LED lights....why doesn't anyone do this?

[andy.thompson12]

So, I was thinking....why can't we just take a string of LED christmas lights, bunch them together in a tight area, and point them towards our reef tank...would that not help the growth and coloration of corals? Then, I went on to read that christmas lights don't have the same output (but they DO have some output, are cheaper, and probably could give off as much PAR right?). Has anyone tried this? just to test it out? Anyhow, I also looked into this: http://www.theledlight.com/par38.html ...would this not work either? Why not?

maybe I'm just being stupid, but I'm curious. I was thinking of doing a trial run on my stylophora which lost a little bit of it's color (used to be fluorescent green...now it's mint-green). I could just put a light, or series of lights pointed towards just that coral and see if there's a change. yes....no?

[Phurst]

I did this last winter.







180 LEDs kept stuff alive, but no growth over 6 months. I took the tank down last month and gave it to a friend.

[andy.thompson12]

Do you suppose that plus my T5s would do anything extra, or no?

[Phurst]

What size tank are you thinking about using them on? The T5s will massively overpower the cheap LEDs. If you're going to use T5s, there's no point in using the LEDs.

[andy.thompson12]

Im jumping around to all these forum sites, I can't keep track of all of them!.... I guess no one understands my purpose for LEDs, but here it is: I was wondering if my actinic t5 lights do anything other than provide aesthetic blue light to my tank (55 gallon)...I was thinking that I could replace my actinics with regular white t5 bulbs which could provide MORE light for coloration in my coral. If by switching my actinics with regular t5s I can get more light.... Then, I could put some LEDs along the side of my T5 fixture to provide the aesthetic-ness(?).

In short:

NOW I have:
2 white T5 (idk what kelvin at the top of my head)
2 actinic 420/460
4 led moonlights (I like the shimmer effect that they give)

BETTER LIGHTING????:

4 white t5s
blue & maybe white LEDS

Im sorry for my bad explanation...it makes more sense in my head

[Phurst]

The actinics contribute a little towards growth, and a lot towards color, but are mainly for aesthetics. You could definitely do 4 white T5s and some blue LEDs for supplementation. I'm not sure how much you'll be able to see them when combined with the T5s, but it's worth a shot.

[lReef lKeeper]

i dont think the LEDs would even be noticeable with 4 T5s. why not just order some GOOD T5 bulbs that have good par and the color that you are looking for. i would recommend 2-3 ATI blue plus, KZ fiji purple, and UVL super actinic ... the blue plus has awesome par for a blue bulb. can you tell that i am thinking about switching to T5s ??

[V]

why, cost effectivness bud?

[lReef lKeeper]

exactly ... however, i just had a $500 wrasse jump from my tank, so now i HAVE to have a screen cover. i may HAVE to stick with halides !!

[V]

you catch him, or was it the surf of death. wow, $500 for a wrasse, what does it sh^t gold or something

[lReef lKeeper]

the surf of death ... i was building the screen when i found him on the floor. no gold crap, but gold IS in his name !!

golden rhomboid wrasse
http://www.themarinecenter.com/fish/...enfairywrasse/

[rayme07]

oh wow Bobby I am sorry to hear about your loss.

[V]

Is that the same you asked me about a few months back?

no wonder your busy all the time, trying to recoup the $$ before the misses finds out.

Did you throw a few flowers into the toilet bowl as a nice display of a good send off.? lol , i shouldn't laugh, cause its never nice when it happens.

[lReef lKeeper]

no flowers ... just a sandwich baggie and the garbage can, trash pickup was the next day, so out he went.

[V]

for that price i would have stuffed & mounted it!

[lReef lKeeper]

i thought about it, but it just would not have cost effective either !! lol he was only about 5 inches !!