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Compact Fluorescent vs. LED in 2.5G Nano

3K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  CL 
#1 ·
In an earlier post here, I indicated that I was having issues with the amount of heat my Coralife Freshwater Mini light was putting off. It was raising the water temperature a good 7 degrees or more (putting me into high risk for killing off my fish). I decided to check out the Current USA LED strips (10000K) to see if that would solve my problem.

The short version is that 1 LED strip did not cut it. Using 2 LED strips looks great (in my opinion anyway). In addition, I actually can't notice ANY temp increase with the LEDs on.

I am not sure how well my plants will do with the LEDs, but since it was so hard to find any info on LEDs used as the sole light source in a nano, I thought I would share.

I apologize in advance for the tiny pic size. The focus at full resolution got really bad so I figured you can maybe still make something out from the smaller versions.

Here is the Coralife Mini Freshwater 6500K (notice the "shade" on the left side where the light is not directly over)
Plant Fish supply Pet supply Rectangle Terrestrial plant


Here is the Current PowerBrite LED 10000K with 1 Strip (centered, it left both the very front and the very back looking dim)
Plant Houseplant Terrestrial plant Pet supply Rectangle


Here is the Current Powerbrite LED 10000K with 2 Strips (there is somewhat of a beam effect, but it can by minimzed by not placing tall things directly under the beams - which I haven't adjusted for yet)
Plant Fish supply Water Terrestrial plant Pet supply
 
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#2 ·
Interesting LED lights...do the plants grow well under them? And are they more expensive? Where did you get them? (wow sorry for all the questions lol)

It looks very nice! Things appear more defined in the last pictures, especially.
 
#4 ·
LEDs have huge potential for aquariums. At this point, the main disadvantages are the high cost compared to other sources and not a lot of options. The prices I am listing are from http://www.drsfostersmith.com. The set up I have with 2 LED strips comes in at roughly $100 (compared to the $32 for my previous Compact Fluorescent set up). Keep in mind that this is to light a 2.5 gallon nano. Hey we all have to do our part to stimulate the economy, right??

The LEDs I have are billed as being designed specifically for aquarium use. However, I understand lights at 6700k are best for freshwater. The ones I am using are 10000K (they do not yet offer a 6700K version). In addition, they appear to be slottted as supplemental lighting by the company. How they will do as the sole lighting source in my nano has yet to be seen. After a few days of use, everything seems as healthy as it was before and is significantly more pleasing to the eye. The look reminds me of much more expensive metal hallide lights. And more importantly for me, I have the heat under control again and don't have to worry about that aspect anymore.
 
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