# flood light LED's



## somewhatshocked

You can find the same thing on the various auction sites, as well.

There are a few tank journals here on TPT that utilize those LEDs. May want to search them out.


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## Hilde

I bought 1 via Ebay from LED wholesalers to use over a 20G. Cost was $35.50 (including shipping). I wish I had not bought it. I floods the living room.


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## somewhatshocked

Many of these LEDs can be dimmed and it's more than simple to prevent light from spreading outside the tank with shields and such.


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## james1542

I got a 30w of this type of light, from a US seller with a plug. It's spectrum is around 5k, but it's pretty nice to look at. I did add a 2-3" aluminum foil shroud to cut down on what Hilde is talking about. I hung it high over a 20L, it should be bright enough to grow whatever plants I want. I'm still setting up the tank though, so I can't tell you how the plants grow, but I do plan to start a thread on here for it.

The 10w version, from what I gathered is around 900 lumens, so mine should be cranking over 2500.


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## Hilde

james1542 said:


> I got a 30w of this type of light, from a US seller with a plug.
> 
> I did add a 2-3" aluminum foil shroud to cut down on what Hilde is talking about.


I had to splice a 3 prong cord, which was from a PC, onto mine. If you have to that let me know and I'll help you match the colors.

I would like to see a picture of the aluminium shroud. Seems something that could be done in a short time. Working 2 jobs my time is limited.


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## acitydweller

I'm interested in getting two 10w floods for two 10g tanks but was concerned with both the Kelvin and light spread being too wide. How high did you both hang your fixtures?


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## james1542

Here's the tank pre setup.









Mine says 4-4500k on it. it was sold as white, but for a 30W with a plug it was the only option, it's actually not very yellow. I'd try to get one sold as "cool white" should be close to 6500k. The shroud, was taking some "great value" aluminum foil, folding it over ~3 times-in the desired width, trimming it to the right length, then scotch taping it to the fixture. It doesn't get very hot so it should be fine for now. IF you rest it right on the tank, the spread won't be an issue though. I plan to have an emersed grow box behind the tank(the black thing), plus it's just one light and a 30" tank-that is why I hung it up high.


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## HEINEKEN357

I have the 2x20w led flood 6500-7000k ($51 shipped ebay) on my 28g and also have 10w led ($13 shipped) on a 7g tall they work great so far. 
link will show the 2x20w leds 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=194214


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## somewhatshocked

HEINEKEN357: Any shots of the 10w you're using?


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## acitydweller

im debating on whether 10w will be enough or 20w will be too many lumens on a 10g.

most of these auctions on ebay show a 3 wire setup and i noticed some are also DC only (likely for car and boat applications).

Was it as simple as wiring up the black/white and red cables from the lamp to a power plug or did you have to use a transformer


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## james1542

acitydweller said:


> im debating on whether 10w will be enough or 20w will be too many lumens on a 10g.
> 
> most of these auctions on ebay show a 3 wire setup and i noticed some are also DC only (likely for car and boat applications).
> 
> Was it as simple as wiring up the black/white and red cables from the lamp to a power plug or did you have to use a transformer


The 10w should be enough, but if you can spring for the 20w, you can always raise it, or add floating plants. 

I suggest filtering the results to US sellers, and maybe add the term plug to the search terms. The plugged 10W should be around 25 bucks total, and the 20W should be around 35.


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## Hilde

acitydweller said:


> Was it as simple as wiring up the black/white and red cables from the lamp to a power plug.


Yes just the colors were:
Yellow/green to green
Brown to black
Blue to white

10 gallon with 10 wat LED flood light


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## james1542

Someone should start a LED Flood club thread to showcase all the tanks putting these to use.


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## somewhatshocked

Or just use the search feature...


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## Hilde

james1542 said:


> Someone should start a LED Flood club


I like that idea with pics of tanks.


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## acitydweller

i would as soon as mine arrive LOL...

great idea on using the pc power plug as i have hundreds laying around. just ordered the 10 and 20 watt lamps to test out sans plugs as it actually quadruples in price...


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## somewhatshocked

This post from last year motivated me to try them out.

Planning to use the one I have on a new 10gal. Never quite got around to wiring mine up. Thanks for motivating me, folks.


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## Hilde

Got mine via EBay from LED wholesalers. Here is the 1 I got from them. I felt this 1 had better reflection than the others. Only saved a few bucks getting it on EBay.

It is only 10watts. It is only usefull over a low tank like a 10 g or 20g


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## somewhatshocked

If one searches eBay, you'll find them for $10-$15 shipped within the US.


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## james1542

somewhatshocked said:


> This post from last year motivated me to try them out.
> 
> Planning to use the one I have on a new 10gal. Never quite got around to wiring mine up. Thanks for motivating me, folks.


Nice link, that takes the scary out of wiring up the plug. If you order the sans plug model, these things are the cheapest lighting option hands down, as the 10w costs around 10 bucks, you cant even buy a clamp on light with CFL bulb for that.


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## HEINEKEN357

somewhatshocked said:


> HEINEKEN357: Any shots of the 10w you're using?


Here you go. 
Tank is 10x8x17 and with that 10w led I get 31par


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## james1542

Nice tank! Is that 31 par at the substrate?


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## HEINEKEN357

james1542 said:


> Nice tank! Is that 31 par at the substrate?


Thanks.. Yes forgot to add that .


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## acitydweller

with a par of 31, is that considered low light? Maybe the glass lid is lowering the reading on the sensor.


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## james1542

That is a 17" deep tank, and standard aquarium glass will block about 15% of light allegedly. If you have a deeper tank, I would buy the highest wattage you can afford, and hang it high/shade it out as needed-although I don't think you would need more than the 50W in a planted tank. 

From looking at that tank though, that is not low light, at least medium in my eye-but I suppose a par meter is better than the eye test.


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## acitydweller

yeah, i was going to say, it certainly looks at least medium to high but sometimes the camera can be be decieving due to the quality of the light sensor.

I intend to test the 10W on a 10gallon (12" height) and test 2 20w on a 30 gallon (36"wide x 16" height).


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## james1542

Excited to hear how those work for ya. Do you have a par meter to check those with?


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## acitydweller

I think heartnet has one. I'll have to borrow it from him, hopefully We can at our next swap meet in a week or so.


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## Sethjohnson30

So has anyone tried out the 10w on a 10g.....I am this weekend


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## Hilde

Sethjohnson30 said:


> So has anyone tried out the 10w on a 10g.....I am this weekend


WaterLogged has 1 over his 10G. Like a flood light I found that the light overflows the area.


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## Sethjohnson30

Will it give me high light?


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## Hilde

Sethjohnson30 said:


> Will it give me high light?


No! Just medium light! Plant list here


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## Sethjohnson30

Perfect medium light is what I want for this tank


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## Hilde

You need to build a canopy to keep the light from flooding the room though. I have it 6in above 29G tank and the light reaches the end of the room, which is 17ft.


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## Sethjohnson30

Well that kind of sucks I plan on using these on my 6x10g rack 

2 of these tanks I want to be high light for propagating plants. I was thinking I would get 20w for those but I don't know if I have enough room to hang them high enough


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## james1542

You don't have to hang them that high, If it's right on the tank, then you won't need to do anything, if it's a few inches above, you might want to build a reflector shroud kind of like I did to shunt the stray light downward. Hilde is right tho, they are wide angle (120 I think).


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## Hilde

Sethjohnson30 said:


> I plan on using these on my 6x10g rack


It might still work. You could string some thick material in the front and sides. I hung material over a shelf to my 10G. I will experiment tomorrow to see how high you need it for a 10G.


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## Sethjohnson30

Awesome thanks. I plan on wiring this up and getting the tank in the rack this weekend I guess for now I will drop it right on top it's got to be better than the desk lamp cfl combo I have.


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## james1542

If you don't get full coverage with one, just add a second light-but it does look sweet having dark edges in a tank with a really bright center.


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## Sethjohnson30

I wired it up it. It seems that my one cfl puts off more light I think I'm gonna need two of these lights per a tank 
Tapatalk is not allowing me to post a pics but I don't even think this one light will be enough to grow anything


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## Sethjohnson30

It may not look as bright but my lux meter begs to differ 

Cfl-1000 lux
Led flood-1300


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## Hilde

Sethjohnson30 said:


> It may not look as bright but my lux meter begs to differ
> 
> Cfl-1000 lux
> Led flood-1300


I agree!


Sethjohnson30 said:


> It seems I'm gonna need two of these lights per a tank
> I don't even think this one light will be enough to grow anything


I think 1 per 10G tank is enough. Proof is WaterLogged 10G planted tank with 1 over it. Just raise it until the light covers the tank.


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## Sethjohnson30

I have the light mounted about perfect I think























It doesn't put out nearly as much excess light as the t5's on my 72


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## Hilde

Sethjohnson30 said:


> I have the light mounted about perfect I think
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It doesn't put out nearly as much excess light as the t5's on my 72


Yeh!! Certainly should help keep electricty usuage down.

Could intensify the light to the bottom with reflectors. 

Read the back of for sales signs is reflective material. Perhaps where they make signs you could get some with no writing on them.


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## Sethjohnson30

I I could probably fab something up out I aluminum then polish it but I'm not sure I need more light I kind of like it the way it is  

The bottom tanks will be high light tanks I may use 20w led flood lights on those and just use screen to filter it. Or I may just blast them with light co2 and ferts. They will be fishless. So I can push the limits and see how fast I can get plants to grow


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## james1542

Interesting how it doesn't appear as bright as CFL, but then it has more lux. I don't have a lux meter, but I do have a solar fan I made by cutting up a solar powered fan hat, and it will not turn on when you put it up to a CFL bulb, but if you put it under my LED floodlight, it goes, under my metal halide, it goes. Lets face it, fluorescent is great technology when you want to throw light all over to illuminate a room, but when you want a substitute for sunshine, not just from a grow some plants stand point, but from an aesthetics standpoint as well-it falls short.


