LED Lighting

[jw1977]

I'm trying to decide what lighting to do in my canopy for 48 inch wide tank. I first thought I'd go with a MH fixture that 's mounted in the canopy. Would that get too hot? After reading about LED i'm wondering if that's really teh way to go. There is a few problems with LED though. It appears to be hard to find good fixtures that have LED's. Can someone direct me to a site that has quality LED's. The next problem is the price. I've seen up to $3k for fixture. I know some people are making their own and soddering them themselves. I'm not the handiest guy in the world. What should I do? I currently have T5ho but feel like i'm missing out on that MG shimmer.

 

[jstdv8]

I'm in love with the LED's. However in your case, unless you know someone who can do all the wiring and putting together with you I'd go with T-5's or metal halides. The LED's are coming down in price every week. In a yar or so they will be within range of most aquariasts if this continues.

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jw1977 http:///forum/thread/380126/led-lighting#post_3307520
I'm trying to decide what lighting to do in my canopy for 48 inch wide tank. I first thought I'd go with a MH fixture that 's mounted in the canopy. Would that get too hot? After reading about LED i'm wondering if that's really teh way to go. There is a few problems with LED though. It appears to be hard to find good fixtures that have LED's. Can someone direct me to a site that has quality LED's. The next problem is the price. I've seen up to $3k for fixture. I know some people are making their own and soddering them themselves. I'm not the handiest guy in the world. What should I do? I currently have T5ho but feel like i'm missing out on that MG shimmer.
How much are you willing to spend on an already made fixture?
Have you looked into the company called "Acan Lighting"? Their LED fixtures are some of the best I've seen.

 

[2quills]

True for a 48" tank you could build yourself an LED array for about $800 or cheaper that can do everything that a $2000-$30000 fixture can do and it's not as hard to do as most people think.

 

[jw1977]

I was planning on spending 800-1000 on a mh fixture. Can someone tell me exactly what would be involved in doing my own? Also, do you still need any T5 lighting or will everything be led?

 

[nikesb]

drilling and tapping the heatsinks. and soldering the wires. thats about all i can think of. personally i think theres some spectrums that cant be touched by LED, so i would add t5's just to help out. for example, LED's dont give out uv.

 

[wangotango]

The DIY process is actually a lot more straight-forward than people think. There are a lot of really informative threads on "the other big forum" that might be worth a look, as well as some pretty good videos on youtube.

 

[cidly37]

Led aquarium lights are very good,The led aquarium light can help coral and
Grasses grow,it also can makes your aquarium looks beautiful.
Cidly’s grow light are very good and cheap.