesperson said I would need a transponder? for it to work, is that the case. My light has a cable coming out of the back consisting of 3 wires. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

I think all the ones I saw said you just need a plug, no need for anything else. Did you buy one of those?


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## BBXB (Oct 7, 2012)

The post did not mention anything but it looks exactly like the other listings posted in this thread.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

Well then I think you should be fine wiring it to a plug and hooking it up to a timer or direct power. the floodlight would have everything to run the LEDs in it already ie the power supply, heat sink and resistors. that's what floods simplify vs DIYs. you don't have to figure out how to wire the leds and stuff. plug and play. floods are made from LED chips where a whole series of them are already soldered or probably stamped together. as long as you got the 120v LEDs and not the 220 ones you should be fine.


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