LED Lights "OK" for aquarium use?

Hi guys,

I'm new to your forum (but I've been in aquariums for about 16 years). I'm more of an marine aquarium guy but I've got someone that is into tropical aquariums and want to place an LED light strip in his tank for ambiance.

So my question is, will this item be safe to place into the water and will it cause any toxic harm to the fish in the water, I know from marine aquariums that some plastics are super bad to use in the water but I'm not sure about this specific product.

Your input will be greatly appreciated!

 

is this led strip meant for insertion into aquariums or is just a general light strip? i know led light strips normally have a glue back and a rubber type casing. this rubber would probably go milky if left in the water for a while

 

Bad plastic is bad plastic - salt or freshwater !! Just be very carful about what you put inside that tank.

 

Why do you want to put a LED light in the tank?

I have a two strip led light that I got from Spec Lighting, a company that specialises in all sorts of light fittings. I bought a 60cm 6500K 1400lm strip that came with the diffuser but I removed it as I wanted full led exposure instead of having most of it blocked. Paid R350 for it and it works very well.

I also had a, what they called waterproof, led strip with a power supply - after a year or two of use, the silicone that covers all the leds in the strip does go yellow. Plus it didn't last me that long as I wasn't sure if it was the power supply or the leds about to go.

I build this one for my cube as I could not find anything that will fit a 40cm cube. It costed a lot more than the light I got from Spec Lighting.





Believe me, DIY led lights are a lot more hassle than it is worth the money.

This is the 60cm light I got from Spec Lighting - had a choice of cool white and warm white. I went for the cool white.