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## Sethjohnson30

That's good to know I have a couple of those fans. I wanted to use them under my t5ho but even with all 4 on they don't work. I will have to try one out under my led


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## Sethjohnson30

On my riparium I have 2 t5ho bulbs in a Hagen glo fixture it is elevated about 20" off the surface I'm thinking I may try to replace it with a 20w LFL (led floodlight) any input?


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## Sethjohnson30

The light is much brighter than that in person


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## acitydweller

IME, skip the 10W and go 20. 40 is much better.

10w is low to medium light. i wouldnt have believed it unless i saw it just now. will have to post photos but my phone is now dead.


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## Sethjohnson30

acitydweller said:


> IME, skip the 10W and go 20. 40 is much better.
> 
> 10w is low to medium light. i wouldnt have believed it unless i saw it just now. will have to post photos but my phone is now dead.


I should go 20w for the high light 10g? Or are you talking about the riparium(wich I plan on going 20w)


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## acitydweller

I tested a 10w led flood lamp on a 5.5g and it was somewhat disappointing. The lighting was nearly thoughs lightly less than what I am seeing using a 26w 6500k cfl using a clamp light fixture. Again, I'll have to post photos this morning.

Both pics also include the glass top for which the lamps were placed and floaters on the surface of the tank. I have a pair of 20w led floods which I planned on using on my 55 g but may go to the 40 w now ....


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## Sethjohnson30

How are you measuring the light?


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## mach_six

acitydweller said:


> I tested a 10w led flood lamp on a 5.5g and it was somewhat disappointing. The lighting was nearly thoughs lightly less than what I am seeing using a 26w 6500k cfl using a clamp light fixture. Again, I'll have to post photos this morning.
> 
> Both pics also include the glass top for which the lamps were placed and floaters on the surface of the tank. I have a pair of 20w led floods which I planned on using on my 55 g but may go to the 40 w now ....


I bet if it has a lens to narrow the beam it would be more functional, of course that just adds to the cost. 

that sounds disappointing. 

Is the light spread too wide?


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## james1542

I'd go for the highest wattage your budget allows, although you would probably get the most watts per dollar through multiple or bulk 10W fixtures. You can always deploy some floaters or raise it up if it's too much light. Look forward to seeing the pics acitydweller.

I've got a 10W round model on the way (6500k)-looks pretty snazzy. One ebay listing said it is submersible-not that I'm going to do that. I'm going to put it over my emersed grow bed on my 20L.

This is the one, allegedly yields 900 lumens (I didn't go for the RGB with remote that costs 10 bucks more):


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## Sethjohnson30

My square 10w puts out 1300 lumens but I have no idea how to convert that to par or how many lumens high,medium,and low light is for led


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## acitydweller

For comparison







versus









The light intensity certainly is greater on the Flood but the difference becomes more evident once you raise the fixture 1 and 2 inches.

The CFL lamp actually improved the spread without loss to the intensity of the light downward whereas the LED flood dramatically became dimmer directly below the lamp itself when raised.

IN fairness, 30% of the water surface is covered by floaters so this isnt a true representation of the lamp but its what i could muster last night near midnight with my camera phone.


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## GOJIRADOR

acitydweller said:


> For comparison
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> versus
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The light intensity certainly is greater on the Flood but the difference becomes more evident once you raise the fixture 1 and 2 inches.
> 
> The CFL lamp actually improved the spread without loss to the intensity of the light downward whereas the LED flood dramatically became dimmer directly below the lamp itself when raised.
> 
> IN fairness, 30% of the water surface is covered by floaters so this isnt a true representation of the lamp but its what i could muster last night near midnight with my camera phone.


Your bulb seems a lot less bright than others, specifically HEINEKIN357's
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=2062597&postcount=22

can you (and HEINEKIN357) please post the ebay id from which you bought it? I'm really interested in these for my med-high light 40gB but I'm afraid to make a bad purchase


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## mach_six

That looks pretty intense, it goes allt he way to the bottom. 

It looks like the angle is the issue.


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## Sethjohnson30

I think the floaters definetly have a huge effect mine seems pretty bright


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## GOJIRADOR

do you think 6 of these 10w led's would be enough for a 40 breeder?


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## james1542

The LED does look brighter. Since almost all the light is coming directly from the chip in the LED, it will be blocked out more effectively by floaters. In the CFL the photons are being reflected down pretty evenly below the whole 6-8" reflector.

You can't really get par numbers from Lumens, you might be able to convert it to Lux, however once you start passing it through water, all bets are off. Your best bet if you want to make sense of Lumen data(which can vary widely from ebay listing to ebay listing..i.e. is often wrong) would be to look up the lumen output of an LED fixture we have par data on it, and compare it to that. But-it is far more useful than wattage when estimating how bright a light will be (unless the lumen data is wrong, then you have to use the watts).


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## cs_2340

I had been looking at these for awhile, wondering if they would be effective or not. Have a 20 watt on the way for my ecopico. So here goes.


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## james1542

GOJIRADOR said:


> do you think 6 of these 10w led's would be enough for a 40 breeder?


Depends what light level you want. If you want to be in the high light realm-to be safe, with a deeper tank, I'd go with fewer of the higher wattage fixtures-As I'd assume they can get better depth penetration. If you want high light I'd probably stick to the 20W and above fixtures on a tank of that depth. One light of 50W or more could look pretty sick.


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## GOJIRADOR

james1542 said:


> Depends what light level you want. If you want to be in the high light realm-to be safe, with a deeper tank, I'd go with fewer of the higher wattage fixtures-As I'd assume they can get better depth penetration. If you want high light I'd probably stick to the 20W and above fixtures on a tank of that depth. One light of 50W or more could look pretty sick.


I'm looking for medium-high light and I've been thinking exactly what you said. The 10 watters are a little under powered for my depth it seems, however because of my hardscape I cant have a single row of lights with out a ton of shadows on the substrate so I'd have to get at least 4 20 watters but if I did that then it would no longer be cost effective when compared to a diy setup. hmm.....


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## Sethjohnson30

I may just have to bite the bullet and buy a par meter it would make things very nice for me. Anyone have any ideas where I can get on mildly cheap, like +\- 100$ ?


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## 6Speed

Which is correct to use in us electrical outlet?


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## Sethjohnson30

6Speed said:


> Which is correct to use in us electrical outlet?


You have to put your own plug on most of them. The ones that come with plugs all seem to be 3000k


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## Hilde

Sethjohnson30 said:


> I I could probably fab something up out I aluminum then polish it but I'm not sure I need more light I kind of like it the way it is


I just think that would help make more even spread of light in the tank. To make it brighter you would need to make a parabolic reflector. Anyway hoppy has a thread different media for reflection. I tested them using a par meter and found that white paint is a good reflector.


Sethjohnson30 said:


> On my riparium I have 2 t5ho bulbs in a Hagen glo fixture it is elevated about 20" off the surface I'm thinking I may try to replace it with a 20w LFL (led floodlight) any input?


I think it work for you have low light. Just seems the high you hand the flood light the more spread you have. For I have 10 in over a 29G tank without a reflector and the spread of the light is 18 feet.


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## Hilde

GOJIRADOR said:


> do you think 6 of these 10w led's would be enough for a 40 breeder?


I think 8 to make it med light, thus would be better to get 20W. You might want to check out hoppy's diy LED light.


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## james1542

There are some with plugs but you have to really scrounge for them, and you can get them in spectrums over 5000k, The 10w jumps from 13 bucks to around 25 with the plug, so double. I was able to get a 30W with plug for 45 bucks.


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## acitydweller

8' plug runs $12 at lows and home depot. Butt connectors are another $4, electrical tape is $3, or $1 if you go cheap.

I posted an update on facebook but neglected to post here. I readjusted my 10w led flood and removed all the floaters. There is medium light over my 5.5g and 10w. There are shadows and shimmering as you would see in metal halide, which is a cool effect. Mosses have grown a little with this light running the past four days so I can see this is hitting the proper spectrum. If you were wanting high light, go with the 20watt. Any tanks deeper than 12" or greater than 10g should consider the 40w LEDs. Thos will produce the light intensity needed for deeper tanks.

Skip the floaters if you run these lamps. The source of light is a small smd chip and a floater residing beneath casts a large shadow heavily impacting the light.


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## Hilde

acitydweller said:


> 8' plug runs $12 at lows and home depot. Butt connectors are another $4, electrical tape is $3, or $1 if you go cheap.


Probably cheaper if you went to a thrift store for the plug. I tried the connectors and they were a pain to get on. Thus I soldiered them together individually and finished with electrical tape.


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## james1542

My thoughts were to go to walmart-and get a powerstrip for between 3-6 dollars depending on cord length then just hack it up.


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## acitydweller

powerstrips are usually about 2 meters but i went with a cord for 3 meters. just gives ya more flexibility for mounting ooptions, incase hanging was considered.


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## Hilde

james1542 said:


> My thoughts were to go to walmart-and get a powerstrip for between 3-6 dollars depending on cord length then just hack it up.


You could try Dollar Tree ($1 store) or Dollar General for a 3prong extension cord.


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## 6Speed

james1542 said:


> I'd go for the highest wattage your budget allows, although you would probably get the most watts per dollar through multiple or bulk 10W fixtures. You can always deploy some floaters or raise it up if it's too much light. Look forward to seeing the pics acitydweller.
> 
> I've got a 10W round model on the way (6500k)-looks pretty snazzy. One ebay listing said it is submersible-not that I'm going to do that. I'm going to put it over my emersed grow bed on my 20L.
> 
> This is the one, allegedly yields 900 lumens (I didn't go for the RGB with remote that costs 10 bucks more):


I want to see this one hooked up. Once you get it going could you tell us how the light spread is? I'm looking for something with a tight beam so that it doesn't spill out all over the living room. I also like my tank to have dark edges. 

