LED vs Flourescent Lighting

Hi all -
So I have this 110 gallon tall tank with Mbuna in it.. and the bulbs need changing.. It had corallife 10000k and actinic blue fluorescent bulbs in it. The bulbs are very old so I was off to replace them. Little did I know how confusing this would be.. Seems to be a theme ..

For a tank like mine - with a couple of live plants in it also - should I just stick with the fluorescent bulbs I had and replace them - or do I need different bulbs - like colormax?? 50/50...

Or do I need to look at the LED?
Lots of questions about LED - like do I ever have to replace the LED lights? It seems like they are programmable etc.. Is it just overkill and I should stick with the flourescents?

Last I saw these strips - very confusing .. They can hang on the hood? Can they get wet?

These must seem like silly questions - but I don't get it

Mike

Ever since I switched from fluorescent to LED, I will never want to switch back. The LED bring out the color of the fish better than fluorescent, and uses far less wattage for the same brightness. There are also choices of different color from sunlight, actinic to pink, and you can hang above the hood or submerged inside the tank. I like to mount submerged on the top front to direct the light towards the front that above the hood mounting cannot achieve. Ebay sell many aquarium LED tubes that can be mount inside your fluorescent hood or submerged such as this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Sub-17-...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item461611920e

My dozen of LED tubes have been in use for over 2 years and all are still working and I don't observe any decline in brightness, but it's hard to tell for sure without instrument to measure. One difference between LED and fluorescent is that LED is more directional so you need more lines of light to cover the width of the tank. How good LED is for plant I don't know because I don't grow plant. But I notice that there is less algae growth on the glass because I direct the light away from the glass, and that white light grow more algae than blue as I have to regularly scrap off algae growth on my submersible LED.

I have LEDs on my 300 and my dad's tank and I love them. it looks more natural, and rarely brake. I've had my 4' LED for 5+ years and the previous owner had it for 3. I've never needed to mess with it or change it, it works just as well as it did when I bought it. You really never need to replace them and some lights are programmable. All of mine are the cheaper ones that just turn on and off, but allot of the nicer models can do some cool things. I saw these expensive reef lights that could shine 6 different colors and could simulate different weather patterns. The thunerstorm setting was real impressive.
I dont know much about plants with LEDs. My planted tank is lighted with flourescents and it works fine.

mikemanis said:

For a tank like mine - with a couple of live plants in it also - should I just stick with the fluorescent bulbs I had and replace them - or do I need different bulbs - like colormax?? 50/50...

Or do I need to look at the LED?
Lots of questions about LED - like do I ever have to replace the LED lights? It seems like they are programmable etc.. Is it just overkill and I should stick with the flourescents?

Last I saw these strips - very confusing .. They can hang on the hood? Can they get wet?

Click to expand...

You can stick with what you've got, but I don't recommend actinic blue on a freshwater tank. I'd go with a 10000K bulb and a 6700K bulb.

You certainly don't need LED, but they are nice. They generally use less electricity and don't need replacement every year. That will offset the initially higher cost.

Some can get wet, but my experience with those isn't very good.

Some are programmable, but they cost more.

I'd recommend going with the better known names: Fluval, Marineland, Finnex, or a Current Satellite. You'd really need to do research to figure out what fixture is right for you. Low light plants (java fern, anubias, java moss) will be okay with most fixtures. Other plants require more powerful fixtures. Prices are coming down, but they're still not all that cheap.

Whether or not to get programmable LED lights is a personal decision, based on how much you're into "tech." A lot have built in timers, a lot of them have only two modes -- on and off! Some have the option to be programmable, while others are straight of the box. You can get units that will slowly "ramp" up simulating daybreak and sunset, and even ones that'll mimic electric storms and rain. Hell, I have seen a light that has a port on it for speakers, and it'll include the SOUND of thunder with the lightening.

A lot of that is gimmicks. You certainly don't need to have storms, or changing cloud cover, or any of that for the tank. Is it neat? Sure. Is it fun to play with? Yea, absolutely. Will the novelty wear off in six months and you'll never touch it again? Probably.

In my experience, most people will find a setting on the lights they like, and eventually leave it there.

LEDs never need changing. Depending on your use and your luck, somewhere between five and ten years from now, you'll throw them out and replace them with new ones. Who knows what'll be available by then? We might be lighting our tanks with super efficient incandescent again, or simply running a tube of super luminescent plasma from the warp reactor's waste. You don't ever replace or change any bulbs in the meantime.

In theory, a fluorescent bulb (including a PC or any other type of fluorescent) needs changed about once every 6-9 months (depending on use). If you use them until they're burnt out, you're really using a lot of electricity for a little bit of low quality, low intensity light. They dim and change colour as they age. This doesn't happen with a LED. It'll burn true until, someday, it dies.

We (Batfish Aquatics) stock and carry custom LED lights; they're good, high quality lights, and made in the US.

JW

So I have spent the last hour poking around looking for an LED light.. I am worried that since my tank is 30" tall and 48" long that the typical 48" will not be enough light...
I was looking for one that had a timer built in, maybe night mode, not much else..

I was looking at the current one and I don't need a wireless remote.. I was looking at the marineland one and I am not sure it will put out enough light...

JW - I looked on your site and looks like I have to speak to someoner - can you PM me?

I really don't want to spend a ton of money.

Suggestions?

Mike

Led are the way to go for color and longevity, if you're not trying to spend an arm or a leg I'd look at beamswork lights, I just bought a 72" double bright fixture for 66$ shipped and it looks great, has two modes for day and night as well. I wouldn't use it for planted tanks since the output is better on other lights but for fish only can't beat it.

mikemanis said:

So I have spent the last hour poking around looking for an LED light.. I am worried that since my tank is 30" tall and 48" long that the typical 48" will not be enough light...
I was looking for one that had a timer built in, maybe night mode, not much else..

I was looking at the current one and I don't need a wireless remote.. I was looking at the marineland one and I am not sure it will put out enough light...

JW - I looked on your site and looks like I have to speak to someoner - can you PM me?

I really don't want to spend a ton of money.

Suggestions?

Mike

Click to expand...

Send him an email. Batfishaquatics@gmail.com

We've used all varieties of Current Satellite LEDs. Overall, we've had a couple that failed within weeks of purchase but they were good about filling the warranty because we bought through a licensed dealer (i.e. NOT Amazon).

The brands that Batfish sells are higher quality and built to order. Really nice lights.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

I have a dozen Beamwork LED tubes ordered from Ebay. I mount half of them submerged on the top front hinge, and the other half I lay on top of the tank. The submerged tubes give front lighting of my fish that the fluorescent hood light cannot provide. All continue to work after 2 years and I am happy with the light quality. A couple tubes came in with broken glass, but I received replacement promptly. They don't come with fancy programmable switches, and I hook them up to timers and manually switch on day and night color as desired.

Thunder LEDs

JLW said:

...Hell, I have seen a light that has a port on it for speakers, and it'll include the SOUND of thunder with the lightening.

Click to expand...

Josh,
Does the company selling these promise the fish will enjoy this--lol? Will the "thunder" scare the heck outa Dingo--you remember Dingo, Josh, aka Scared-of-his-own-shadow--as nature's thunder does?
Just curious.
--Terri