Anyone heard about using LED lights?

[jerthunter]

Has anyone heard of using LEDs for lighting their tank? I am not talking about moonlights but the regular lights? They make some very powerful LED spotlights so I was thinking about retrofitting a light for my tank with them. It seems like it would work but I am curious is anyone has done it or heard about it....

 

[mitzel]

It more than likely wont give you the right light spectrum to keep any corals.

 

[jerthunter]

Well you can get a LED for pretty much every wavelength of light.. so as long as you had the right ones and enough of them I don't think the spectrum would be a problem, but it may....

 

[thegrog]

I heard a rumor a few months ago that some Japanese company was working on LED lights of the right intensity and spectrum for reef keeping. Still in the hush-hush lab stage though but I bet they will be out in a few years. For the LEDs out now, not intense enough nor the right spectrum.

 

[slipknot23]

Pic 1 is both blue and white leds Pic 2 is the leds ballasts

 

[jerthunter]

slipknot, how much light does that give you?

 

[key00west]

Okay, cool looking lights, but i just have to ask, whats with all the candy clutered around eveything??? LOL sloppy work station! LOL

 

[slipknot23]

The pics are for Melev's Reef site

 

[jerthunter]

I went to that site and didn't find those pictures.. probably didn't look enough. I did see some made out of computer fans....
I have looked around a bit and I found some LED's rated at a luminous intensity of 18000 mcd..... I am not sure how that relates to other lights... I'll do some more research.... I hope to find a good comparison number like lumens or something. I found that a 400w metal halide gives off around 60,000 lumens.... All very interesting stuff..... Anyways I am not planning on keeping a reef under these lights but it would be nice to replace my PC lighting with leds....