I'm also wondering if the RGB model will allow you to mix the colors to produce white? I'd like to turn my tank blue sometimes. :icon_redf


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## HEINEKEN357

GOJIRADOR said:


> Your bulb seems a lot less bright than others, specifically HEINEKIN357's
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=2062597&postcount=22
> 
> can you (and HEINEKIN357) please post the ebay id from which you bought it? I'm really interested in these for my med-high light 40gB but I'm afraid to make a bad purchase


Here is the id for the 10w led 290550124424 and here is the id for the 2x20w led fixture 200831281622 I would go with 20w leds or the 2x20w fixtures.

Did a par test for you guys (par meter is diy that hoppy helped with) Hope it helps. 
Measured from the meter to the light open air and right under the led.
10w led 6500k
12in 51par
15in 33par
18in 24par

20w led 6500k
12in 140par
15in 100par
18in 66par


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## GOJIRADOR

HEINEKEN357 said:


> Here is the id for the 10w led 290550124424 and here is the id for the 2x20w led fixture 200831281622 I would go with 20w leds or the 2x20w fixtures.
> 
> Did a par test for you guys (par meter is diy that hoppy helped with) Hope it helps
> 10w led 6500k
> 12in 51par
> 15in 33par
> 18in 24par
> 
> 20w led 6500k
> 12in 140par
> 15in 100par
> 18in 66par


thank you so much! this is the exact data I was looking for


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## Hilde

HEINEKEN357 said:


> Did a par test for you guys (par meter is diy that hoppy helped with) Hope it helps
> 10w led 6500k
> 12in 51par


Is that 12in from the substrate or above the tank?


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## HEINEKEN357

GOJIRADOR said:


> thank you so much! this is exactly the data I was looking for


Your welcome..


Hilde said:


> Is that 12in from the substrate or above the tank?


Readings are from the substrate. I measured from the meter to the light open air.


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## Sethjohnson30

How did you do the DIY par meter? Is there a thread to this?


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## james1542

6Speed said:


> I want to see this one hooked up. Once you get it going could you tell us how the light spread is? I'm looking for something with a tight beam so that it doesn't spill out all over the living room. I also like my tank to have dark edges.
> 
> I'm also wondering if the RGB model will allow you to mix the colors to produce white? I'd like to turn my tank blue sometimes. :icon_redf


 I'll post some updates when I get it. The little white button with a W on the remote I believe is for "white" it could be something around 6500k but who knows.

Thanks for sharing those par values gojirador, it does appear the 10W should be reserved for really shallow tanks or med-low light conditions.


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## acitydweller

@heine,
Thanks for the par data. It is par with my findings as well. I intend to use the 10w on my 10 gallon tanks and two 20w on my 55g temporarily as I save up for my finnex Ray II. Budget is extremely tight so I couldn't purchase on blackfriday


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## jarppi

First of all, I'm new on this forum (but not new on fishkeeping or aquarium on general). But I'm very interested in replacing my T8 fixture with leds and those ebay floodlights seems to be sortof cheap and intensity-efficient.

@heineken(really nice beer actually..) 
is it possible that you could provide PAR data also off center, I mean like two inches and four inches away the hotspot right under the led.

@ anyone
What would you think, would I end up with medium light or low light with five ebay 10W floodlights. My tank is 45 inches long and 16 inches wide with depth of 18 inches. I'm planning to fabricate a fixture with those five 10W floodlights spaced evenly on the lenght of the tank.


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## Sethjohnson30

I think you would be better off with 3 20w fixtures at that depth


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## acitydweller

dare i say go with two 30W fixtures...


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## james1542

Welcome to the forum Jarpii, my best guess, the 10 W LED's would give you medium-low light(if they are closely spaced, I suppose their output could add up to high light? If one is 24 par, 2 should get you 40par , 4 should get you 80par, but that is if they are really close together with all of their beams overlapping), 3 20's would be med-high, 2X 30W's would give you high light at the substrate, you also have the option of 1X 50w, you might have low light at the ends of the tank but you would definitely have very high light in the middle.


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## HEINEKEN357

acitydweller said:


> @heine,
> Thanks for the par data. It is par with my findings as well. I intend to use the 10w on my 10 gallon tanks and two 20w on my 55g temporarily as I save up for my finnex Ray II. Budget is extremely tight so I couldn't purchase on blackfriday


Your Welcome



jarppi said:


> First of all, I'm new on this forum (but not new on fishkeeping or aquarium on general). But I'm very interested in replacing my T8 fixture with leds and those ebay floodlights seems to be sortof cheap and intensity-efficient.
> 
> @heineken(really nice beer actually..)
> is it possible that you could provide PAR data also off center, I mean like two inches and four inches away the hotspot right under the led.


Welcome to the forums The beer is ok haha..

Made a little par chart for the 10w led hope it help you guys.


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## mach_six

acitydweller said:


> powerstrips are usually about 2 meters but i went with a cord for 3 meters. just gives ya more flexibility for mounting ooptions, incase hanging was considered.


That's an extension cord? Power strip cables are usually much thicker, I used a standard PC cable.

The more I thought about it after I already soldered the wires, for a clean look, I will open the next ones I get and unsolder or remove the cut cable and just solder the new cable directly so it gives it a nice finish and no need to worry about exposed wires.


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## james1542

I was just at home depot, they have a 2 pack of a 2 pronged plug kit for 1.50. If the stock cord is long enough and you have a screw driver, you should be able to slap one of these on (they have grounded plugs too).


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## acitydweller

You'll need a grounded cord for these lamps


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## h4n

very interesting thread. I have to try one of these!


----------



## jarppi

Thank you HEINEKEN for the chart. It seems that (assuming parabolic distribution of PAR and after some math) if I go with five 10W leds placed 7.2 inches apart I'll end up with 20 PAR on the edges and 40 to 60 PAR in the middle 30 inches of the tank. Of course this is a bit of oversimplification, but I'm going to give it a try. Might also order three 20W floods and try them as well.

Thanks guys for ideas, this seems to be a great forum with helpful people around.


----------



## mach_six

acitydweller said:


> You'll need a grounded cord for these lamps


Why is that? the ground cable inside these units don't connect to anything if they came with a wire that has a ground.


----------



## acitydweller

All of my units came with 3 wire harnesses. If anyone wants to skip on the ground, thats up to the individual. I havent personally openned up any of the units but usually the ground is normally wired to the casing no?

In anycase, ymmv. if your cord came with two wires, then use a two prong power cord, otherwise use 3 if it has a ground wire. This should be pretty obvious.


----------



## james1542

From the pictures the -10W Round flood light-has just 2 wires in the cord, but I'll find out for sure any day now when mine arrives (true all the square ones appear to have 3 wires in the cord). My 30W came with a grounded plug, never opened it up to see whether it's truely wired up to be grounded.


----------



## mach_six

acitydweller said:


> All of my units came with 3 wire harnesses. If anyone wants to skip on the ground, thats up to the individual. I havent personally openned up any of the units but usually the ground is normally wired to the casing no?
> 
> In anycase, ymmv. if your cord came with two wires, then use a two prong power cord, otherwise use 3 if it has a ground wire. This should be pretty obvious.


Just wanted to point out that these bare wire units with a ground wire may not actually ground anything. 

The one I purchased from LED Wholesalers has ground but inside it's cut short to the wire case and not attached. I opened it up after frying the LED and confirms the comments on Amazon about it.


----------



## acitydweller

good looking out... man, what's up with quality control... guess when the stuff is meant for sale over seas, its like the wild west out there and any thing goes...


----------



## HEINEKEN357

Just finished the 20w led flood par here are both par side by side.


----------



## acitydweller

Thanks for the par readings Hein... looks like i can run a 20w in my 30g with 18" height.


----------



## james1542

Excellent data. The intensity does not drop much going 5 inches away probalby due to the wide spread of these. I was looking at a listing for a 100W model and it was rated to light a 50 foot wide area-producing 9000 lumens! Also Interesting how the 20W has about 3X the Par but is only double the watts.


----------



## james1542

6Speed said:


> I want to see this one hooked up. Once you get it going could you tell us how the light spread is? I'm looking for something with a tight beam so that it doesn't spill out all over the living room. I also like my tank to have dark edges.
> 
> I'm also wondering if the RGB model will allow you to mix the colors to produce white? I'd like to turn my tank blue sometimes. :icon_redf


My new 10W round LED floodlight came today. Compared to my 30W it is tiny, smaller diameter than a pop can. It actually looks.. nice.. The whole thing is an aluminum heat sink. It's sold as a 6000-6500k, and it is very white light. It does cause temporary blindness for about 30 seconds if you look at it so that's good. The deep reflector on it doesn't give the light spill that the square ones do. Also, compared to my 30w, it is no where near as intense, but it would be an awesome light for a small tank, maybe in the 5 gallon range and with it's narrower beam it should be able to cut through the depths a bit better than the other 10W floods. The body does get pretty warm when it's running for a few hours, but I can still keep my hand on it. I have no par meter, but here is the pic! I'm using it on my emersed garden.. paired with a big ugly CFL clamp light... if I had another LED I could throw that out..


----------



## acitydweller

Cute lamp, have you tried the color effects. If you had two of them u can tech icily turn one blue and the other red to convert this into a plant grow out setup. Then revert to whites for your enjoyment.


