Question about LED's and what type is usable?

[andrewjardin]

I have been wondering for a long time if you can use regular LED's for an aquarium. For example LED lights you would use in a regular lamp, or light bulb socket such as this http://www.homedepot.ca/product/13w-br30-********-flood-dimmable-soft-white-65w-led-bulb/952868 ?? I'm wondering because i think it would be neat to have a small 5 gallon tank on my desk with just coral and shrimp, and I don't want a huge bulky fixture on it. And also if you can use this (or other home-use LED's) for a small aquarium what reason would there be for not using it on large aquariums too? Thanks, just been curious about this for a long time!

 

[snakeblitz33]

I'm not completely on the up and up as far as LEDs go... However, I can offer a little bit of information.
Corals also need blue/actinic light in order to photosynthesize. I have seen a bulb like this over the top of a 3g aquarium, but the guy also had nine small actinic LEDs attached to it to give it supplemental lighting.
I personally think you would be far better off getting a PAR38 bulb that is made for aquariums - some even have additional LED colors that allow pretty accurate tweaking with a REMOTE CONTROL! All for under $100.
Spotlights are good for small aquariums... 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20g tanks - but they do not provide the coverage that larger aquariums need. IE... Spotlight.
PAR38 bulbs also have the disadvantage of needing a really high socket above the tank to screw in to. - and it can not fit in a traditional canopy.
Just my .02

 

[gemmy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/391566/question-about-leds-and-what-type-is-usable#post_3473345
Corals also need blue/actinic light in order to photosynthesize. I have seen a bulb like this over the top of a 3g aquarium, but the guy also had nine small actinic LEDs attached to it to give it supplemental lighting.
I must disagree here. Actinic lights bring out the blues and greens in our tanks, but, in my own research, serve little purpose in the photosynthesis. They do help replicate the dusk/dawn mode, however this is not essential.

 

[bang guy]

I disagree with both of you.
I don't believe it's required for photosynthesis but I do believe it is useful for photosynthesis.
In my experience most corals can adapt to any visible wavelength of light.

 

[geoj]

You can use them but some corals don't look good or even grow under the light.
Warning!!! Educational Information Ahead Your Head May Explode!!!
I know that there is a lot of info in the charts below but if you take the time to read them you answer is here. In short the first chart shows the light that corals and plants can use to grow. The others just give you info so you can determent if the light is usable.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Woah - well, I guess I am wrong and right. LOL
Learn something new every day!

 

[geoj]

Now that first chart shows that at around 520-620nm the light is not very useful at growing corals or plants. That color range is greenish-yellow to orangish-red. This is the same color of light that soft white light mostly consists of.

 

[bang guy]

Just to be clear, the charts show which wavelengths are optimal for photosynthesis. Not coral growth.

 

[geoj]

The Absorption % is how much of the light is absorb by the pigments. According to the chart 0 % of green is absorb so most green if not all is reflected, and this is why plants leaves are mostly green.

 

[geoj]

Just to be clear, the charts show which wavelengths are optimal for photosynthesis.  Not coral growth.
Yes, in some corals optimal for photosynthesis will equal coral growth other not so much. If it was that easy we would have it all figured out. :laughing: Now look at the light water depth penetration. If you know at what depth of water your coral lives you can determine the amount of a given wavelength of light it would receive.

 

[bang guy]

Zooxanthellae are a major reason why absorption and Coral growth do not correlate exactly. The was an i depth study of this some years back, wish I could remember who did it, but the results were very surprising. It seems that different species and subspecies of Zooxanthellae specialize in different wavelengths of light. This means that if there is an abundance of green light, the Zooxanthelle that specialize in that range of light will reproduce faster and the coral can still grow.

 

[geoj]

Yes, and other factors like pigments that can transport the light from one wavelength to other more usable light. The other part is intensity of the light and this is where people can be thrown off. All of the older light sources were better at producing light in the soft light range and then were modified with phosphors to color up corals. So if you have a lot of light from an source that is inefficient you still get growth. This would explain why people fry there corals with LED lights as the light is more efficiently use. I think knowing the depth the coral comes from and providing that ratio of wavelength is the right way to go.

 

[bang guy]

Knowing more about the animals you keep to match their wild environment as best you can is allways a good thing. We agree there for sure.

 

[andrewjardin]

WOW, this was a much more in depth coversation to come back to then I was expecting, but i'm glad I did! Very interesting and informative points to think about here, as well as a little confusing! So overall using any LED is the same, it all just depends on the colour spectrum output, because every coral is different. Interesting, so for example if I had a tank full of two types of coral one from approximately 200m depth and the other from 100m depth, I would want an LED with a spectrum with mostly Blue and Violet wavelengths? Am I understanding this right?

 

[andrewjardin]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/391566/question-about-leds-and-what-type-is-usable#post_3473345
I'm not completely on the up and up as far as LEDs go... However, I can offer a little bit of information.
Corals also need blue/actinic light in order to photosynthesize. I have seen a bulb like this over the top of a 3g aquarium, but the guy also had nine small actinic LEDs attached to it to give it supplemental lighting.
I personally think you would be far better off getting a PAR38 bulb that is made for aquariums - some even have additional LED colors that allow pretty accurate tweaking with a REMOTE CONTROL! All for under $100.
Spotlights are good for small aquariums... 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20g tanks - but they do not provide the coverage that larger aquariums need. IE... Spotlight.
PAR38 bulbs also have the disadvantage of needing a really high socket above the tank to screw in to. - and it can not fit in a traditional canopy.
Just my .02
JW Snake, thanks for that reference, question though, you're saying that these light bulbs are sufficient to support coral growth and colouration? But only in a tank within the 5-20 Gallon range?

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewjardin http:///t/391566/question-about-leds-and-what-type-is-usable#post_3473638
JW Snake, thanks for that reference, question though, you're saying that these light bulbs are sufficient to support coral growth and colouration? But only in a tank within the 5-20 Gallon range?
Yes, they can support coral growth - but the reason why I say that they are only for smaller aquariums is because they are spotlights - they do not have a great amount of coverage. For the money, it's better to go with led fixtures with broader coverage for larger tanks. These little spotlights are better for smaller tanks because of the coverage. I hope I said all that right. lol.
PAR38 bulbs can definitely support coral growth - but it's best to try to select one with multiple spectrums. Not just blue and white - and you should be able to control the color spectrum and the dim ability with a control of some sort. Some PAR38 bulbs are way too powerful - as are some LED fixtures... at full light ability... and actually sunburn the corals. So, caution!
I have a two month old daughter that I have been taking care of. I haven't gotten much sleep in a while and if I mumble or don't make sense sometimes, I blame it on sleep deprivation - just a little FYI.