Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Tanks and Equipment => Topic started by: Sanjo on April 13, 2015, 06:23:03 PM
-
Has anyone used the clip on LEDs available from Amazon or Ebay. The 48 LED blue/Blue-white/White kind ?
-
I checked them out before plumping for my Arcadia Stretch LED. If you just want to light up your tank to see the fish I think they'll be fine, though I read somewhere (no idea where as I searched the entire web for advice) that they may not be the right spectrum/powerful enough to grow plants adequately. The general consensus was that the Arcadia was the best bang for your buck.
-
The blue/white combination is probably not the best for bringing out the colours in your fish as it's a rather "cold" light. I find lighting with more red in the spectrum makes the fish look much more colourful.
-
Thanks both of you.
Does the arcadia stretch fit under a hood of does it have to be free standing, do you know?
-
Its designed to clip on the edge of the glass, but can either hang or arch over the tank depending on your needs. You could quite easily fit in inside the hood of your tank by drilling two small holes either end and feeding the frame through them. If you're interested I could take some pics of my light to help explain tomorrow. Though it may be easier/cheaper to buy an LED bulb that fits your current setup.
-
Thanks Cod. I'm sure I could figure something out. I like a bit of DIY and it's not as if I could ruin this hood. Boy did he see me coming!
Theres a big melted bit on the onside where he had obviously laid something hot and it melted the plastic. Obviously didn't see it in the dark and I was too trusting Never mind. Tatty tank or not, I'm still enjoying the fish and snail who has taken to pooing for England for some reason and it isn't due to over feeding as I watch to see it's all eaten.
In fact I've been a little concerned that the way he and the corys munch on the algae (Which there couldn't have been much of in a new tank) that the snail might be hungry.
I could get a replacement and The Range has a proper aquarium one that's guite cheap but the fish freak out when the internal light goes on as it is noisy. They don't react in the same way when the LED goes on.
The other thing is, of course, that the other half is keen on LED because it's cheaper.
Oh decisions decisions. I'll toss a coin. OR better yet, I'll get the cheaper LED and when it packs up, as I expect it will, I can point out that you get what you pay for!!
The saving grace iss, my husband does not like the light from the currrent reptile tube as it is very dim. Probably very old, like the filter.
-
Reptile tubes aren't really suitable for fish. They put out light in the UV and infrared that fish don't require. The UV may well be harmful.
The simplest LED lights for an existing hood are direct tube replacements. I know these are available for T8 tubes. They just plug into your existing fluorescent fitting. They require a bit of rewiring as they don't use the fluorescent ballast. But it's very simple. They should be available easily on the for about £10-£15 each.
-
Thanks Steve. I'm sure I did see that somewhere about the light being dodgy for fish but I thought it referred to old lights making it dangerous.
Indeed, this must be n old tube since the wording is worn partly off. It's not a good light in any case.
I'll check out what else is around
-
I'm so glad to see this thread as I wanted to ask about lighting. My boot sale buy came with an led strip light made by bellesson, it automatically changes colour from red to pink, purple and blue. I also have marina led lights in red, green, blue connected to a central hub. My tank has live plants in and I was wondering if the LEDs would provide them with the right light to grow or would I need to buy something else?
-
Having no technical knowledge whatsoever Fiona! I can only say from my own experience.
With the 22litre Aquaone nano came an LED 8 watt which has I think 8 lights in it and lights the tank beautifully. The plants in that one seem to be doing well, as do the marimo balls (admittedly they are now in the window bay but they haven't always been)
I have a lot of "pearling" on the marimos which I have googled and discovered that that is a good sign as they are photosynthaesising.
As a cheap option until I make up my mind what I want for the bigger tank I did order a cheap 45+ LED (3 watt) from Ebay.
It wasn't a patch on the 8 watt which I had borrowed from the nano. Partly I felt because not all the LEDs were as bright as each other. I complained to the seller and sent him a photo and he was very fair and said he would send me another one for £2 postage so I now have one each side of the tank. It has improved the lighting but I don't feel it's the right kind of light for the plants.
The other half likes it because obviously it's a much cheaper usage option than a "proper" light.
I hope somebody more knowledgeable can help.
-
I did read the article on lighting on this website but it didn't really help. I think I need Sue or Richard. Yoohoo! :wave: where are you guys?
-
I am as useless with lights as I am with plants :-[
I have just one tank with led lighting and that's the Aqua One betta's tank. With led's (thanks to SteveS for telling me this) you have to go by the PAR rating, so I emailed Aqua One to ask them, and their figure put my light in the 'medium' strength category (PAR of 35 at 30cm).
-
Lights in red, green and blue should provide a full spectrum of light, so from that point of view they should be OK for plants, but it depends on the output as well. Personally I would always prefer a white light. perhaps mixed with a red one for "colour enhancement". I only have one tank that came with LED lighting as standard, it's a 60 litre tank and has two rows of 12 LEDs, i.e. 24 in total, one row is red and the other white. I was a bit sceptical, but in fact not only do they give the perfect amount and colour of light for viewing the fish, but plants have grown extremely well. With LEDs being so cheap these days, I'm surprised more tanks don't come with LED lighting as standard since they are more economical to run and much longer lasting than fluorescent tubes. I'm thinking of converting all of mine at some time but that will have to wait until autumn as I'm just entering my super busy work period.
I'm not sure about the light that changes colour automatically, do you mean it cycles through the colours like some sort of Christmas tree decoration? It sounds pretty strange and I couldn't say how it would affect plants.
-
Yup it cycles just like xmas tree lights. I attached a piccy of it.
Unfortunately I don't have a white light but as long as I'm getting a full specrum of light and the plants grow ok I'll be happy. It's only an 18 litre tank and the lighting does reach the bottom. My son calls it my disco tank and it is a wee bit garish for my tastes so I may well end up buying white lights.