----------



## 6Speed

james1542 said:


> My new 10W round LED floodlight came today. Compared to my 30W it is tiny, smaller diameter than a pop can. It actually looks.. nice.. The whole thing is an aluminum heat sink. It's sold as a 6000-6500k, and it is very white light. It does cause temporary blindness for about 30 seconds if you look at it so that's good. The deep reflector on it doesn't give the light spill that the square ones do. Also, compared to my 30w, it is no where near as intense, but it would be an awesome light for a small tank, maybe in the 5 gallon range and with it's narrower beam it should be able to cut through the depths a bit better than the other 10W floods. The body does get pretty warm when it's running for a few hours, but I can still keep my hand on it. I have no par meter, but here is the pic! I'm using it on my emersed garden.. paired with a big ugly CFL clamp light... if I had another LED I could throw that out..


that looks really slick! I might have to snag one now! thanks


----------



## james1542

acitydweller said:


> Cute lamp, have you tried the color effects. If you had two of them u can tech icily turn one blue and the other red to convert this into a plant grow out setup. Then revert to whites for your enjoyment.


I didn't spring for the color changer, this one was cheaper by about 30%, and I couldn't figure out how compatible the color change feature was with a timer! I didn't want to wake up to strobe lights over my tank with all the fish on the floor. The color changers do look really cool though..



6Speed said:


> that looks really slick! I might have to snag one now! thanks


Yea it actually has the look of a high end light fixture, rather than something that should be hanging in a warehouse. And compared to what they want at home improvement stores for a much less potent led, they are a bargain. If you do get this model, the bare wires were blue and brown. I think brown was the hot, or the skinny prong on your power cord, and blue was the fat prong.


----------



## acitydweller

If the color changer is an option for a few dollars more, i recommend getting it. i acquired a LED lamp with an analog RGB controller and have been running the lamps in alternating BLUE and RED only. Ive seem the crypts and peacock moss grow a bit faster versus the same plants in my other tank under a 23w cfl with water parameters and fert dosing being the same. I'll continue observing to see if progress continues at this rate.


----------



## GOJIRADOR

IMO this thread deserves a sticky


----------



## james1542

Based on the info the sellers give on lumen output, it appears the RGB's don't put out as much light at a dedicated white, or blue led of the same wattage.


----------



## Redtail84

What a great thread! I'm hoping someone might be able to help me here. I have a 20 long and I want to try these lights. I'm using DIY CO2 and dosing liquid ferts. I'm trying to decide whether I want to get 2x 20 watt or 2x10 watt floods. Most of my plants are pretty easy going - Amazon swords, corkscrew vals, Anubis Nana, and some crypts - but I'm trying to fill in an area with glosso, and I understand that might need the higher light. I'm just concerned about too much light and not enough CO2. What do you all think?


----------



## james1542

Redtail84, I'd go with either 1x 20w, 1x 30w, or if you want to have high light across every inch of that tank, 2 separate 20W's. You might need to increase your CO2 production with all that light. With the 1x20 or the 1x30 you will have no trouble growing glosso in the area directly under the light, just don't plan on growing it behind a wall of crypts in the corner.


----------



## acitydweller

Redtail84 said:


> What a great thread! I'm hoping someone might be able to help me here. I have a 20 long and I want to try these lights. I'm using DIY CO2 and dosing liquid ferts. I'm trying to decide whether I want to get 2x 20 watt or 2x10 watt floods. Most of my plants are pretty easy going - Amazon swords, corkscrew vals, Anubis Nana, and some crypts - but I'm trying to fill in an area with glosso, and I understand that might need the higher light. I'm just concerned about too much light and not enough CO2. What do you all think?


To relate, i have 2 10g tanks running a 10w and 20w LED FLood on each.

the 20g long tank has a height of 12" while the 10g is 12".

if and only if you are running co2, i would recommend two 20w LED floodlamps. 10w at 12" ( lamp sitting on glass versatop) is really medium light if unobstructed by floaters and low in all other areas.

the 20w will benefit from co2 and offer much brighter light which is nearly as bright of the 24" RAY2 over my 20g high tank at 16" height.

In short, go with the 20w version and use 2 to cover the 30" span of the tank. my 20W does have shadowed areas over its 20" length so running two lamps would be advisable.

i am considering to try out the 50W now over my 55g which is 21" tall.


----------



## Redtail84

Thanks for the info. I just ordered the first one. I will order the second one in a week or two (gotta stay within my wife and I's budget). Can't wait! And what a deal! $22 for a 20W LED!


----------



## acitydweller

you'll love the 20w. i was sorta mehhh on the 10w but considering it looks way better than the old clamp light i was using and using less electricity, i cant complain


----------



## Shiggy

Flood light works awesome! I have 2 ten watt and a 20 watt on my 20gallon long.


----------



## In.a.Box

How many lb is each? Those flood light look heavy.
I worry about glass top cracking. 

You guys think 2 20w will be ok on a 75g? 
I'm aiming for med light.


----------



## acitydweller

I dont think the 20watt will be enough to break through all that water to provide medium light on the substrate surface... even more so if you intend to hang the lamp above the tank, which was why i was debating the 30 - 50 watt version of these lamps. im trying to apply this towards my 55g which has the same height as your 75 but not as much depth.


----------



## james1542

Hmm medium light for a 75, probably 2-3x 20w, or might be safer to get 2x 30w.

My plants are growing like weeds under my 30w:


----------



## In.a.Box

Thanks ill look into the 30w ... One on each side.
Where the cheapest place to buy them?


----------



## james1542

Scour ebay, if you buy them directly from china they will take weeks to arrive. There are US sellers, but they are all made in china regardless. Make sure it's not a 12v model.


----------



## ReluctantHippy

VVME has a California warehouse and a 1 year no hassle guarantee (I've tested it). You can find them on evilbay or with a google search. Hope it helps. And if you ask them for their "better price" they'll most often give you one.


----------



## m00se

Redtail84 said:


> Thanks for the info. I just ordered the first one. I will order the second one in a week or two (gotta stay within my wife and I's budget). Can't wait! And what a deal! $22 for a 20W LED!


Ya guys get us all excited and stuff with these lights. Now, I know I'm no brainiac or nuthin, and honest, I've read all through this thread twice, and I don't see a single item number for these lights here! I was intrigued by that round 20 watter, but when I go to ebay and search I find 250,000 led lights but not THAT light - would some kind soul please either enumerate each of these lights by item number here, or PM me if you feel un-inclined to do so in the forum? I was interested in the bright white units mostly, to hang 3 over a 40b.

Thanks in advance and if I missed the item numbers, mea culpa!

EDIT: I found 1 item number that worked.


----------



## m00se

ReluctantHippy said:


> VVME has a California warehouse and a 1 year no hassle guarantee (I've tested it). You can find them on evilbay or with a google search. Hope it helps. And if you ask them for their "better price" they'll most often give you one.


Oh...oh my... YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID!!!

srsbz, thanks for sharing that place!

Cheers


----------



## Hoppy

I hope someone with a PAR meter will be tempted to buy one of those 10 watt lights and measure the PAR vs distance, and see how much area it covers. I'm tempted myself to try it.


----------



## Big O

*sorry!*


those lights are ugly


----------



## acitydweller

Hoppy said:


> I hope someone with a PAR meter will be tempted to buy one of those 10 watt lights and measure the PAR vs distance, and see how much area it covers. I'm tempted myself to try it.


Hi Hoppy,

I have 6 types of fixtures over 6 tanks of nearly equal height. A friend with a par meter had come over and i ran tests but i neglected to write anything down.bad citydweller bad bad


----------



## ReluctantHippy

Hoppy said:


> I hope someone with a PAR meter will be tempted to buy one of those 10 watt lights and measure the PAR vs distance, and see how much area it covers. I'm tempted myself to try it.


HEINEKEN357 did a test with a DIY PAR meter that he borrowed. Numbers he posted are as follows:

"Did a par test for you guys (par meter is diy that hoppy helped with) Hope it helps. 
Measured from the meter to the light open air and right under the led.
10w led 6500k
12in 51par
15in 33par
18in 24par"


----------



## Redtail84

Moose, I just searched "LED floodlight day" an came up with a pretty good selection.


----------



## le0p

james1542 said:


> Scour ebay, if you buy them directly from china they will take weeks to arrive. There are US sellers, but they are all made in china regardless. Make sure it's not a 12v model.



I was thinking about picking a couple of these up, looking at ebay there are a ton of these as 12v. Excuse the stupid question but, what's wrong with the 12v models? I'm not very electrically inclined.


----------



## Hoppy

ReluctantHippy said:


> HEINEKEN357 did a test with a DIY PAR meter that he borrowed. Numbers he posted are as follows:
> 
> "Did a par test for you guys (par meter is diy that hoppy helped with) Hope it helps.
> Measured from the meter to the light open air and right under the led.
> 10w led 6500k
> 12in 51par
> 15in 33par
> 18in 24par"


That is very good! Those should work great on 10-20 gallon tanks, using one light for every foot of tank length.


----------



## james1542

le0p said:


> I was thinking about picking a couple of these up, looking at ebay there are a ton of these as 12v. Excuse the stupid question but, what's wrong with the 12v models? I'm not very electrically inclined.


12V is DC, typically the stuff you would run in your car, or on your boat. Your house is 120v AC. I suppose you could hook your light up to a power inverter and run it off AC. Probably easier to find one that is made for AC power.


----------



## m00se

Redtail84 said:


> Moose, I just searched "LED floodlight day" an came up with a pretty good selection.



Thanks Redtail - now....why didn't I think of that?! Actually, I did search, but didn't put "day" in the search terms. It made a difference!


----------



## m00se

I just wish these units weren't so darned ugly. Anyone feel like examining theirs and comment on what it would take to remove the guts and re-house these in an aesthetic fixture? Retro fit them into, say, a round deep shade like the 8" diameter ones I have?


----------



## le0p

james1542 said:


> 12V is DC, typically the stuff you would run in your car, or on your boat. Your house is 120v AC. I suppose you could hook your light up to a power inverter and run it off AC. Probably easier to find one that is made for AC power.


Thanks, that makes sense.


