# Screw in CFL or screw in LED? 54 liter aquarium



## Joost (Feb 13, 2014)

Hello folks,

I'm currently owning a standard 54 liter aquarium (60 cm * 30 cm * 30 cm). A quick picture of the aquarium is illustrated below.



















The aquarium has got the following specifications:

- substrate: dirt capped with gravel;
- co2: DIY co2 1 bps (bubbles per second);
- diffuser: powerhead with a sponge on the outtake;
- lighting: 2x CFL 6500k (1x 23 watt and 1x 11 watt) positioned horizontally;
- reflector: aluminium foil
- standard filter and heater that came with the aqarium.

plants: hemianthus callitrichoides, micanthemum umbrosum, anubias barteria var. petite


A friend of mine has bought the same 54 liter aquarium as I currently own, and is interested in buying 2 LED bulbs instead of 2 CFL bulbs. He's also into dirt and diy co2 due the fact that it works well and it's very cheap.


Below I've listed the bulbs we're comparing.

Screw in LED bulb
http://www.tmart.com/E27-13W-60LED-1208LM-SMD3014-White-PL-Light-Corn-Light-bulb-85-265_p189604.html










Screw in CFL bulb
Amazon.com : Compact Fluorescent 20w Mini Twist Daylight 6500k Light Bulb : Straight Fluorescent Tubes : Home Improvement


We're both into carpet plants, which are medium/high light if I recall correctly, and we're wondering which light, the cfl or the led bulbs, would be the _most efficient_(in terms of life span, good plant growth) for the 54 liter aquairum.

Note that we have close to none reflection due to the aluminium foil and that the led doesn´t need reflection due to its position.

tl;dr Would you go for 2x LED screw in bulb or would you choose 2x CFL screw in bulb for a 54 liter aquarium with diy co2 (1bps)?


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## Bram Deuss (Feb 13, 2014)

That's a very interesting question mate. This 'jungle dawn lamp' what you're talking about might be a nice upgrade for my own aquarium too. 
I surely hope some people come up something about this topic soon.

Laters,

Abe


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## Joost (Feb 13, 2014)

Does anyone have any experience at all regarding the screw in LED bulb?

http://www.tmart.com/E27-13W-60LED-1...5_p189604.html


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## sowNreap (Jun 10, 2012)

Wish I could help .. I've no experience with that bulb & I'm not a light guru unfortunately. The only thing I could see is both are about 1200 lumens so it would seem, to me, they put out about the same amount of light/brightness. A lumen is a lumen no matter it's source, isn't it. ???? 

Member "i4x4nMore" did some PAR testing of CFLs in the vertical & horizontal position using different reflectors, all which made a big difference in the PAR. Maybe this post can help you decide: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=837592&postcount=21 With no reflectors & in horizontal position on the CFLs you're losing a lot of light I would think so the LEDs might be better in that regard. Also, I'm not sure how the light spreads on the LED compared to CFL. 

If all else, you can buy the LEDs bulbs and get a cheap Lux meter ($15-20 USD) either via Amazon or fleabay to use as a "PAR meter". You'd position the fixture the distance it would be from your substrate but in open air (not water) to get a lux reading which you then divide by 76 to get the approximate PAR. Do the same for the CFLs. This way you can compare apples to apples & see which produces better PAR. 

That bulb looks interesting so hope someone can offer some input on it. I couldn't use it in my current setup since my bulbs hang down vertically. These seem like they would be good in a hood that uses the bulbs horizontally.

Sorry wish I could help more. Where's our LED guru's when we need them. LOL

*Edit*: Just a note about what is low, medium, high light .. there's no consensus on the definition but I generally go by what Hoppy has posted rather than what you'll see in i4x4nMore post. It's just based on my limited experience but to me seems more accurate as far as low, medium light. 

Here's Hoppy definition: 
Low light - 15-30 micromols of PAR - CO2 is not needed, but is helpful to the plants
Medium light - 35-50 micromols of PAR - CO2 may be needed to avoid too many nuisance algae problems
High light - more than 50 micromols of PAR - pressurized CO2 is essential to avoid major algae problems


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## fearsome (Feb 16, 2013)

I have 3 of the screw in LEDs, I have the ones made by a guy at light your reptiles called jungle dawn. The one you linked is NOT a jungle dawn, jungle dawn is a specific brand. The one you linked to is made by one of the many Chinese makers of this specific format of light which is designed to go in those desk lamps. 

Here is the official page http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/juda13wledsc.html


The short is they grow plants and grow them well. Unfortunately the maker of them releases no information on the lumens, PAR or any other meaningful spec other than the wattage. 

The differences between the one you listed and a jungle dawn are, the jungle dawn maker claims he has them made better at a factory that puts a nicer power supply in them. This is likely true because I know many people who do use them and they last. In addition some people have said they are heavier which is usually a sign of a better PSU. 
The other difference and the main selling point of the Jungle dawn is that they are made with 2 different LEDs a cool white and warm white strip. Supposedly this gives a better color or more balanced light spectrum.

My experience is they are just as good or better than CFLs in a similar space, they get all the light pointing down and don't put out as much heat. Unfortunately I do not have any quantitative data. 

They also have these if you have the space. 

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/juda15wgrand.html
Its sort of like the planted plus but in a screw in format and longer.

As for the specific ones you linked, an unbranded light, people have bought them and used them and they work too. Some have said that they fail though in high humidity or over time.


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