# Screw in LED bulb for aquarium?



## Soup12

I started to see these at my hardware store... bit pricey at $15-45 a bulb, best spectrum i could find was 5k... i heard they have them in 6k kelvin.

Has anyone used these screw in bulbs to grow plants in their aquairums? I am thinking of maybe getting to bulbs to put over my 40 breeder...

thank you


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## Nubster

They make them but they aren't cheap.


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## Soup12

has anyone tried them to grow plants? are they worth it (price also) or just better to by a finnex light fixture.


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## OVT

I am using 5000K EcoSmart from homedepot and they work fine for me. And much cheaper. The color looks decent too.

via Droid DNA Tapatalk 2


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## Soup12

Will this 65000K led bulb work to grow?






I plan on hovering 2 of these lights over my 40 breeder. This should be equivalent to 3 watts per gallon = medium light.

Just growing a carpet of dwarf hair grass. The lights will be about 14" away from plants. Should I go higher wattage or lower?


thanks


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## rocksmom

You can't go by the equivalent wattage, you have to go by the actual wattage of the bulb. That would make two of those only 18 watts, not 120. I don't think that would be enough to grow a carpet in a 40B.


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## Soup12

rocksmom said:


> You can't go by the equivalent wattage, you have to go by the actual wattage of the bulb. That would make two of those only 18 watts, not 120. I don't think that would be enough to grow a carpet in a 40B.


But isn't that the whole point of led... its low watts but has the power of a 60 watt bulb... produces the same amount of light just more efficient.

Am I wrong on this? I don't see why this wouldnt work to grow plants


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## Jnad

I am using a screw in led bulb on this tank, works good.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=266170


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## sapphoqueen

not working for me :-( too pale


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## Soup12

sapphoqueen said:


> not working for me :-( too pale


well u want it to be close to the right spectrum - 6500k (white light)

and also strength of led lights matters


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## Soup12

Jnad said:


> I am using a screw in led bulb on this tank, works good.
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=266170


so you have 9 watts for 5 gallon tank in led? So I guess i need 120 watts on a 40 breeder to grow dwarf baby tears? (3 watts per gallon)

so even a Ray II 36" DS would not be enough???
36 Inches	7000k/ 7000k	288	3014	29w


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## Jnad

It is the led components themselves in the bulb i am using that is rated for max 3W eatch. The total power consumption of this bulb is labeled from factory for 5,5-6W total.

Jnad


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## rocksmom

Soup12 said:


> But isn't that the whole point of led... its low watts but has the power of a 60 watt bulb... produces the same amount of light just more efficient.
> 
> Am I wrong on this? I don't see why this wouldnt work to grow plants


It's true leds save energy over fluorescent lighting, but you still can't go by the incandescent equivalency rating. That's why everyone always says to avoid the whole watts/gallon rule when figuring out your lighting. Par value charts can be found all over this board for various fixtures. Hoppy made an extremely helpful thread that has them for popular lighting options and there are some easy to read charts in the Finnex subforum for all of their FugeRay and Ray 2 lights.


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## Soup12

any good high par LED screw in flood lights that would work then for 40b growing dwarf baby tears on substrate?


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## Basil

You'll want to use par38 bulbs like this. Next best thing are the EBay flood LEDs. Probably want the 20watt or higher. And you'd probably want to run three of either light choice to get the coverage over the entire tank.


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## shloken38

$38 is craziness for a light bulb! For that, spend the money on a nice fixture for the tank. You can easily find one for the same price of three of these bulbs.


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## In.a.Box

dwarf baby tears will grow in low light as long the plant is getting what it need.


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## Basil

I'd rather pay $38 and then not have to replace the bulb for 5~8 years depending on run time and how well constructed the driver/heatsink of the bulb.


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## Soup12

shloken38 said:


> $38 is craziness for a light bulb! For that, spend the money on a nice fixture for the tank. You can easily find one for the same price of three of these bulbs.


Yeh might be better with a ray2 instead


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## Soup12

Basil said:


> You'll want to use par38 bulbs like this. Next best thing are the EBay flood LEDs. Probably want the 20watt or higher. And you'd probably want to run three of either light choice to get the coverage over the entire tank.


what are some good cheap flood lights on ebay? I would only need 2 of these for the 40b...

My gut is telling me to get a ray2 and pay a little bit more... have a feeling ebay floodlights will break down fast.


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## shloken38

Basil said:


> I'd rather pay $38 and then not have to replace the bulb for 5~8 years depending on run time and how well constructed the driver/heatsink of the bulb.


I hear you. But when you multiply that by 3 or 4, it's just kinda hard to justify when you can get a nice led fixture for around the same price (like the Ray 2).


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## micheljq

If you really want led bulbs you can get 6500K bulbs which sends out 900 lumens for 20$ approx. on eBay or here : http://www.lightinthebox.com/fr/e27-6000k-9w-led-blanche-900lm-ampoules_p291306.html

That would cost you like 80$ for 4 bulbs. I would not pay more than 20$ for one of those.

