had one of my main tank lights fail... at just a little over a year...

[TwoTankAmin]

I took that to mean just above the water surface.

Over the last 24+ years i cannot tell you how many times one of my lights has fallen into the water. I always grab it fast To date not one light has failed to work after getting wet. Nor have any fish, inverts or plants been electrocuted either.

However. LEDs are very sensitive to getting wet. With an open top tank there is no protection against water splashing up onto the LEDS. This can be caused by a fish getting spooked, or dropping something into the tank that splashed, etc.

edited for my usual typos

 

[anewbie]

The fluval plant 3.0 have been quite durable; there are some negatives but in regards to fallen into aquariums and keep on ticking they have - well past the warranty.

 

[seangee]

The fluval plant 3.0 have been quite durable; there are some negatives but in regards to fallen into aquariums and keep on ticking they have - well past the warranty.

I always had success with Hyggers when they were outside of the aquarium. When I changed the light on my main community tank, where I had no choice but to have it as part of the hood, it survived for 2 weeks. I had considered using silicone to double seal everything, fortunately I didn't so was able to get a refund. I replaced it with a Fluval Aquasky 2 and that is still going strong after 2 years. And yes its been in the water

 

[TwoTankAmin]

When I began my using live plants one of the women well know in the arena (her name eludes me) she stated that the intensity of light is more important than. spectrum. She also said if you cannot grow any plant in 3 wpg, the light is not the problem. But back then there were no LEDS and mostly we used fluors and even incandescent bulbs.

Two of the things that I will not spend a lot on for my tanks are heaters (the least reliable equipment we use) and lighting. My favorite bulbs are full spectrum and high CRI (over 90).

I have a few of the Zoo Med Ultra Sun T-8s on the shelf. They have a CRI of 98, a temp of 6500 are full spectrum and ;ast for 10,000 hours. The only tank where I have the old A.H. Supply power compacts is my in-wall planted 75 gal. I have a number of these on the shelf since taking them off tanks years ago.

 

[anewbie]

I'm not sure i agree with intensity - i'm finding many plants do extremely well with 10 to 15 par; which if you know what par menas that is relatively weak.

 

[seangee]

Typically I find that white LEDs work best because the spectrum is constant, even when individual lights fail. I don't measure PAR but if I am getting too much algae I reduce the intensity using a dimmer. If I need stuff to grow faster I turn it up. The intensity in my tanks is much lower than you would expect but the plants seem to do fine.

Interestingly in my dispaly tank I have the lights on for 16 hours a day. But I have an extended low intensity period in the morning and evening. I use green light for this as it seems to be best for avoiding algae or CB which can be caused by too much blue or red light.

 

[anewbie]

Typically I find that white LEDs work best because the spectrum is constant, even when individual lights fail. I don't measure PAR but if I am getting too much algae I reduce the intensity using a dimmer. If I need stuff to grow faster I turn it up. The intensity in my tanks is much lower than you would expect but the plants seem to do fine.

Interestingly in my dispaly tank I have the lights on for 16 hours a day. But I have an extended low intensity period in the morning and evening. I use green light for this as it seems to be best for avoiding algae or CB which can be caused by too much blue or red light.

i've found algae more of a different matter. If a plant fails or converts forms algae will rapidly grow as veggie matter fails (this is string algae); if the light is too intense i'm more likely to get spot algae (though i think i read lack of nitrate also helps there) - i find it can take up to a year for tanks to stablize. I do have a couple of tanks with strongs lights (read 60 par near the bottom). One weird thing that happen is when i coverted the tank from tap water to blackwater bba covered everything - but after 14 or 16 months the bba died and now all the bba is gone (though it created a massive mess with the filttration as that stuff is thick). Now the tank is both bba and algae free.

The bba thing is a really bizzare thing i don't understand - but the dying of such a thick farm of bba is also more mysterious.

 

[Magnum Man]

planned obsolecence... I just replaced a light a couple weeks ago.... today a 2nd one is blinking now, same kind as the 1st, and purchased within a month or two of the date I bought the 1st... not happy about that...

both of these were 36 inch lights... I've so far not had issues with my 48 inch lights, though, some of there were purchased before these 2...

 

[Magnum Man]

I think they are a controller problem, not a light board issue... and on this light, the controller is 3 feet from the aquarium, so I don't think it's moisture related

 

[Magnum Man]

so... I'm trying my new lighting experiment... I bought a 4 pack of 4 foot long sealed tight LED fixtures, rated for power washer, and car wash use... each has 3 power settings 40, 50, and 60 watts, and well as 3 warmth ( color ) settings ( all are white... soft to bright ) I had to just attach a power cord, that attaches through a sealed connector... I chose an exterior use extension cord, and cut off the female end, for this purpose, so the male end is also sealed... I just had to strip the 3 wires ( they are grounded ) and push them into the push lock fitting in the light, super easy... these could be put on a timer, and they have taps for a dimmer on the inside... my use is as main tank lights, that are used with sun rise and sun set lighting, consisting of plant LED lights on timers, so I turn the main tank lighting on and off manually around my schedule...

this is with one light, over a 24 inch deep tank, that I typically used 2 - 36 inch of the brightest of aquarium lights, as it's pretty shaded by the pothos vines, whose roots have overgrown the tank... I still need to rescape this tank, but I'm happy with the light output, now as long as the light last more than a year and a half...

BTW, I got all 4 light fixtures for the price of 1 aquarium light

 

[Magnum Man]

light #2 went up today... as I'm going through this stuff, the 36 inch lights are failing 3 out of 4, compared to the 48 inch lights... makes me wonder what's up with that, since the timer control looks the same, you would think having the extra LED's of a 48 inch, would work them harder, than the 36 inch lights... maybe it's a matter of too much juice available, and not being used, on the smaller lights???

this is what I'm using, they are the width, of the aquarium lights, but in a vapor sealed tight container...

 

[Magnum Man]

brightest setting on a 24 inch deep black water tank, with a black bottom ( definitely soaks up the light... this tank also, always has had 2 lights ) a foot of the light hangs over a bunch of plants in my work area...