LED light system

[bshmerlie]

whats the tank space and Heights..?
Or do you already know how many lumens you need per each?

Well as far as I understand it 2000 lumens per square foot is the minimum and 3000 would be better. 18 inches will be the height of all the tanks. The more I'm researching it the more it doesn't seem like LED's are the way to go. Yes they do sell some nice units but they get really expensive...really fast. All the less expensive ones just don't seem to cut it when it comes to plant growth. I also saw the ones at AAA Frogs and I'm a little skeptical. I think I'm going to let others try that first before I fork over the $200 bucks for each shelf. I was doing some research last night on the Marineland double bright LEDs and it seems like everyone went out and bought them in 2010 because they were so cheap but then latter it was determined they weren't optimal for plant growth. Anybody have any connections with the high quality cheap LED lights? Yeah...I know cheap and high quality don't usually come together. Just asking? So where does that leave me? ....I guess CFL's. Which ones do you guys think would be best for low heat and good plant growth for a 48 inch rack? or maybe ways to cool the closet will be my next course of action.....hmmm bathroom vents in the ceiling...thats an idea.

[MikeM670]

I guess I would go with T5 bulbs then. You can get fixtures to hang under the racks and they come in 2, 4,6 build configurations. Then mix and match the type of T5 bulb you need. I have a T5 setup with 2 bulbs on my 55 gallon. I'd really like it to be 4 bulbs for higher plant lighting. But things seem to be growing. In fact I have to do some major trimming to allow more light in.

I'd like to see AAAFrogs put out some more videos of their lighting LED products. Show them over actual viv's so we can judge for ourselves.

[bshmerlie]

Has anyone bought AAA Frogs LEDs and tried them yet? Although it is probably still too early to be sure about plant growth. Hmm maybe I should email him for references.

[ZachTurner]

Well as far as I understand it 2000 lumens per square foot is the minimum and 3000 would be better. 18 inches will be the height of all the tanks. The more I'm researching it the more it doesn't seem like LED's are the way to go. Yes they do sell some nice units but they get really expensive...really fast. All the less expensive ones just don't seem to cut it when it comes to plant growth. I also saw the ones at AAA Frogs and I'm a little skeptical. I think I'm going to let others try that first before I fork over the $200 bucks for each shelf. I was doing some research last night on the Marineland double bright LEDs and it seems like everyone went out and bought them in 2010 because they were so cheap but then latter it was determined they weren't optimal for plant growth. Anybody have any connections with the high quality cheap LED lights? Yeah...I know cheap and high quality don't usually come together. Just asking? So where does that leave me? ....I guess CFL's. Which ones do you guys think would be best for low heat and good plant growth for a 48 inch rack? or maybe ways to cool the closet will be my next course of action.....hmmm bathroom vents in the ceiling...thats an idea.

Yep.. Plants in seedling and clone stage require about 400-500 lumens per square foot. In vegetative growth they require about 2,500 lumens per square foot and in flowering, they can require upwards 10,000 lumens per square foot.
While LED strips put out great lighting intensity it doesnt defuse well at all, making for poor lighting unless run alongside something like Metal Halides
A Lot of people have switched to T5s.
Setup prior to t5s most of our tanks we run dual 96w Power compacts. I should note Most of our tanks are Orchid Terrariums and run 7000–7500 lm per square foot.
The Bathroom Vent is ingenious!.

[AAAfrogs]

SO I was emailed about this thread, and though I haven't read through it I thought I'd put in some input towards LED lighting. *There are a few things people get confused on, and understandable as many people dont understand what the terms relate to. First off:
One: watts pertains to power drawn, not light output. IE: a 15W cfl may be the equivalent to a 60W normal incandescent bulb in light output. LUMINOUS INTENSITY pertains to the output of light, and light temp or spectral peak (nm) is where the LEDs wavelength peaks on your spectral graph. you can have 2000lum/ft2 of the wrong spectral peak and your plants wont do anything except probably burn.

So in our LED light systems we use 3 different LEDs (in the 10gal version there are 20x 5mm LEDs.) Some warm, some cool temps. SO different nm peaks. (there are many threads through out dendroboard that go into different spectral peaks and what you would want for plants.) IE: 430-450nm, 630nm-660nm.

The Luminosity mcd (thousandths of a candela) rating on the bulbs we use range from 1400 to 15000. Keep in mind that the viewing angle will effect what this really means to you. IE: a 2000 mcd 30° LED puts out just as much light as am 8000 mcd LED with a 15° viewing angle. We played around with viewing angles A LOT in designing this as that is the problem w/ Lighting a vert tank. Not the temps, not the light out put, thats easy that can be done w/ any lighting type. But getting the light to fill the depth and height of a vert is where the trick is. BUT then you have to worry about shadows, and the array as far as placement of the LEDs becomes a factor.

So one thing to really think about. Say you use t8s, can get daylight bulbs in t8s pretty cheap from places like HomeDepot. They work fine, minus the heat, power, size, and that you have to raise them above the tank or use fans to keep them cool. So why use them? Most people who buy CFLs, T8s, T5s whatever are over compensating. They are single spectral peaks so they make up for that fact with high intensity. Where if they had the dual spectral peaks that plants really need they can get by with half the intensity.

Arguments against LEDs, well you have the fact that they dont disperse well.. that goes into placement, viewing angle, etc. So with a little design work like we have done you get the spread of light that is needed. Plant growth is all to spectral peaks thats where the power is at.

[AAAfrogs]

we have been doing a lot of video work with our new "pod cast" with episode 2 uploading tuesday. We plan on having more LED videos in future episodes.

[bshmerlie]

I'm assuming you guys have done tests on actual tanks with plants...correct? If so for how long?

[AAAfrogs]

We've had a LED light on a 10gal since we finalized our design, its doing quite well. We designed our LED light systems in collaboration with an electrical engineer, and Light Expert. Again we plan on having more LED light segments throughout our frogcast.

[MikeM670]

I'm looking forward to seeing this. I believe LED lighting will play a major part in lighting for vivariums in the future. Other then cost which will go down like all new innovations or products the benefit will be great. Lower heat, lower power consumption, ability to control the lighting environment.