# PAR38 LED Light Bar (Was: 150G Tall Planning)



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

Update! The Bar:










------------------------------------------------------------

Original:

I've been slowly rebuilding a 150 Gallon Tall tank I got for free a couple of months ago. I would really love to go planted on this tank, but I am struggling to find affordable options for the lighting. The best option I have seen so far is a custom LED setup, but I have little experience with electronics ( I am fine with other DIY ). ParXX can lights also seem like it might be an option.

A little help?


----------



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

vanish said:


> I've been slowly rebuilding a 150 Gallon Tall tank I got for free a couple of months ago. I would really love to go planted on this tank, but I am struggling to find affordable options for the lighting. The best option I have seen so far is a custom LED setup, but I have little experience with electronics ( I am fine with other DIY ). ParXX can lights also seem like it might be an option.
> 
> A little help?


DIY is currently just a matter of "modules" and some basic math for the simplist builds.. And time and money ..

Current "commercial" fw aquarium lighting is approaching the break even point w/ quality LEd's ect on DIY... 

Your bigger choices are placement. Strips work better close. PAR lamps work better as pendants and a bit higher.

Amount of light and general tone.

Functionality (dimming timers color adjustments ect.)

So you must define some more parameters..

72" x 18" x 28" Your tank dimensions??? 28" deep?


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

Sorry, I thought your two main questions were answered in the thread title...

*Standard 150 Gallon Tall dimensions: 48" Long x 24" Wide x 31" High*

Looking for lights specifically for l*ow and/or medium light*. Dimmable would be better here as I could ramp light according to whether or not CO2 is being used, etc. I do not currently own any CO2 equipment, but I would like to be prepared because I may invest in it.

With using PAR bulbs, I am not certain, but I believe adjusting hue via a separate set of cheaper LEDs might be the way to go, while focusing money into getting PAR down that deep. I think we all know color changing is pretty much cosmetic. Is anyone doing this?

Aesthetics are not a major concern here, as this tank will be in my home office. Sure, I want something nice to look at, but its not like it will be in the living room either.


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

I'm leaning more towards using PARXX lights for main lighting as I want to have the space above the tank open. I am planning on using LED strip tapes to provide mood lighting. However, having great difficulty now finding the right combination of kelvin, optics and wattage. Oi!


----------



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

vanish said:


> I'm leaning more towards using PARXX lights for main lighting as I want to have the space above the tank open. I am planning on using LED strip tapes to provide mood lighting. However, having great difficulty now finding the right combination of kelvin, optics and wattage. Oi!


Intriguing tech.. but you'd need 6 to start ($200)
no "beam spread" mentioned either.. 


http://store.yujiintl.com/collections/all/products/high-cri-led-par-lamp

"Eventually" I'm going to try some of the smaller ones over a 20gal..
Awaiting availability of 


> High CRI LED Spotlight GU10, dimmable


Should be high PAR/watt..


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

jeff, what lead you to that particular bulb?


The bulbs I have been looking at are 30 degree optics, 6500k, dimmable and 9x3w or 18x2w which seem significantly more powerful that the one you linked. Of course, I haven't been able to find them for less than $50. I was thinking if I could find them for $30 I think I will pull the trigger.

However, having read your posts all over this forum I definitely have a respect for your opinions, so that's why I am curious how you picked that particular bulb. Is it the spectrum?


----------



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

vanish said:


> so that's why I am curious how you picked that particular bulb. Is it the spectrum?


Yes pretty much.. There are "targeted spectrum" to make up or enhance the current crop of LED's.. and then there is the holy grail.. "simulated daylight"...
Obviously this won't work for "fun builds" i.e daylight simulation ect but I didn't think you were leaning in that direction.. At least dimmable is a plus though. Not sure about those PAR lamps though..
In the fluorescent world...
Oddly only T12..










Oh, I also don't think of 6500K as ideal.. It is a concept sold on the basis that is what "daylight" is.. But unfortunately that is daylight in the black body realm.. not in the CCT realm, where you can have missing bandwidths yet still have 6500CCT.. applies to fluorescent as well..


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

I'm going to give PAR38 lights a try. I've ordered the fixtures, but haven't decided which bulbs to try.


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

I've got the following bulbs on order. The price was right, too.

~5500k
26W (13x2)
Dimmable
~1900 Lumen
31 Degree lenses

These will be going in a track lighting system. Hoping 4 bulbs gives the results I want, but I can do up to 8 bulbs. My biggest concern is the beam angle. I have calculated that it will be a radius of 24-26 inches ( not 100% on what the final distance from substrate to ceiling will be ), which is exactly the size of the tank front to back. I would prefer it was slightly larger, but for the $$ it is worth the risk.

This also leaves a bit of "dead zone" unlighted area near the top of the tank. This may or may not be a problem.


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

Bulbs have arrived. I added some of them to lighting for my 75G planted tank's planter filter. They are marked as 30 degree lenses right on the bulb, but they don't feel like it to me. They seem more like flood lights to me. Not sure what to think.


----------



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

vanish said:


> Bulbs have arrived. I added some of them to lighting for my 75G planted tank's planter filter. They are marked as 30 degree lenses right on the bulb, but they don't feel like it to me. They seem more like flood lights to me. Not sure what to think.


Well if the inv. lenses are 30 degrees and they are spread out over an inch or 2 you effective beam angle is wider than 30 degrees..


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

Both photos taken with the room lights ON. Light is so hard to capture...


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

For now, I downgraded from 6 to 4 lights as I felt I was asking for algae with 6.










Canopy still in progress. I get a little bit of "beaming" but its less noticeable in person and creates some cool effects. I also like how I can direct where the light is most intense.


----------



## TankFreak420 (May 31, 2014)

I will have to look into these lights for my 120g. I was thinking clip on lamps with the 20+ watt cfl's, but I'm sketchy on weather or not that would penetrate 26" of water. I plan to take down my 2 largest tanks to set this one up. Plants, fish, substrate, all of it from the 2 tanks. Heck planing to turn my 38g into the sump too. So I need to stick to high light to keep all my plants. Or go with whatever lighting and hurry on dividing my 40B to put the high demand plants in.


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

TankFreak420 said:


> I will have to look into these lights for my 120g. I was thinking clip on lamps with the 20+ watt cfl's, but I'm sketchy on weather or not that would penetrate 26" of water. I plan to take down my 2 largest tanks to set this one up. Plants, fish, substrate, all of it from the 2 tanks. Heck planing to turn my 38g into the sump too. So I need to stick to high light to keep all my plants. Or go with whatever lighting and hurry on dividing my 40B to put the high demand plants in.


These lights definitely penetrate, but I doubt if they qualify as high light. With the 30 degree lenses, they are also best for taller tanks with smaller footprints due to the smaller spread. However, I suppose you could always put more bulbs in! I'm still in the "wait and see" phase on the 150G tank as far as how well plants respond.


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

I've been running 4 of these lights ( 2 lights was enough for low light plants on this tall tank, the others I use for a riparium) for about 3 years now. They've started to flake out on me - so individual LEDs have gone out, some the whole fixture started flashing and dying ( overheating melthed internal components, I think ).

I like the solution but at ~6k hours of usage I'm not getting anywhere close to the advertised 50k hours. Meanwhile, LEDS continue to improve, so I think I'm going to stick with it.


----------

