LED lighting

Hi there,

Got my "toys" today and did my DIY LED lighting for my 60L tank at home.

I sort of forgot to take pictures during the process... I kinda got so into the thing I completely forgot...

So, here is the components:

1 x Elite white LED strip 5500 to 6500 Kelvin colour temperature producing 250 lumen
1 x 30 Watt power supply
1 x Connector cable
(The dimmer in the picture will not be used now... that is for another future LED project... )


Here are the results:

First picture is with the normal T8 Tube:


Second picture is with the LED's:


I took a lot of pictures of my plants today so that I can compare the results in a bout a months time.

I will still be using to regular ferts dosing as before (excel and flourish)

Now for the wait...

 

If i may ask what is the cost for all of this more or less??? Would it work out cheaper than the complete ballast and T8 light tube with cables and all??

 

I think rather than looking at the initial cost, rather look at the cost during the lifetime. It is far cheaper to run LEDs than any other lighting

 

About R650...

Exactly! Looking at how Eskom is going APE with the price increases... You WILL be saving a lot of money on electricity. Also think about how often you would need to replace your T5/T8 tubes and how much they cost compared to the lifetime of the LED's.

 

650 is very cheap and perfect for this low tech setup. But For co2 tanks to grow harder plants, it can get way costly. Heard of ppl spending thousands for led's on a 4ft for a high tech tank..

Judging from ur photos, if the led's are only just a tad brighter than t8's i'd say that one t5 will be way brighter. Also t5's last u abt a year and in this sized tank i think a only a small wattage will be required.. So t5's arent actually as costly as one may think..

 

ernestb

Cool pics there.
The tank you have is little bigger than mine and it does look brighter in the second pic.:nuts:
This gives me good hope for what I am planning on my 55l :congrats:

Just two questions : How deep is the tank and did you use the full 1m of lights.

I worked out I might need about 700mm only in the setup I am planning but will use the full meter if needs be.

I got the aquarium white LED's from them.

 

My tank is 30cm deep. I used half of the strip. Planning on adding the other half as well. Looks like the plants in the middle and back get most of the light, so gonna add the rest to the front

 

Maybe you have pic 2 and 3 in the wrong order, but the hairgrass definately seems brighter in pic 2 with the T8.

 

umm.. Pic 2is the one with the leds

 

Thanks ernestb :bigsmile:

Then what I am planning and the 700mm estimated might just work fine

Will keep up to date

 

I really have to get my LEDs installed and make a DIY piece.
I paid R18 per 6 LED module of 96 lumen each.
And it just needs a basic 12V transformer for about R60.

I'm guessing that the power supply was the expensive part of your setup?

 

What type of LED's did you get? 5050? and what is the kelvin color rating?

 

SMD5050's at 6500K. Or at least I think they're 6500K, I haven't seen any warm white LEDs from www.4x4direct.co.za other than when it's specified.

 

@Whipme...yip that was the more expensive part....luckly I had the one spare from my first purchase.

It is also very easy to hide.

Tested everything and it looks great...can't wait to get them installed and working....but allas I have to wait for the stand to get here and then some other modifications to be done

 

Sorry, my mistake, I paid R24 each for these because I bought 5 to test them out:

 

Finished my DIY moonlight just now.

Just waiting for the silicone to dry then pics will follow.

 

hey ernstb...any news on the moonlight?

 

Yeah, was all good... then go away for a weekend... come back and a massive power surge fried most of the electronics in my house...

That included my LED lighting and the moonlights.... Waiting for my replacements and then find time to replace it.

The Led lights was working really nice and plant growth was stable and doing great.

The moonlights... I had 3 blue LED's, but forgot to buys the diffused ones, so I had a bit of spotlight effect in the water. I now ordered the blue light strip as well and that might help spread the light. Will also be hooking it up to an adjustable adapter so that I can change the intensity of it.

But yeah... so far, I am really happy with the LED lighting. Water temps not spiking at all when light goes on/off.

 

cool Ernst! thanks for the reply.

i am not sure if you do have any pics...but could you post them if u do? Moonlights are expensive, or so i think as i have a small budget...it would be great to use the stuff from the 4x4 place as its relatively cheap...

any help will be appreciated...

 

From what I have read you can diffuse a led slightly by filing the tip a bit. Haven't tried that yet as I normally need a focussed LED, but worth having a look into it if you only want a moonlight effect on one side of the tank (Currently I'm running 5 High MCD white LED's with a DIY day/night switch from an old Samsung phone charger, cheap and ease power supply)