LIGHTING

[melita]

ANY ONE USED LED ON PLANTED TANK ?? IF SO ARE THEY ANY GOOD HOW DO YOUR PLANTS DOING .?

[mgcole]

I have been running two Fluval LED lights on my 130 gallon tank for over 6 months now. I have 4 or 5 varieties of anubias, val, cryptocorne and amazon sword. The plants are dosed with Excel when I remember. lol They are all doing very well and I have to trim them at least twice a month. I haven't tried any of the higher light plants though. I must say that I have heard mixed reviews about using led's, but I am pleased with them so far. I also like the fact that they are cheaper to run, last longer than conventional bulbs and don't get as hot. hth

[Frankr409]

I use aqua ray led pods, 1500's and 2000's with the controller. The lights are awesome, and the plants have exploded.

[DonMD]

You might want to check out buildmyled.com, lots of options.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[dirtyplants]

You will find there is a major gap in prices on LEDs. The cheap ones will not be good for plants, they are for incidental light. Look for spectrum, lenses, heat sinks, fans, and watts per diode. Good plant LEDS will use lenses for spread as a diode will be more of a direct spot light type of lighting. Look for spectrum, 5500k is what is considered as midday light. Plants need red and blues, blue for leafs and red for flowering. Some plants may need a small amount of UV light. Japanese use a lot of green, but there is a algae debate with the greens and yellows. Penetration of depth in water depends on the wattage of the diode, 5 watts being the best, 1 watt poor. Good lights will allow for a change of light spectrum and a controller to dim the intensity of the diode. LEDs which do not have heat sinks and fans will not last the warranty time stated.
The plants you mentioned are all low light plants so will do well with most bulbs and some LEDs. Most people who do plants still use T5, T8, bulbs. Hope this helps you in your decision.

[NAB]

I read somewhere that there is a grading system used for LEDs and therefore some of the less expensive LED lights are not really comparable to some of the more expensive ones. I wish I could find the article but I think some company called CREE was referring to this grading system. A good LED light should be able to grow just about anything.

[dirtyplants]

Cree makes some of the best diodes out there. Many plant people buy Cree diodes and boards but these are not usually sized for aquarium sizes. If you can do DIY then you can buy diodes in spectrum needed with snap together wires or solder together, you can buy boards and transformer to put all it together. Look for kits using Cree or You Tube using Cree diodes. I have seen them and am considering a DIY myself. Then I can be assured I can get best bang for the money and get what I need..

[dirtyplants]

Check out rapidled.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rLFh3Q_FEA

[nikond70s]

for a planted tank. i would personally use T5's. only because T5's makes the tank a lot nicer. with leds, i find them to wash out plants and your fish colors. T5's with some white/pink combo lights really makes the tank and your fish nice. i would only use leds in a fish only tank. or with just some anubias.

[dirtyplants]

You can get what you need in blues, reds, greens, neutral white, cool white, uv, lenses so you get a natural spread, custom build and use controllers to dial in more of one or less in Kelvins. Good LEDs can out preform tubes but are still costly. I am currently putting one together which will be controllable kelvin, intensity, with natural fusion of colors for any plant and fish at adjustable distance needed. No color loss for fish or plants. Fish pop plant colors pop. (Wash out indicates improper distance and spread of LEDs. Or LEDs arranged for Marine Reef tanks.)

[melita]

Thanks for the replied guys i did purchase a led but for my 55 angel tank think i will stick to t5 for my 108 .

[Redmelons]

I have 2 48" led lights i bought from ebay and all of my plants are going well but i dont have any very high light requiring plants , anubis and swords