----------



## Hoppy

m00se said:


> I just wish these units weren't so darned ugly. Anyone feel like examining theirs and comment on what it would take to remove the guts and re-house these in an aesthetic fixture? Retro fit them into, say, a round deep shade like the 8" diameter ones I have?


The bigger advantage of doing that would be to cut down on the spillover light.


----------



## m00se

If I could find a single-LED type mogul base lightbulb in the 20w range I'd jump on it. I don't seem to have any luck finding them though. Apparently there isn't much of a market for them (yet). If anyone spots something like this, let me know.


----------



## ReluctantHippy

m00se said:


> If I could find a single-LED type mogul base lightbulb in the 20w range I'd jump on it. I don't seem to have any luck finding them though. Apparently there isn't much of a market for them (yet). If anyone spots something like this, let me know.


Have you looked at the PAR38 LED bulbs? They come with a standard base. They tend not to be single LEDs but keep in mind that neither are these floodlights, they are arrays of 1w diodes. Here's one Lowes carries in 18w - http://www.lowes.com/pd_338925-149-...Fans-_-LEDLightBulbs-_-3530122+&"cagpspn=pla"

And one specifically for aquariums at 21w - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...=1059619393&catargetid=1570177209&cagpspn=pla


----------



## RogueGeek

I've been reading the discussion here about the LED floods and thought I would toss in my $0.02. 

I just setup a new 36Gal tank and the 17w T8 that came with the kit wasn't anywhere near sufficient. So I thought I would try some of the Ebay LED floods.

I got 3 of the 12V, 10W version that are spec'd at ~6000k.
I checked these on the amp meter. At 12V each 10W flood is pulling 0.55A
12v was a personal preference due to past experience with cheap non-UL rated Chinese power supplies. 

I have pictures of my setup using both the 3 LED floods and the single 17W T8. 

I took the LED pics first then took pics with the T8. With all other camera settings the same, I had to lower my shutter speed from 1/60(LED) to 1/25(T8) to get the same light in the cameras light meter.

My first impression is the LEDs are VERY bright and light my tank quite nicely. I don't have a PAR meter so I'm going strictly on visual observation and comparing to the 17W T8 bulb.

The only potential problem I see is the little DC-DC power supply in the back of the light gets rather warm with the cover on. Once I opened the back cover, it cooled down and is just barely warm.

I think I'm going to retro fit these into the hood that came with the tank. From what I can tell they should fit perfectly. I might add a miniature fan to help cool things off and extend the life.


-Brian


----------



## ReluctantHippy

I should probably toss in my endorsement as well. I have 10 of the 10w units and 6 50w arrays (diff but equally cheap driver and very similar array). The 6 50w arrays over my 100g are doing great as are the 10w arrays over each ~9g segment of the divided tank. The lower empty 30g in the picture has a single 10w over it and it's still pretty bright - plenty enough light for a fish only tank though I wouldn't personally try plants with that little light. I actually convinced my LFS to replace their old t12VHOs that were over their planted tanks to the 20w floods and they are loving them also - much brighter and they've considerably dropped the wattage they are running.


----------



## m00se

ReluctantHippy said:


> Have you looked at the PAR38 LED bulbs? They come with a standard base. They tend not to be single LEDs but keep in mind that neither are these floodlights, they are arrays of 1w diodes. Here's one Lowes carries in 18w - http://www.lowes.com/pd_338925-149-...Fans-_-LEDLightBulbs-_-3530122+&"cagpspn=pla"
> 
> And one specifically for aquariums at 21w - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...=1059619393&catargetid=1570177209&cagpspn=pla


Yes I have considered them, and I will be schooled for sure. I am curious though. Will those multi point lights composed of a dozen or so leds be able to get the shimmer effects of the single led? Also, I don't see them in the high wattage (20w+) that I am looking for. At least not at a price I'm willing to spend anyway. The Dr Fosters and Smith unit is more than I would like to spend on each. It wouldn't be make sense to me to change out the 3 cfls I'm using now at that price unless I saw a dramatic increase in aesthetics. Thanks for the URLS! I appreciate you taking the time.


----------



## ReluctantHippy

m00se said:


> Yes I have considered them, and I will be schooled for sure. I am curious though. Will those multi point lights composed of a dozen or so leds be able to get the shimmer effects of the single led? Also, I don't see them in the high wattage (20w+) that I am looking for. At least not at a price I'm willing to spend anyway. The Dr Fosters and Smith unit is more than I would like to spend on each. It wouldn't be make sense to me to change out the 3 cfls I'm using now at that price unless I saw a dramatic increase in aesthetics. Thanks for the URLS! I appreciate you taking the time.


From my experience all LEDs create the shimmer effect with individual higher wattage diodes increasing the effect; which means the Dr Fosters unit should create much more shimmer than the flood lights as they are running 3-5w diodes versus the 1w diodes the arrays use. We need to keep in mind that a 50w LED flood lamp is not a 50w LED diode, it's an array of 50 1w diodes. My LFS runs AI Sols, AI Vegas, Ecotechs, Kessils, MH, and floods and the AIs and Ecotechs definitely seem to glimmer more than the MH, Kessils (also an array but higher wattage diodes than floods), and flood lamps. I haven't personally tested a PAR38 bulb but I would assume the nicer ones function more like the AI/Ecotech than the floods due to similar lenses and diode powers.


----------



## Sethjohnson30

m00se said:


> Oh...oh my... YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID!!!
> 
> srsbz, thanks for sharing that place!
> 
> Cheers


They only have 6000k and I have 2 of the 10w over my 10g.....no bueno


----------



## Sethjohnson30

I have a 20w 6000k over my riparium. I used it to replace my dual t5 fixture plant growth is a little slower but I wanted that. The shimmer is awesome its similar to an indoor swimming pool. 

I am waiting on a couple 20w 7000k I'm going to run over my 72g along with my t8 shoplight I will post pics when that's all set up


----------



## discgo

I was bored after getting home from work tonight so I decided to grenade my 10w LED for everyone here to see. My goal was to see how hard it would be to just use the components from this light in different applications. After taking it apart and putting back together again I am sure this will be a valuable piece of equipment in my upcoming tank build. Enjoy!

First thing I did was remove the mounting bracket. It was only finger tight when I received it so this was real easy.









Next I opened up the box with the driver in it. There are only two wires going to the driver and no wire grounding to the case. The wire connections are wire nutted together and then hot glued.









The driver, notice how it say 9w max output at 300ma.









Next I removed the nut from the power wire bulkhead. There was a nice silicone plug in there keeping it all sealed up nicely.









Then I started removing the screws that attached the driver's box to the light heat sink.









Since I planned on separating the the two components for a lower profile I then cut the wires going from the driver to the LED. Be sure to leave enough wire on each side to work with if you plan on doing the same.









Next I removed the glass from the front. 









This glass is thick! I measured it at 1/8". There is no way a small light like this can penetrate this amount of glass without a huge drop in efficiency. I will be going out to the store tomorrow and trying to find a picture frame with a similar size glass but thinner. If you don't care about reassembling it as waterproof as it came or plan on using it above a glass top then you can just run it without the original glass (a lot of leds are run without protection from water, please correct me if this is out of line).









When I tried to remove the reflector I stripped the screw out. Since I don't really care I just cut it out with some snips. There were only two of the four screws in my unit holding the reflector in place.









With the reflector removed you can see the led panel.









I pulled the red and black wires I snipped earlier into the unit.









I then added an extra length of wire between the led and the driver. Any wire should do the trick but try and match it closely to what the manufacturer used. Here you can see how I attached it inside the led housing. Hot glue to hold the wire in place wouldn't hurt.









The reflector goes back into place (optional)









I reassembled the driver box next with my cord going straight into the box and the new light wires coming in from the top. I could have bypassed using the metal box again but I prefer to keep my chinese electronics somewhat contained in case of sparks. If you were to use some silicone you could cover all the excess holes and make the system waterproof again. 









A picture of everything put back together but not sealed up and waterproof.









A profile shot to show how slim this makes the unit.









I can definitely tell it is brighter without using any light detecting equipment other than my eyes. The glass used in the unit is way to thick. I am running it without the glass and no protection between the led and the water right now. I am doing this to see if it causes any problems but I don't foresee any. Please let me know what you think of the write-up.


----------



## m00se

Excellent info! Thanks for that. It looks a lot smaller with your hand as a reference than I thought originally. It looks like I could probably fit it into my 8" diameter deep dome lamps. Can you paste the item # from ebay that you bought it from for me?

Thanks again. Really!


----------



## shift

i think mine led flood was 35$ at HD. I have one pointed at the side of 4 tanks for now until i finished the led lights


----------



## discgo

m00se said:


> Excellent info! Thanks for that. It looks a lot smaller with your hand as a reference than I thought originally. It looks like I could probably fit it into my 8" diameter deep dome lamps. Can you paste the item # from ebay that you bought it from for me?
> 
> Thanks again. Really!


I just searched "10w led flood light". Make sure it is 120v and daylight spectrum. I don't like posting item #s as that is close to a recommendation and you should always check feedback before buying. 

I don't think it would be that hard to remove the chip-set and remount it into an 8" dome. You could probably just mount the heatsink to the top of your reflector with minimal dremel work. Just cut off whatever keeps it from fitting and ditch the reflector it came with.


----------



## m00se

My thought exactly! Item #??


----------



## discgo

m00se said:


> My thought exactly! Item #??


sorry, check my edit.


----------



## discgo

Where would I wire in a dimmer if I chose to add one? Does it go in between the driver and the led or between the driver and the power input. What kind of potentiometer would I need to make this happen? I am thinking about using multiple led flood lights in a single hood with the ability to turn up or down individual sections.


