100Cm 60 Led's Per Bar X2?

[goldfinger]

Hi guys just wanted a bit of advice concerning the light system I'll be using.
The Leds are in a row of 60 per bar and 100cm long for a 4FT (120cm) tank.
The specs are:
60 x 5050 SMD Chips per Metre (brightest available)
Dimensions: 100cm length, 10mm Width, 0.25mm height
Output power: 72W / 5M (480 lumens per meter)
 
I plan on making a floating shelf of 120cm (L) by 250cm (W) 50mm (Thick)
I'm not too sure if 960 lumens is going to light up like a christmas tree and also as the bars are water proof what kind of distance would be best for the lights to directed at the tank?
I've gone for the white cool light no colour as I want it functional for plants with fancies and possible future marine set up, which is far far away.
 

 

[goldfinger]

Well the lights have arrived and they are SMD's but it will need a dimmer for the best conditions for plant growth. TBF I think they are too bright and will defo need dimming down.
I have not worked out which dimmer to buy as I will need to check the output of the AMPs per bar but here are a few pictures you can see I've temp placed on the tank direct and with 144w in total is great for marine set up but for goldfish and limited plants for coldwater I will dim them for sure.
whats your opinion of the light given off? I have no water in yet but did stick them on the 125l tank and have to say I like the light made the water clearer from the eye and the water started to shimmer which I have never seen before on aquarium lighting via T5 & T8's
 

 

[DrRob]

Worth putting it over a tank with water in it to get a true idea of how bright it looks. I'm guessing that that's a standard 4 footer when it comes to depth, and by the look of the pictures. The SMD's I've seen in use have looked very bright but haven't needed much by way of dimming when the systems got running.
 
Can you tell us more about the lensing on these (it'll give you a clue with the spread angle it quotes). A wide lens will spread the light well and not penetrate too far, a narrow one will create more of a spotlight (in this case light bar) effect but will punch deeper though the water. Narrower lenses lend themselves quite well to being lifted above the tank to get good spread and reduce the lighting effect well.
 
Also, are you planning to run this as a high tech, high light system with CO2 and ferts or a lower tech system?

 

[goldfinger]

Hi Rob I'm still deciding as I have two fancies that need to go into that tank.
I'm limited as I have coldwater.
The plants I have tried are limited aswell.
The tank is a 4ft can hold just about 300 odd litres, but the tank needed lights and I thought future proofing the lights was in order.
Here is a picture of both running!

From what I can tell the light bar is completely sealed in a clear sealant (IP68) and the sealeant is very clear, so if you mean the gel coat its about 4mm thick??
From what I can tell the focus is narrow as I stuck them on the 125l tank resting on the lid and it was very shimmery, but the light hit all the way down through the water & gravel.
I will stick a picture of the lights on the other tank 125l, but that tank was only 2.5ft and the over hang of the lights disrupted the total light as 10 leds on both sides lit up the surrounding area of the tank.
I'm filling the larger tank soon to clean her and I will post back the results.
 
My plans are to eventually Aquascape, but with limited coldwater plants and lots of rounded pebbles and bogwood for obvious reasons I can't have sharp angles due to the fancies.
I have another tank in mind and will be 4ft (L) x 1.5ft (W) and 2ft high which can be used as a tropical solution for a high tech Co2 system.
TBF these lights are cheap got them around £27 per 1metre compared to the full kits they were asking over £100 per Metre!
These suited me because they provided me with 1m supply tails so I can hide ballast & dimmers under the cabinet. 
Started drilling the work top for feeding all pipes and cables through.(32mm diameter for 29mm pipes)

 

[goldfinger]

Now with water looks pretty good light goes all the way down like we discussed Rob!

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[DrRob]

One point to note, goldfish are notorious vegetarians, so you'll want something very fast growing, tough, or that you're willing to keep replacing. Whatever it is it'll need to be relatively well tethered down if you don't want it floating.

 

[goldfinger]

Thanks Rob I have a list of cold water plants any suggested from bellow?
[SIZE=13.5pt]Bacopa Monnerii[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt] Elodea Densa[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt] Cabomba Carolinana[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt] Cardamine Lyrata[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt] Echinodorus Tennellus or Sagittara Pusilus[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt] Eleocharis Vivipara[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt] Hygrophila Polysperma[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Bacopa Caroliniana[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Ludwigia Arcuata[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Ludwigia Mullertii[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Sagittaria Natans[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Rotala Indica[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Sagittaria Subulata[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Ceratophyllum Demersum[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Didiplus Diandra[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.5pt]Marsilea Quadrifolia[/SIZE]
 
I've tried a few but my water conditions and off T5 lights I only have two that do not die Amazons swords and one I really like which can be floated to soak Nitrates really well.
Not sure of the name but its in the picture.

 

[ian_m]

Couple of issues you might want so consider/work round with these, been there got T-shirt etc, is

• 5050 LED's are actually not that bright or efficient, you may struggle with enough light to grow interesting plants. A 85cm T5 tube is over 3000 lumens (even Ye Olde T8 tubes are 2000 lumen) , so your are going to need 6-7 strips to match a T5 tube light output . I had 4 strips of 1m LED's and were definitely not as bright as my 2 off T8 tubes. I didn't read the specifications before piling in to replace my T8 tubes.
• I was totally unable to get them to stick, in the long term, to the tank hood. The self adhesive glue hardened and strips peeled off. Re-stuck with contact adhesive and water eventually peeled glue off. Some people put then in acrylic tubes to keep water out, but then report the tube "crazes" and falls apart due to being attacked by the UV produced by the LEDs as well as having thermal issues causing LED failure.
• Some of the LED's started going yellow'ish and going dim along with yellowing of associated plastic after 12 months odd. The plastic started cracking and water got in and PCB started corroding...After complaining to manufacturer they stated water proof meant "splash resistant" but not suitable for continuous immersion/wetting.
• I was never able to 100% water seal the ends despite using non-corrosive silicone to seal the connections. Water eventually seeped in and starting corroding the PCB in the lighting strip. You must use non-corrosive silicone on all the joints as normal silicone leeches acetic acid whilst curing and will attack the connections and/or PCB in lighting strip.

In the end they all ended up in the bin as an interesting experiment and my T8's were replaced with T5 setup.
 
Sorry to poop your bubble....

 
Your LED's & attachment techniques may be better of course.

 

[goldfinger]

Nah no poop has burst LOL.
They are mounted ontop of the glass 8mm above the water never....well I can't submerge them due to the type of sealed tank I have.
I've heard so many facts like LEDS lumens are higher than T5 watts ratio as they are penertrating light instead of a wide light?
PAR values are non esxistant as it varies from company to company, but I'll run some proper in planted tests see if they grow or melt LOL! 
At the moment they are cheap enough to be visual aids and looks nice TBH.
T5's are great have 2x24W and the plants and Algae love them!!