LED life span

True that ... I have actually run T8's underwater ... not clever or recommended ;-)

 

So is t8, and by implication t5, the winner?

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk

 

lol .. no no nothing is that simple.

If you like to fiddle then LED allows for loads of customization. If you want to dial-in the spectrum LED is the winner. If you are looking for more lm/watt LED is the winner - if you can find a tube T5 or T8 that makes your plants just grow and you are ok with replacing them every ( you pic the number when you think they are no longer optimal) T5 / T8 is the winner. LED these days run lower temps than T5 or T8's. I have one tank still on T5's from opple - going for 4 years now had a year break before drowning the replacement LED.

My go-to at the moment is LED tubes that are 240 volt AC, that are glass tubes and that need a reflector - so none of the above.

Later Ferdie

 

So decided to go an measure and make a more informed choice about replacing lights or not.



T5 vs cheap glass LED Tube.



but not too cheap or ...



Some of the other LED lights I run .. some of these are spots ... so very bright but not length wise.














Yes ... light spectrum is not accounted for in these cheap LUX meters.

Later Ferdie

 

So t5 or t8 will give you higher temps which will create more evaporation in a open tank? And will it be able to create a more moist environment (closed tank) then leds

 

Only if you want to electrocute yourself ..

 

How come? Light will be seperate from the moist area. Same like you did your led bulb on top of glass @f-fish

 

Ah .. ok then yeah that is fine. So you heating the glass more than directly the air. But you doing this at the cost of using more electricity. Heat is inefficiency of the light to convert electricity to usable light energy.

Later Ferdie

 

I changed the uncovered 12v dc LED strips with the above plastic coated strips. Used silicon at the ends to seal. These are the 220v ac types. Now mounted on the hood.
Dont laugh at the coloured cable ties i used. Its all i had

 

@Preggy I also wanted to get those LED strips for my tank and try them out.

How do they look when on... Post some pics if you can

 

That could be interesting ...

 

Above two pics with the 220v insulated strips. Will connected the blue LED tomorrow.

Below pics with the 12V dc

 

These pics with the previous un insulated LEDs
Blue and white on
Blue only
white only

 

They look awesome. Whats the depth of your tank?

 

45 cm. about 50cm from hood top

 

Not bad at all. I am waiting for store I saw them at in Centurion to get stock to buy some and try them out.

They only have the warm white in stock at the moment...

I am impressed looks very good

 

I bought them from one of the 2 light shops at the China mall in Centurion. Off the R101. Opposite the Food lovers Hirschs complex.
AC setup costed R240 for 2 x White double led strip , 2 x Blue single strips, 4 x connectors.

 

Thanks, I will check them out. I went to the same place.

Will check again. Wife was looking for some stuff so I wasnt paying full attention