----------



## Hoppy

Unless that glass is tinted in some way it is unlikely to reduce the intensity of the light by more than about 10%. And, the 1/8" thickness is about as thin as it could be and still provide any protection for the LED. But, my DIY LED light has no splash shield at all, and it sits less than 2 inches above the water. It has been in use for about 2 years, with no problems.


----------



## Hoppy

You can't dim that particular LED light with any kind of dimmer. You would need to have a dimmable LED driver to be able to dim it. You dim LEDs by reducing the current through them. Even a resistor wouldn't dim the light.


----------



## thecatisontheloose

What configuration of led floodlights can anyone recommend for a 140 Gal tank? I am looking for medium light, dimensions are 5 feet length by 18 inches width and 22 inches height. There's a bar in the middle so it'll make more sense to work with an even number of fixtures. 2x50W? 4x30W? 2x70W? Also, those things look heavy, where can i get secure mounting hardware? 

Thanks,
Kat.


----------



## discgo

Hoppy said:


> Unless that glass is tinted in some way it is unlikely to reduce the intensity of the light by more than about 10%. And, the 1/8" thickness is about as thin as it could be and still provide any protection for the LED. But, my DIY LED light has no splash shield at all, and it sits less than 2 inches above the water. It has been in use for about 2 years, with no problems.


I figured the glass wasn't all that necessary unless you wanted to keep the unit "waterproof". Even if it was a ten percent increase that would be a free upgrade that could be done by anyone who can remove four screws. I would love to see someone with a par meter pop out the glass and take some readings to see what the difference actually is.


----------



## discgo

thecatisontheloose said:


> What configuration of led floodlights can anyone recommend for a 140 Gal tank? I am looking for medium light, dimensions are 5 feet length by 18 inches width and 22 inches height. There's a bar in the middle so it'll make more sense to work with an even number of fixtures. 2x50W? 4x30W? 2x70W? *Also, those things look heavy, where can i get secure mounting hardware? *
> 
> Thanks,
> Kat.


I think they come with mounting brackets.


----------



## Turtlemaxxx

I have a 10w and I just got a 30w today! something was rattling around so I took off the back and..... the driver was attached with 1 screw and 2-sided tape that was stapled to the heat sink. removed the garbage and tested it. still works but lesser quality than my 10w from a different ebayer. I will have to secure it in a more proper manner. The 30w looks the same inside as the 10w, just bigger.


----------



## m00se

Aaaaaaaand this is why I really would have liked an ebay item # as I asked above....even in private if it seems likely to be seen as unacceptable to the mods...which I don't quite understand but will honor.


----------



## discgo

m00se said:


> Aaaaaaaand this is why I really would have liked an ebay item # as I asked above....even in private if it seems likely to be seen as unacceptable to the mods...which I don't quite understand but will honor.


I went to ebay for you and typed in "10w led flood light" like I mentioned earlier. The first thing that popped up (item #190725107032) was the same style light as this thread is about. You will have to select the wattage, voltage, and color temp for yourself but the drop down menus make it easy.


----------



## Strgazr

m00se said:


> If I could find a single-LED type mogul base lightbulb in the 20w range I'd jump on it. I don't seem to have any luck finding them though. Apparently there isn't much of a market for them (yet). If anyone spots something like this, let me know.


Try searching for E39 base instead of mogul. There are a couple out there, but very expensive still. There are also E27 and E28 to E39 adapters, and the E27/28 bulbs are easier to find and don't cost as much.


----------



## m00se

discgo said:


> I went to ebay for you and typed in "10w led flood light" like I mentioned earlier. The first thing that popped up (item #190725107032) was the same style light as this thread is about. You will have to select the wattage, voltage, and color temp for yourself but the drop down menus make it easy.


Thanks. Just confirming that those particular lights are what you're holding in your hand in the pix. That's all I was asking.

Cheers mate - hope I didn't irritate you too much.


----------



## discgo

m00se said:


> Thanks. Just confirming that those particular lights are what you're holding in your hand in the pix. That's all I was asking.
> 
> Cheers mate - hope I didn't irritate you too much.


No those weren't the one i tore apart. Those are the first to come up when I searched using the terms i mentioned.


----------



## Kelbrina

So I ordered this led floodlight for a 10 gallon and I know I need to attach it to a power cord but I am unsure how. I have a few 12v computer power cords lying around and I believe someone in this thread mentioned using them, but I don't really know what to do. Buy some wire strippers, strip down the plastic coating so the pieces are exposed? How do I connect them to one another and make it neat and like it's one piece? Wrap it up in electrical tape?

Any help at all would be great. Thank you!


----------



## acitydweller

i run two 10w leds over my standard 10g tank. 

Mine arrived short corded requiring extension cords and a plug. matched the wiring colors based on function and used a wire cutter, stripper and electrical tape. To do a better job, use butt connectors and heat shrink sleeves.

i get better light coverage running two lower watt fixtures versus a single double watt one. growth over the past week hasnt slowed down significantly either.


----------



## Aeroana

What do you guys think it would take to get medium light at a depth of 30"? I got a new tank and once i move will be tossing in some plants. I was thinking of just tossing a 50w about 1' above the surface.


----------



## Turtlemaxxx

Kelbrina said:


> So I ordered this led floodlight for a 10 gallon and I know I need to attach it to a power cord but I am unsure how. I have a few 12v computer power cords lying around and I believe someone in this thread mentioned using them, but I don't really know what to do. Buy some wire strippers, strip down the plastic coating so the pieces are exposed? How do I connect them to one another and make it neat and like it's one piece? Wrap it up in electrical tape?
> 
> Any help at all would be great. Thank you!


That is a 12V DC flood light. you cannot just hook it up to a plug. you need to hook it up to a power supply. You overpaid too. return it if u can and get an AC model.


As for the 30" depth, let me get out my camera and show you a 30watt over my 125, 25" ish depth. I have no meter though so it will just be to show how bright the thing is.


----------



## le0p

Turtlemaxxx said:


> That is a 12V DC flood light. you cannot just hook it up to a plug. you need to hook it up to a power supply. You overpaid too. return it if u can and get an AC model.
> 
> 
> As for the 30" depth, let me get out my camera and show you a 30watt over my 125, 25" ish depth. I have no meter though so it will just be to show how bright the thing is.


I was wondering as I asked a similar question earlier, can't a DC light be wired to an 12v DC adapter? They're like 5$ on [Ebay Link Removed] I've had to wire a few dc connections in the past and this is what I did then.


----------



## acitydweller

If you read the product description, it actually says AC source so simply wiring up an extension cable should work fine. I also find the price to be on par or slightly more by only $1-$2 more shipped. Its way easier to deal with sellers through Amazon than Ebay, the internet wild west...

Product Specifications
Part Number 3701WH-12V
Colorcool white
FinishWhite
Power Source *ac*
Voltage110.00
Wattage10.00
Item Package Quantity1
Item Dimensions

regarding an LED light for a 30" depth tank, you will certainly consider a lamp that's over 30W for sure.

I get medium /low light over my 20g high aquarium (16" height) with a 20w fixture and most certainly need at least two on this tank.


----------



## Turtlemaxxx

Guilty, I did not read the whole listing. But I would have stayed clear of a post that says both since that would mean they could send me a DC and then I might have trouble returning it. I got my 10 watt for $12 shipped, that is why I said the price was high.


----------



## h4n

That amazon add is all mislabeled.
It says DC everywhere and then the product description says AC....
oh well it amazon much easier to return if you cant use it.


----------



## lauraleellbp

*MODERATOR NOTE-

Just as an FYI, the reason we don't allow links to auction sites is because sellers get free advertizing and can drive up their prices/bids that way.

Not to mention that if you actually copy and paste the pertinent info into the thread, then the info is still here for people to review even after the ad may be long gone.

I'm going to request people who've linked or referred to any particular auctions revise their posts accordingly- thanks! *


----------



## estill

My little girl is asking about her own aquarium. We are thinking about letting her get a 2.5 or 5 gallon and letting her get the glo fish that she wants. My thought is to go with the 10W RGB with remote, but my fear is it is going to be to bright. The remote appears to have up/down buttons on it. Do they dim the lights?


----------



## Kelbrina

Turtlemaxxx said:


> That is a 12V DC flood light. you cannot just hook it up to a plug. you need to hook it up to a power supply. You overpaid too. return it if u can and get an AC model.
> 
> 
> As for the 30" depth, let me get out my camera and show you a 30watt over my 125, 25" ish depth. I have no meter though so it will just be to show how bright the thing is.


Oy! I went to the hardware store with the light and asked them what I should do and they sold me a straight blade plug to hook it up to. Once I got it wired correctly, super-double-checking the right wires went to the right part, I plugged it in to see, there was a spark, and nothing happened. 

This is theplug they sold me.

The cardboard box the LED came in says 10.5 watt LED waterproof outdoor light 10-30 volt DC, 3701WH-30V DC. 

Did I ruin my light? What's the proper thing for me to do now? :icon_conf


----------



## wastewater

Kelbrina said:


> Oy! I plugged it in to see, there was a spark, and nothing happened. The cardboard box the LED came in says 10-30 volt DC. Did I ruin my light? What's the proper thing for me to do now? :icon_conf


A/C & D/C are two completely different creatures. The proper "thing" would have been to wire your light to a D/C power supply (and;or D/C power adapter). 110 - 120 volts of alternating current will definitely fry a 10-30 volt direct current driven light.

*As an afterthought (re-reading your posts)... I am presuming the input voltage for your light is D/C. Is there any mention at all on the box (or on the label of the light) about input voltage being A/C? If indeed your light is designed for A/C input, you may have wired your plug wrong (a lot of your foreign made electrical items use different color wires - e.g., green, yellow, brown - instead of the usual 'red & black' commonly used within the states), making a simple wiring process somewhat confusing.


