New Lighting Help - NOOB!

[dankolle]

Hey guys, I am trying to upgrade from petsmart glow lights (2x 40 watts) and (2x 40 watts) actinic blue. I don't have a lot of money so I was on ebay and wanted your opinion on this:

AQUARIUM LED LIGHT TUBE 10,000k 198 leds - eBay (item 230357434361 end time Jul-21-09 17:02:27 PDT)

I have heard LEDs are bad but these say they are in the 10,000K range. Can I use this for my aquarium? I am trying to get my coraline going and I'm convinced I have poor lighting...

 

[ndepratt]

i guess you could give it a try.....

 

[daugherty]

10k is just the color unless they are very good leds that they wont work well at all. i would not waste my money on one myself

 

[dankolle]

Ok, now my question is I am trying to get about 8 watts per gallon. I found this:
http://aquarium.union.rpi.edu/articles/DIY_MH.html

My question is do I need to have more than one light to distribute it evenly across the aquarium or can I just run one 400 watt light in the center? My dimensions are 48" x 12" x 18" (wide, deep, tall)

 

[project5k]

if your willing to give it a shot, and then let us know what you think that would be really cool, but i have to call Bravo Serria on his ebay add,

it sais
"Gives 100 Watts of light" but light isnt measured in watts, 100 watts of power on an incandescent light is different from the light you get with 100 watts of power going into a flourescent.

another thing, it sais that there is 198 led's, each putting out 3.5 lumens, but then it also says that its output is 697 lumens, but 3.5*198 dosent equal 697.

not to mention that the only approval is a ce approval, not a UL, and as we have all heard the horror stories about non UL approved devices....

it also sais water resistant, sorry, resistant? something like that either needs to be proof and submersable, or dont bother mentioning it at all,

if you try one, and if its really as good as advertised, and if its actually safe, then i'll pick up a few of them, but till i see some proof, i'm putting that one in the "too good to be true" pile.

 

[bjohanson1234]

not to mention that solaris LED fixtures are in the thousand dollar range. Remember in marine aquariums and in most aspects of life, you get what you pay for

Brian

 

[ndepratt]

not to mention that solaris LED fixtures are in the thousand dollar range. Remember in marine aquariums and in most aspects of life, you get what you pay for

Brian

new solaris fixtures don't exist.... PFO got sued into non-existence... don't get me started on how BS that was.

MH coverage = 2ft.
a DIY MH setup can be very cost effective.

 

[bjohanson1234]

thanks for that info. I havent researched any lights since I got my t5's a few years ago.

Brian

 

[ndepratt]

Lawsuit | glassbox-design.com
good reading....

 

[bjohanson1234]

from what I understand, the pattent dispute is on the dimming control not the use of LEDS. But I also am not a lawyer and for good reason. This legal crap just ticks me off. Any one that has taken a couple electronics classes could very easily design a basic LED dimmer. And then them saying something about there not being any cooling devices and our patent shows cooling fans. 90% of lighting hoods have fans!!!! To me, that patent should not have gotten through the patent office. It was too vague.

But like I said, there is a reason I am an electrician not a lawyer

Brian

 

[ndepratt]

i think you're correct in every way.

but anyway... on to the question at hand :P