CFL vs LED Flood vs T5HO

[Kosch]

Hi Folks,

I bought a pair of 30w LED floods of ebay hoping to use them on my 45gal (24" tall). After receiving them, I noticed they really didn't seem very bright. I had 2x23w CFLs on my 29gal for awhile, they seemed way brighter, and a third CFL was even more so.

So, I picked up a lux meter and decided to test based on Hoppy's lux vs par meter calculation. Here is the equipment I compared:

1 x 23w CFL (6500k) in clip-on
2 x 23w CFL (6500k) in clip-ons
1 x 36" (2x39w) Aquaticlife T5HO (1 daylight, 1 freshwater bulb)
1 x 30w LED Flood
2 x 30w LED Flood

Here are the results. As you can see, the LEDs aren't getting me very far. I was really pushing for high light, but it almost seems like the CFLs would be better. OR even adding another 36" T5HO strip. Understandably, these aren't the most scientific measurements, but all were done in same ambient lighting level. Multiple lights were taken from the middle of the two, being separated by 2".

Am I missing something here, maybe I got the wrong lights, or does this seem to fit what others are seeing?

Thanks!

Kosch

[The Dude]

So 1 23w CFL was that close to 2 39w T5HO??

[Kosch]

It was, however that is based on being directly over the sensor. the T5HO would have that same lux across the width of the tank. But, having multiple CFLs was still brighter.

I do like having the flexibility with the T5HOs though, using different bulbs and such.

One thing I did not like about the LED floods was the *very* sharp shadows on everything.

Kosch

[Bubba Shrimp]

T5HO all the way! I have the 2 39W T5HO and you can get 12000K or Actinic (blue) bulbs from ebay for cheap I get 4 for $40 canadaian.

[Kosch]

Yeah.. I guess I'm probably just going to go with the T5HOs. I was hoping for more response from others that may have also compared. Given my measurements the LED floods aren't close to worth it!

I definitely enjoy the color options on the T5s

Thanks,

Kosch

[bigd603]

From what I have seen on other threads, LED PAR values vary widely between manufacturers. There are some good LED fixtures out there, Finnex's Ray 2 and Fugeray are 2 excellent examples.

It looks like you just got a bad lamp off of E bay. (Cant even say the word ebay...thinks its an ebay link. thats a lot of ebay hate)

[acitydweller]

Did you take these measurements in an empty tank or was it populated with plants and livestock?

regarding the Flood lamps, are these the warm or cool whites?

[Kosch]

bigd603: Yeah I'm wondering if I got some bad ones, I thought they were a common seller for them. They certainly don't seem as bright as some I've seen pictures of on here.

acitydweller: The measurements were taken out of the tank, no water, as Hoppy describes (measure at same distance in open air, then convert to PAR). I had a ruler along the side upright, then used a stick temporarily across the front of the light to the ruler to insure I was holding at the right height. I repeated the measurement 3 times each in case I was moving them around. Fun stuff

[Jnad]

Hello!

I am testing a 3x3w cool white led bulb with epistar led (6w power consumption) over my small 30x30cm cube tank.

First impression is not good, it looks like one of this bulb give mutch less light compared to my 11w cfl i am using on the tank

For a bigger tank maybe the good old metal halogen light or a cfl setup will be a better alternative. Metal halogen give very Nice light in planted aquariums.

Jnad

[Jnad]

This led bulb is the same kelvin as the cfl i am using on the tank, but it does not give the fishes and plants the same color. The cfl bulb is giving mutch more color definision to fish and plants.

Jnad