----------



## Soup12

Need medium light on 40 breeder. Light will be hung about 19" from substrate growing Dwarf Hair grass belem (medium light plant) with occasional excel (metrecide 14).

Do you think 2 30 watts will work? If so can you pm me some good ones of E of bay with 6500k-7000k kelvin (AC cord). I can add floaters if light is slightly more then expected.

Thanks!
Sean


----------



## JL15219

This is an awesome thread....I think I might get a 10W LED flood light for my 10 gal shrimp tank that I want to setup.....that would put me in the medium light range correct? Just want to make sure I understood what I read :icon_smil


----------



## ApplestoApples

I have a 10w on my 10 gallon but I ordered it in warm white not cool white and it is really yellow will it still grow my plants or do I need to get a cool white?


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


----------



## Mocia.

acitydweller said:


> I'm interested in getting two 10w floods for two 10g tanks but was concerned with both the Kelvin and light spread being too wide. How high did you both hang your fixtures?


you can buy a small-angle floodlight to solve the problem.


----------



## Mocia.

ApplestoApples said:


> I have a 10w on my 10 gallon but I ordered it in warm white not cool white and it is really yellow will it still grow my plants or do I need to get a cool white?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


yellow is close to red, easier for plant to absorb than cool white.


----------



## Hilde

wastewater said:


> If indeed your light is designed for A/C input, you may have wired your plug wrong (a lot of your foreign made electrical items use different color wires)


See post #13 for proper match of colors.


----------



## Hilde

Big O said:


> those lights are ugly


Then build a hood for it.:icon_roll


m00se said:


> I just wish these units weren't so darned ugly. Anyone feel like examining theirs and comment on what it would take to remove the guts and re-house these in an aesthetic fixture?


Seems it would be easier to just buy the little cree LED or LED bulb and put it in the lamp you want to use.


----------



## Hilde

Sethjohnson30 what has happened with your rack with LED's. Tried to send you a PM but it is full.


----------



## Hilde

ApplestoApples said:


> I have a 10w on my 10 gallon but I ordered it in warm white not cool white. Will it still grow my plants or do I need to get a cool white?


I am afraid that light is only good for moss, anubias and ferns. Most plants grow with 6500k rating bulbs (cool white). Here flood light ratings.


----------



## Hilde

acitydweller said:


> I'm interested in getting two 10w floods for two 10g tanks but was concerned with both the Kelvin and light spread being too wide. How high did you both hang your fixtures?


For my 10G got it on top of the glass and the spread is the same that I had with a LED single bright light strip. The edges have some shadows but the light is stronger and cheaper than the LED single bright light strip. 

To make it look better and still keep it cheap using scrap board from Home Depot, which only cost a few dollars, to make a hood over it which will sit on the edges of the tank.


----------



## Rob in Puyallup

Our spotlight LEDs used here outside a hotel in Sidmouth, in the southwest coast of England where I'm currently vacationing with my English significant other.









Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2


----------



## gt turbo

A lot of good info on this thread. 

I have a question though, I want to buy some of these flood lights to use on a 90G, looking for around medium par @ substrate. The light will be 24" from substrate what wattage do you guys recommend and what config? e.g. 4 x 20W, 3 x 30W, 1 x 100w, etc.


----------



## Hilde

gt turbo said:


> I want to buy some of these flood lights to use on a 90G.
> What config? e.g. 4 x 20W, 3 x 30W, 1 x 100w, etc.


I believe you will need 3 x 30W for the light to reach the substrate. For a 10 watt provides low light for a 10G. Before you buy them check out the cost of T5HO (24watts) light strips at a hardware store. You could rig something like Hyzer did but have it closer to the substrate.


----------



## TaDoey

I'm thinking of using 3 20w directly on the glass lid of my 20 long. It's cheap at $46 shipped, but it doesn't have the plug. Would it be possible to wire all three to one laptop charger? Can I add a dimmer?

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk 4


----------



## jeffkrol

TaDoey said:


> I'm thinking of using 3 20w directly on the glass lid of my 20 long. It's cheap at $46 shipped, but it doesn't have the plug. Would it be possible to wire all three to one laptop charger? Can I add a dimmer?


Looks like each chip has a Vf of 30V.. 3 in series you'd need a 90V DC power supply and you'd have to bypass the built in driver and add one of your own..and a 32V PS and if you want dimmable drivers. Good thing is 
they only draw 

Those have built in drivers running off line current (110-230AC).. not DC

This is a dimmable driver capable of running 3-20W LEDs..(BTW:from the specs of the driver it looks like is SHOULD be 3 in parallel.. but on fleabay they show 3 in series
UNLESS there are major different V(f) of 20W chips..ODD)


> Input Voltage: 85-265V AC
> Output Voltage: 24-34VDC
> Current: 600-1950mA


$37.50 from fleabay...









In other words.. until some price crash.. Dimming is a premium..


----------



## TaDoey

jeffkrol said:


> Looks like each chip has a Vf of 30V.. 3 in series you'd need a 90V DC power supply and you'd have to bypass the built in driver and add one of your own..and a 32V PS and if you want dimmable drivers. Good thing is
> they only draw
> 
> Those have built in drivers running off line current (110-230AC).. not DC
> 
> This is a dimmable driver capable of running 3-20W LEDs..(BTW:from the specs of the driver it looks like is SHOULD be 3 in parallel.. but on fleabay they show 3 in series
> UNLESS there are major different V(f) of 20W chips..ODD)
> 
> $37.50 from fleabay...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In other words.. until some price crash.. Dimming is a premium..


Well darn... is there some way that I can just wire all three into one wire so that it only takes up one outlet instead of three. The lights are ac instead of dc so depending on the situation it could be a positive or a negative.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk 4


----------



## jeffkrol

TaDoey said:


> Well darn... is there some way that I can just wire all three into one wire so that it only takes up one outlet instead of three.



Yes...just like you would do w/ a power strip...  3 into 1..
Just wire all the AC in parallel to one plug...



TaDoey said:


> The lights are ac instead of dc so depending on the situation it could be a positive or a negative.


The lights are AC.. no positive or negative.. just phase... shouldn't make any difference but stick w/ all one color..


----------



## TaDoey

jeffkrol said:


> Yes...just like you would do w/ a power strip...  3 into 1..
> Just wire all the AC in parallel to one plug...
> 
> 
> 
> The lights are AC.. no positive or negative.. just phase... shouldn't make any difference but stick w/ all one color..


How much current would all three in a parallel pull?

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk 4


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## jeffkrol

TaDoey said:


> How much current would all three in a parallel pull?
> 
> Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk 4


2-6Amps on the DC side.. I doubt if it anywhere near 6 though.. 
(3x times the driver rating)..

As to AC.. whatever the lamp states x3 ..Most likely a whopping amp or less...
(3x the fixture rating)
Best guessitimate:


> Dependent upon model selected:
> • 8 to 26 Fixture Watts
> • 6 to 24 LED Watts


26 "fixture watts" =0.24A x 3= 0.72A


> Light- 60W LED 3 W 0.30 A


http://www.metrosolarmatics.com/applliance-wattsamps-calculator.html

For further review:


> Dimming
> The dimmability of LED MR16 lamps is largely unknown at this time. The CALiPER program tested
> five LED MR16 replacements with 10 different dimmers. One of the LED MR16 lamps claimed to be
> dimmable, two provided no indication regarding dimmability, and two had product literature stating they
> were not dimmable. Upon testing, it was found that all five LED MR16 products were dimmable with at
> least half of the sample dimmers, including magnetic low-voltage, electronic low-voltage, and electro-
> magnetic (standard, resistive-type for incandescentlamps) dimmers. Unlike halogen MR16 lamps that
> shift to lower CCT values, the LED MR16 replacements that were tested have stable color when dimmed


http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/mr16_benchmark_11-08.pdf


----------



## Basil

Wanted to bump this back up. Good affordable lights and its led so less power used!


----------



## ReluctantHippy

My experience with cheap Chinese LED floodlights:

I have purchased 15 10w, 6 20w, 6 50w, and the fish store I work for ordered an additional 20 20w fixtures. These were from three different manufacturers: VVME and two ebay distributors - internals and casings were almost identical on all but drivers varied with one, screws and wire caps varied on all. So far (all purchased less than 8 months ago) between the store and me all but 14 of the units have stopped working. So of the 47 purchased less than 30% are still working after less than a year. 

They are very cheap and provide very nice light while they operate but don't expect to get much life out of the units. In every instance it was a failure of the driver which can be purchased for very cheap but it gets to be a bit of a headache repairing them all the time. 

I will admit that my lights were being run in a hot environment often in the high 80s to high 90s. Perhaps the drivers wouldn't have burnt out somewhere cooler. 

Only one of these is of the original I installed. Two of the replacements lights have failed in the last week:










A few of the lights I've repaired; I started mounting the drivers to larger heat syncs to get a bit more life out of them:
























Always have to have backup drivers on hand:










Just part of the graveyard:










I was a big fan the first couple months but at this point I'm wishing I just purchased a legitimate aquarium light.


----------



## micheljq

I would also check PAR30, PAR38, PAR46 lights E27 screw bulbs on [Ebay Link Removed] They now make affordable ones, you only have to screw in, and they are less bulky. They make 14 watts, even more powerful versions at an affordable price. I saw 36W versions.

I use a 9W led buld with my led fixture right now over rotalas, thinking of replacing it with a 14W (7 X 2W) led PAR38 bulb - 6500K. The 9W bulb can be used in my house.

Michel.


----------



## jeffkrol

ReluctantHippy said:


> My experience with cheap Chinese LED floodlights:
> 
> In every instance it was a failure of the driver which can be purchased for very cheap but it gets to be a bit of a headache repairing them all the time.
> 
> I will admit that my lights were being run in a hot environment often in the high 80s to high 90s. Perhaps the drivers wouldn't have burnt out somewhere cooler.


