Choosing LED light for 1 ft cube tank - need pro advise

[marimo]

hey guys ..

planning to get a led light to try for a 1ft cube tank (from ecalyte) , no experience with it
looking into growing carpet grass probably HC, mini fissiden, with no pressurized CO2.
but read LED can penetrate better than PL, plus it generate less heat

The choices I can get now easily is UP pro led light set A32 $60+
Trying to maximize more led , so not satisfied with A25 for 30cm tank or dymax hang type.


After reading some thread here , still pretty confused.
So i work out that a 27 litre tank , after rocks and soil, maybe left 20l of water/ 5 g
so maximum 2-3W / g, at least 10-15W

but LED uses lumen in consideration too - how much am i looking for?
temperature - 6500K to 9000K is alright?
color - is blue led that promote density in plant growth effective? RGB ex..
Watts - read 1-3 W per led bulb , how do we determine with lumen


Finally doing my homework .. from the usual led hang type .. to luxeon, cree, lumen aqua, led tube, diy smd led strip... found another cost effective option

E27 6W 84-LED 588-Lumen 6500K
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/e27-121...-265v-ac-35829

host frame can be a cheap clip on light or desktop light stand.
http://www.ikea.com/sg/en/catalog/products/60370183/

E14 5.5 W 90 LED 500 Lumen
http://www.ikea.com/sg/en/catalog/pr...444/#/80081375
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/e14-5-5...100-250v-81007

Cost below $30 for 3 times the led of commerical aquarium led
replaceable , affordable and resell and upgrade easily


Am i missing any facts?
Will i overkill and make the plants melt?

thanks

[Shadow]

watt per gallon rule was based on T8 tube, LED totally different story
watt per gallon rule does not apply for small tank nor very big tank
Gallon in the rule refer to tank size not the amount of water in the tank.

If I were you, I will start with 4x 3W LED and increase the number of LED if necessary. If you want to grow HC, I suggest you inject CO2.

[marimo]

hmm intriguing answer .. always though to par with gallon means volume.
Therefore amount of water will factor in for the light to penetrate to the base.

How can I config a 4 X 3W LED .. DIY ? hmm get from sim lim tower?

no budget for CO2 .. have excel or can try DIY yeast CO2..

[khseah79]

You Might be interested in getting one of this
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/galle.../spotlight.jpghttp://www.aquaticquotient.com/galle.../spotlight.jpg

[Shadow]

What I'm trying to say is, it is a volume of an empty tank. Meaning if you have 50 gallons tank, and you put many big tall rocks until the water volume left only 25 gallons, it does not mean not you can reduce the light by half. You still need roughly 150W (3WPG).

You can get 3W led from ebay, deal extreeme, etc. I do not know whether sim lim shop sell high power LED or not.

[BFG]

I would choose a 3w per led bulb as a minimum standard. Find such bulb with the correct color temperature (kelvin). A led light set with interchangeable lense is a better option as you never know if you need to mount the light set at different height, according to your need.

[marimo]

You Might be interested in getting one of this
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/galle.../spotlight.jpg

Thats from ikea? .. spotlight angle deg more focus .. looking for even light

-

Hmm i think only Cree is 3W per led .
for temp i read 5500 to 7500K is good enough for plants .. so higher K more cool white

Does anyone use 50% blue (450nm) 50% white ?
it does have better growth on plants right compared to all white ?

[Shadow]

blue is normally for marine, plants normally need red although they can also make use of blue spectrum

[tawauboy]

...

Does anyone use 50% blue (450nm) 50% white ?
it does have better growth on plants right compared to all white ?

white LED is actually a blue LED with yellow phosphor coating. the 'white' light that you see is due to colour mixing. and a white LED's dominant wavelength is blue.

[mad]

Hi bros, so any chance of LEDs ligthing set for the 1 ft tank? What is the easiest way setup for the tank of 1 ft?

[Zor]

Hi all,

Sorry to hijack thread mad. I am also facing a similar problem. Having a 1 feet cube tank, but can't seem to find good lighting. The only 1 feet t5 light I found was from aquazonic, 2x6w. It works out to about 1.7 wpg. I know it doesn't really apply to small tanks, but is it still suitable for plants like Marseilla, glosso, dwarf hairgrass, water wisteria ? If not suitable I probably have to spend on an Led light source. Planning on an excel tank with Aquasoil, dosing with florish.

[Marlinsons]

Hi all,

Sorry to hijack thread mad. I am also facing a similar problem. Having a 1 feet cube tank, but can't seem to find good lighting. The only 1 feet t5 light I found was from aquazonic, 2x6w. It works out to about 1.7 wpg. I know it doesn't really apply to small tanks, but is it still suitable for plants like Marseilla, glosso, dwarf hairgrass, water wisteria ? If not suitable I probably have to spend on an Led light source. Planning on an excel tank with Aquasoil, dosing with florish.

Bro, check out this thread as well. Some discussion on LED are already there.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...a-planted-tank

[Zor]

Thanks Mad, Marlinsons, I have looked through before posting as well. Seems like either DIY, aquazone LED or have to wait for mass order.

The DIY is interesting, if I have the time I try haha. But I think I'll wait to see if the aquazonic LED set is good.

Thanks again guys!

[seudzar]

Can try go Sim Lim tower 3 level to look for those LED strips which you can actually cut to custom length. Those are 12volts DC. They are pretty bright. Or you can buy those high powered one but do take note, those high powered one does generate a lot of heat.

[Aquanoob]

I am using Dymax LED Zon Light NX5 for my 1ft cube tank and I can say that it is doing a good job. It has a total of 43 LED bulbs which is 36 white and 7 blue. I keep only simple plant like flame moss and microsword in it but the plant are growing well. You can try looking for it and test it out.

[Shadow]

Those LED strips do not have penetration power, might be ok for small tank. Heat generate by high power LED is only on the electrode hence the heat sink, the light produce is not hot.

[mad]

Thanks Mad, Marlinsons, I have looked through before posting as well. Seems like either DIY, aquazone LED or have to wait for mass order.

The DIY is interesting, if I have the time I try haha. But I think I'll wait to see if the aquazonic LED set is good.

Thanks again guys!

Zor , my HC with aquazonic lighting does not seems to grow well .... =(

[limz_777]

anyone tested the 10w led flood lights before ?

[mad]

Does growing HC need to have a transition timing from partially submerged to submerged stage?
Those plants selling in C328 are partially submerged as the leave is rounder and bigger.

Any idea..

[Marlinsons]

Don't believe you need any transition time. You aquazonic lights may not be bring enough. You may need to add another. Or the LED is not giving you the correct wavelength for your plants.