CFL bulbs would be a lot less expensive, 5$ for a 23watts - 6500K bulb, where I live.

They have advantages, you can hang them easily, adjust the height to the water, if one break, you just have to replace one bulb, not all the fixture, etc.

Michel.


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## Soup12

micheljq said:


> If you really want led bulbs you can get 6500K bulbs which sends out 900 lumens for 20$ approx. on eBay or here : http://www.lightinthebox.com/fr/e27-6000k-9w-led-blanche-900lm-ampoules_p291306.html
> 
> That would cost you like 80$ for 4 bulbs. I would not pay more than 20$ for one of those.
> 
> CFL bulbs would be a lot less expensive, 5$ for a 23watts - 6500K bulb, where I live.
> 
> They have advantages, you can hang them easily, adjust the height to the water, if one break, you just have to replace one bulb, not all the fixture, etc.
> 
> Michel.


I was going to go CFL, but my buddy said those bulbs need to be replaced every 3 months or they start growing algae...

another thing I need to think about is I would have 2-4 bulbs that would need to be on timers.... = extra money compared to 1 cord on ray2 fixture (plus its a cleaner look).


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## micheljq

I had to change the CFLs after maybe 4-5 months because they were failing, never saw personally any algae increase/correlation because they were old though.

You can put 4 CFLs on same timer, the max wattage the timer can take should be written upon it.

Michel.


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## gSTiTcH

Soup12 said:


> I was going to go CFL, but my buddy said those bulbs need to be replaced every 3 months or they start growing algae...


Sounds like your buddy is taking the easy blame route. There is a LOT to algae besides lighting, and what solves algae in one tank might not work for another.

Simply put, light is light, regardless of the source. The plants don't care if you're getting 900 lumens of 6500K light from a twisty bulb, a straight tube, or LED. Algae is caused by an imbalance of Light, CO2, and nutrients.

That said, the CFLs have never been reliable for me in dry environments, such as bedroom lamps and such. I can only imagine what havoc a damp environment like an aquarium hood would do to the driver circuitry (which is the most common failure on the CFL... too much high voltage on cheap components in too close of a space.)

When it comes to lighting fixtures, you often get what you pay for. A solid brand commercially produced LED fixture is going to give you much more joy than a home-brew concoction of lighting devices. You'll also have much better warranty and community support for the fixture. 

Your Tank, Your Money, Your Prerogative.


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## Soup12

micheljq said:


> I had to change the CFLs after maybe 4-5 months because they were failing, never saw personally any algae increase/correlation because they were old though.
> 
> You can put 4 CFLs on same timer, the max wattage the timer can take should be written upon it.
> 
> Michel.


What timer are you speaking of? The one on drfosters has 2 outlets for daytime.. what fixture are you using to put the cfls into? - I would most likely use screw in led bulb if i went this route.


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## micheljq

Soup12 said:


> What timer are you speaking of? The one on drfosters has 2 outlets for daytime.. what fixture are you using to put the cfls into? - I would most likely use screw in led bulb if i went this route.


Cheap timers at the hardware store, does not matter if there is only one outlet, plug the 4 CFLs on a 4 to 1 plug than the plug in the timer, excuse my english. Make sure, the timer can handle the total wattage of all lamps.

For the CFLs, you can buy cheap table lamps, even just sockets at the hardware store, easy to suspend, you can screw led bulb instead if you want.

Well, of course, it won't be as neat as one Finnex fixture, I agree.

Michel.


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## Steve001

Soup12 said:


> any good high par LED screw in flood lights that would work then for 40b growing dwarf baby tears on substrate?


I came across this led bulb recently and posted about it..

For those that might like this type over the common linear form. Though this light is intended for corals it looks like it would be useful for planted tanks too. There are photos to look at.
*Radion Pro’s eight color LED cluster brings out incredible coral color rendition *


Read more: http://reefbuilders.com/2012/10/03/radion-pro-led-color/#ixzz2LkBwx7Bo
​


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## Soup12

Will 2 30watt led flood lights be enough for medium light in 40 breeder and will it spread well?

I plan on having the lights about 16-18" above substrate to grow dwarf grass hair.


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## Jnad

I am using a couple of screw in led bulbs on my tank and i am liking them alot.
I think you can make them mutch nicer to look at than a flood led lamp, if the lamp is going to be viseble the looks is importent i think.

Here is the lamp i made
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=277946&highlight=

Jnad


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## Soup12

any good screw in LEDs that would make medium light for 40 gallon breeder?

would 2 18w led screw in flood lights 18" above substrate grow dwarf hair grass (medium light plant)?


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## retrocity

bump

Has anybody ordered any of the "corn light" style LED bulbs off of Ebay or seen them in stores. I found a 7W 110V in the 6000-6500K range. I would like to possibly try it in my Eclipse Corner 5, currently have a 6500K CFL aquarium bulb in there, but have hoped to up the light quality somewhat for my plants without having to retrofit anything in the hood.

I recently saw a screw in LED bulb in this shape at Walmart for aquariums, but I believe it was only around 2000-2500.


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