SAD but not unexpected.. considering the source.. 
Fortunately , considering the prices I remember.. most of your "expense" went to aluminum and the LED.. 
And yes heat is a killer for this (as it is for electronic ballasts in HO and compact fluorescents). 
I'd be curoius to see how many of those bad drivers were the failure of the cheap power capacitors inside..


----------



## ReluctantHippy

jeffkrol said:


> SAD but not unexpected.. considering the source..
> Fortunately , considering the prices I remember.. most of your "expense" went to aluminum and the LED..
> And yes heat is a killer for this (as it is for electronic ballasts in HO and compact fluorescents).
> I'd be curoius to see how many of those bad drivers were the failure of the cheap power capacitors inside..


If they came with plugs I probably wouldn't complain; For the price you can treat them just like a bulb and replace every 6 months, of course this does negate the lifespan advantage of having LEDs. Although it doesn't take long having to rewire new ones gets to be a pain. 

I've never had a problem with my CFLs, PCs, and HID ballasts running in the same hot room.


----------



## Hilde

micheljq said:


> I would also check PAR30, PAR38, PAR46 lights E27 screw bulbs on Ebay.
> 
> I use a 9W led buld with my led fixture right now over rotalas, thinking of replacing it with a 14W (7 X 2W) led PAR38 bulb - 6500K. The 9W bulb can be used in my house.


Got a link to the tank?

Do the bulbs run hot? I find the flood light runs hot.


----------



## jeffkrol

ReluctantHippy said:


> If they came with plugs I probably wouldn't complain; For the price you can treat them just like a bulb and replace every 6 months, of course this does negate the lifespan advantage of having LEDs. Although it doesn't take long having to rewire new ones gets to be a pain.
> 
> I've never had a problem with my CFLs, PCs, and HID ballasts running in the same hot room.


I've used the "big" CFL's for yard lights.. Not impressed w/ "longetivity".. As to CFL's for the house.. Hit and miss.. mostly miss. For one, early CFL's required 1) base down and 2) no enclosure.. 
HID's never used..
Halogens.. great bulbs but mostly heat..  Same w/ HID's though.

The thing is.. it's not the LED's that are the problem... 

As always .. YMMV.....

Site w/ bulb replacement chart:
http://www.marinedepot.com/96W_Powe..._(PowerCompact)-PC1961-FILTBUPCSQNWDB-vi.html

Now you are replacing a $5 driver every 6 months as compared to........And scrap aluminum has a higher value than scrap steel. And no mercury waste.. AFAIKT..though I'm sure there is some lead.


----------



## micheljq

Hilde said:


> Got a link to the tank?
> 
> Do the bulbs run hot? I find the flood light runs hot.


I did not try them yet. Right now I have a Beamswork 36" led fixture and I added (one month ago) one led buld 9W - 6500K just over my rotalas rotundifolia. Rotalas are growing fine, but are not rose, so I am looking at a more powerful PAR38 light. I can tell how it goes when I have one.

I can say that the 9W bulb stay cool.

Michel.


----------



## TaDoey

So which should i get? Floodlights or the other? Looking to get highlight on my 20 long


----------



## aroos_tpt

I am slowly talking myself into getting another aquarium. I want it to be large (120 gal) and well planted, of corse. 
LED flood lights were my initial idea for lighting, but was afraid that eBay ones won't last. The post above seems to confirm that to certain point. I am also not 100% sure if the light spectrum of flood lights will be sufficient for good plant grow.
Now, reading your posts above I got curious about E27 led bulbs. I saw on eBay there are also bulbs for hydroponic plant grow that I could mix in for better plant grow. 

I was wondering if anyone tried those hydroponic plant grow in aquarium and if they worked. Of course their light colour isn't pretty but they would be supporting lighting to normal bulbs.
Is it too much? Would the light cause algae bloom?
Does anyone have experience with E27 bulbs? Do they provide sufficient light? Or would I need like 100 of them?
As I mentioned its a fresh idea and any advice will be much appreciated. Or please, talk me out if it if it's a bad idea.


----------



## nicholz

ReluctantHippy said:


> My experience with cheap Chinese LED floodlights:
> 
> I have purchased 15 10w, 6 20w, 6 50w, and the fish store I work for ordered an additional 20 20w fixtures. These were from three different manufacturers: VVME and two ebay distributors - internals and casings were almost identical on all but drivers varied with one, screws and wire caps varied on all. So far (all purchased less than 8 months ago) between the store and me all but 14 of the units have stopped working. So of the 47 purchased less than 30% are still working after less than a year.
> 
> They are very cheap and provide very nice light while they operate but don't expect to get much life out of the units. In every instance it was a failure of the driver which can be purchased for very cheap but it gets to be a bit of a headache repairing them all the time.
> 
> I will admit that my lights were being run in a hot environment often in the high 80s to high 90s. Perhaps the drivers wouldn't have burnt out somewhere cooler.
> 
> Only one of these is of the original I installed. Two of the replacements lights have failed in the last week:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A few of the lights I've repaired; I started mounting the drivers to larger heat syncs to get a bit more life out of them:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Always have to have backup drivers on hand:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just part of the graveyard:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was a big fan the first couple months but at this point I'm wishing I just purchased a legitimate aquarium light.


I echo this experience just on a smaller scale. In less than a year 9/12 of the mix of 20watt floods and 10watt rgbs have failed - stay away! - not worth it for these. Works great until they do not work anymore. 
Ben


----------



## Deano85

nicholz said:


> I echo this experience just on a smaller scale. In less than a year 9/12 of the mix of 20watt floods and 10watt rgbs have failed - stay away! - not worth it for these. Works great until they do not work anymore.
> Ben


Do you know the cause of the failures?


----------



## nicholz

Deano85 said:


> Do you know the cause of the failures?



Not sure if bulbs burnt out or drivers failed but either way the fixtures no longer function.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk


----------



## Malakian

I searched around on Google for awhile about these kind of lights. And the info was so wide-spread about the power of the fixtures. Seems like I went a little overboard, as I got 4x 30W for a 70 gallon 26" tall.

Would you recommend 2x or 3x for med/high light?

Will post pictures when I receive them.


----------



## ziggnick

So I actually ran across these lights the other night when I was looking for a alternative to cfls

My problem is I'm using a reef tank to plant in so from substrate to the top of the water is about 29" which a cfl just won't do effectively

What do you think my best bet would be to get lowlight hardy plants to grow at that depth, from what I've read I feel like maybe 4 30w lights would do it or would I be wise to move up to the 50w and use 4....

I want to make a nice hood for my tank so I don't want it to be 3 ft tall on top of my tank because I went too big of wattage and now have to raise the lights waaaay up if you know what I'm saying


----------



## ReluctantHippy

What size tank? If you wanted to run cfls you could; 29" isn't too deep.



ziggnick said:


> So I actually ran across these lights the other night when I was looking for a alternative to cfls
> 
> My problem is I'm using a reef tank to plant in so from substrate to the top of the water is about 29" which a cfl just won't do effectively
> 
> What do you think my best bet would be to get lowlight hardy plants to grow at that depth, from what I've read I feel like maybe 4 30w lights would do it or would I be wise to move up to the 50w and use 4....
> 
> I want to make a nice hood for my tank so I don't want it to be 3 ft tall on top of my tank because I went too big of wattage and now have to raise the lights waaaay up if you know what I'm saying


----------



## ziggnick

150 gallon it's about 4ftÃ22"x31"

I know I can run cfls but for the price I belive these leds will actually cost me less in the long run, I would need a cfl of 30w or better which wouldn't be cheap then a clamp lightish apparatus that would have to be extra deep to accommodate the larger size cfl bulb and all the while my local stores don't carry any of that stuff so I'd be sourcing it all online paying shipping for each oder potentially and then probably using more watts than 
Normal to help it cover the tank in light get
to the bottom meanwhile the bulbs will burn out fast than the led and then I'll be replacing so ve pretty much wrote off the whole cfl deal.... if I had a normal tank say 18" I'd be all about it and I may still use cfl one day but for this tank I feel like led is my best bet


----------



## ziggnick

I also feel like with the cfl I would just be meeting the light requirements and if further down the road I wanted to move up from low light I wouldn't be able to continue with the cfl and would have to start all over again with lighting where as I could add a light or 2 of led and be in good shape... overall cfl just isn't where I want to go


----------



## Dannyboy760

Hi everyone I'm new to the planted aquarium world but have been into reef tanks for the last 1 1/2. I have 4 @ 30 w on my 125gal long and my tank looks great and plants are growing.


----------



## Hilde

Dannyboy760 said:


> I have 4 @ 30 w on my 125gal long and my tank looks great and plants are growing.


Wish you had a thread on it, for I would like to see a pic of it.


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## Dannyboy760




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## Dannyboy760

eggs!!!! I hope the male is Fertile!


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## Roughrider

I just flooded my 20g long with 2x10 watters running off a PC power supply. The light output is pitiful. Going to return them and go with 2x20w

Here are the ones I purchased:
GLW 10W 12V DC White LED Flood light High Power Waterproof Outdoor Lights b... - - Amazon.com


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## mistryde

Hi,
I have a 67 gal planted that is 24" high. I'm using T5 HO & spiral CFL currently, total 150 watts. Plants are pretty much happy. I'm planning to replace these with LED flood lights. I'd like to increase the lights a bit to allow for high light plants. The options available here are with 60 & 120 deg beam angle. 50W are with 6000 lumens 30 with 2700 lumens.
1. Should I go for 30W x 3 or 50W x 2 ? 
2. What should be the distance between two lights 
3. What will be the optimum height from water surface


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## sotosmac

Maybe you could use 3 of 30watt each so you can spread better the light to your plants. Otherwise if you have some plants that need more light you could use a stronger one above them or you could move the two lights closer to focus the light on the most difficult plants.


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