3W LED lightning on a 2.5Gallon Nano

LEDs are different. Relatively new, and different.

What looks bright to a plant may not look bright to you. Also, LEDs normally produce narrow spots of light, not a wide scatter that a fluorescent or incandescent produces.
The question ought to be,
Is one 3W LED of such and such specs, sufficient light to grow plants in my 10 inch cube?

Is it a single bulb? Or one of those multi-low-wattage-LEDs-crammed-into-one? Another thing we don't know is the current driven through the bulb, which ultimately determines the wattage. Just because it is spec'd as a 3W bulb doesn't necessarily mean that is how it is running.

There are 32 bulbs, no idea what the current is, the brightness is adjustable. I used to have a 10Gallon with 2x13W T5 (good reflectors), I thought the LED that is claimed to equal 12W T5 on a 2.5 gallon would be a lot brighter, but it's actually a lot darker.

Sometimes, claims are just that, claims. :icon_idea Would be interesting to know how they come up with those.

Unfortunately, thirty low wattage LEDs don't equal the light output of one 3W LED. Even then, a single 3W LED might not be sufficient to light up your tank. Could be a chance though.

For very little money, you can use a spiral CFL in a worklight reflector and get low, medium or high light levels depending on the bulb chosen and the distance between reflector and water surface. It won't look as sexy as a slim LED fixture, but it will be much cheaper and better. Just an idea.

[email protected] said:

...What looks bright to a plant may not look bright to you. Also, LEDs normally produce narrow spots of light, not a wide scatter that a fluorescent or incandescent produces.
The question ought to be,
Is one 3W LED of such and such specs, sufficient light to grow plants in my 10 inch cube?

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I would agree with this. I had this light on a Mini S (3.5g). It's advertised as 7 watts and although I was able to grow hairgrass and HC it was not an enjoyable light in which to view the tank.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Azoo_Neo...ight_Fixtures-Azoo-AZ72178-FILTFILDFX-vi.html

I have 2 3w LEDs over my 2.5 and although it looks like there is less light, there is still plenty to grow plants and algae...ugh algae. However I suspect you don't have true 3w leds.

Baadboy11 said:

I have 2 3w LEDs over my 2.5 and although it looks like there is less light, there is still plenty to grow plants and algae...ugh algae. However I suspect you don't have true 3w leds.

Click to expand...

Would you consider your two 3W LEDs over 2.5 gallon high, medium or low light? I have pressurized CO2 setting up and considering buying another 3W LED, the LED takes very little space, and pretty cheap here in China, the 3W LED is around US$12

I would say they are somewhere around medium light...it depends on how hard you drive them really and the efficiency of the LED.

I'm running 2 cree xr-e q5 at 350mA, but if I bumped them up to 750 mA it would probably be medium high...I could also run them at 1000mA and get into the high range, but the leds may not last as long and run hotter.

oh and these were only $5 shipped from China...now if you get something like the SSC P7 ($14)that will get you into the high range no problem.