# Thoughts on this type of LED



## flagtail (Jun 2, 2011)

Looking at this type of LED mounted under top trim of aquarium.....my question is!

http://www.ledbulbs123.com/outdoor-...-light-5050-waterproof-led-strip-60leds-p-150

This type of LED any good for plants?

One other type but with same LED's

http://www.ledbulbs123.com/outdoor-...volt-waterproof-rope-christmas-lighting-p-261

appreciate any info on this.....


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## kyle (Oct 9, 2006)

I Have used Similar Strip Waterproof Strip lights. Mostly the red and blue mix as a supplemental lights for t5s.

The problem with these is 
1) the waterproof silicone. decreasing the effectiveness of par and or focus/spread of the light and some people take it off

2) Longevity of the lights. You will still need to affix them to an aluminum heat sink to cool them down. The standard tape that comes with them usually dosnt hold up to aquarium use I ended up using an epoxy glue on a u-channel aluminum heat sink.

3) The colour of warm/cold white seem to be different from batches even from the same factories.

People are using this mixture of these lights to grow plants usually in a ratio of 2 strips cold white and 1 strip of warm white is what I have seen. The cold light having more blue wavelengths

Depending on your spending and size of your tank this is something I have been looking at.

http://www.rapidled.com/12-led-plug-n-play-retrofit-kit-dimmable/

Someone on another forum is using it on a large tank 4 ft long It is a solderless led set up easy to connect. You can specify different led colours ie warm white cool white. All you need to add a controller and heat sink.Each led is 5w comes with 12 led total .PAr reading are high levels and everything looks fairly promising. on a 6ft tank with 2 sets of these he gets 80-100par at bottom 9" of air + 20 inches of water.

If you need more info send me a pm and ill steer you in right direction


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