Can I have some advice about LEDs please?

[Jenbenwren]

I've been looking for a cheap & nasty LED for my 80cmx57-8cmdeep bow front and I've found one I can get locally but the light specs aren't quite what I was looking for, for the plants and all. It's a 60cm led and the supports can go out to 80cm (at least I can swap between this and my 2ft till I can get one for it). The only info I could get from the seller is its 400 lumens with 72 white at 8000K & 6 blue at 460nm for $90 and she couldn't see the watts but think it may be 9. I'm not sure about lumens, the blues are the right nm, but was looking for 6500K. Can anyone explain what sort of difference the 8000K will make and if 400 lumens is ok or should I go higher? I've been googling all day and most of yesterday, but can't find the info I'm looking for or a light for it with the K & nm I'm looking for in 80cm

[jayc]

Got a link?

There is not enough info for anyone to advise you.

But on the face value, taking into consideration the following

- 80 cm tank, but you are looking for a 60cm light - straight away, I can tell that you won't have enough light.

Why pick a 60cm unit and adjust the legs longer? Look for one that is 90cm, and adjust the legs shorter. ;)

80cm is an odd length, you'll never find a light fitting that size.

- 400 lumens. Difficult with just this info. Generally, if the manufacturer is tying to hide it's true performance, they will omit some figures, so you CAN'T work it out!! Unless, it's there and the seller is just an idiot.

- 400 lumens, again not enough info, is generally no 9W, maybe more like 5-6W.

If it is, then again, it's not enough.

We also need to know what plants you intend to grow. But 400 Lumens is also considered low light, enough to illuminate the tank, but not enough to grow healthy plants.

- 6500K is very yellow. OK for Flouro. But 8000K is perfect for LEDs. In fact that's the minimum you want in LEDs. 10000K would look nice too. If you think plants only like 6500K, than please change that perception. 6500K in LEDs are good for feeding algae :)

- 8000K is bluer, but it's not like marine blue light. It will look clearer, and fish, plants, shrimp will look more natural.

Conclusion: this light unit is not enough for your needs. Look for one that is longer (90cm). And one that outputs 30+W.

http://www.shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/showthread.php/4484-LED-Lighting

[Jenbenwren]

Thank you.

I've read through 100's of pages on lots of different sites and the majority seemed to say that 6500k white (being closest to daylight) with blue at 460nm was the best range for aquarium plants and that watts aren't a major concern with LEDs. But I admit, no matter how I read, I'm having trouble understanding it all.

The 60cm light was the biggest we could get to fit in our hood and what was recommended and installed by a lfs, (only just realized we could've put in multiple smaller lights), so I guess we just didn't think of going for a 90cm. Getting a 90cm is a great idea, as long as my other half agrees, as lights in the hood are just to much trouble.

[Jenbenwren]

Just checked out the link and the Up-Aqua is what I've been trying to talk my partner into, but he reckons the cheaper imports are better and that he knows best lol

[slin1977]

I use Illumagic Blaze S LED lighting on my reef and freshwater tank I have Blaze P. They are very capable high power units. I use Illumagic Comboray over my shrimp tank where high intensity is not important.

Cheap LED units are not going to cut it if you are going to grow plants or coral.

For example I got some carpeting plants from a local fish shop and within six weeks I had a dense carpet that was trimmed twice compared to the shops stringy sad looking example under budget LED.

For a 60cm deep tank you need high power LED driven at 1000mA or more. With active fan cooling to protect the LED from overheating.

Low power LED units are always passively cooled.

[jayc]

6500K is minimum for plants. But they will do just as well at 8000K.

But 8000K will also make your shrimp or fish look nice. At least nicer than 6500K.

Ah, didn't know you needed it to fit in a hood.

There are certainly better led lights out there than the up aqua. They are coming out with better stuff everyday.

If your partner can find one better at a cheaper price, go for it.

But 400 lumens, without any other info about the unit, is not going to be enough to reach to the bottom of your tank.

[OzShrimp]

I use a an UP Aqua Pro LED Z series after reading lots of reviews and i quiet like it :) But i am not a plant genuis i fall bellow plant noob lol but my plants havent died and my moss grows well :) and my fissidens when i had some

[Jenbenwren]

Thanks guys. I'm starting to get a better idea of what I should be looking for now and it explains why our tank looked so washed out without the blue lights on and the plants struggled so much.

i think I'll be looking for something around 4000 lumens, 40 watts & 8000K -10000K now for the deep tank. The cheap light was a Beamswork and if it was any good I could moved it between both tanks until we could get another 1 for the community tank.

[jayc]

i think I'll be looking for something around 4000 lumens' date=' 40 watts & 8000K -10000K now for the deep tank. The cheap light was a Beamswork and if it was any good I could moved it between both tanks until we could get another 1 for the community tank.[/quote']

You'll be limited by the length of the light unit. So 4000 lumens is pushing it to the very top models. If you don't want to spend so much, anything between 2000 - 3000 lumens is sufficient especially in the 8000K or 10000K colour temp. You tank will be so much brighter and you will see colours you haven't noticed before.

If you have a choice of a light unit that has all white lights or a combo white/blue actinic ... go with the all white light unit in 8000K or 10000K.

It will be naturally blueish anyway. The actinic lights are wasted on a freshwater aquarium and suits a marine aquarium better.

Keep the old one there, and swap between the two lights to compare the difference before relegating the old light to other duties.

[Jenbenwren]

The old ones caput and waiting to see if it will be covered by warranty. At the moment I have no lights for either tank. The 2ft I've just started setting up is opposite a window so it at least gets a little bit of light but the 80cm is in a dark corner and I can already see the plants are starting to lose color when I shine a torch in there. I have a 25 watt flouro work light facing it at the moment but its no where near enough and only dimly lights a small portion of the tank

[Jenbenwren]

I ended up getting an Up-Aqua Z series for our 2 ft and a 90cm Aquatopia for our main tank. (About the only upside of having a p-plater perform an illegal right turn, to drive the wrong way up the exit ramp for Eastlink, less than 20 meters in front of me when I was doing around 80, totally righting off my partners ute that I'd borrowed and then our insurance paid out more than we expected. Thankfully no one was hurt. Even the police said it was lucky I tried to avoid her (could see from the marks on the road and how we hit, otherwise we would have hit nearly head on, instead of hitting just behind her back wheel which caused her to spin and lessened the impact and injuries.) I'm going to move the plants that haven't been doing well in our main tank over to the shrimp tank but leave the plants that have stayed healthy and grown well, with less powerful lights than we have on it now, in there. I'm tempted to have a go at making up my own set of leds for it, with the help of a friend whose more knowledgeable with electronics, later in the year.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to help and offer me advice. I've greatly appreciated it :-)