LED for refugium???

[malawinovice]

Any one have tested a bulb.

I have been using the Bright Lights CFL 15watt bulb from Lowes, but it seems to lose its growing abilities after 4 - 6 months. I just have Chaeto in my sump.

thanks

[malawinovice]

the bright lights has 6500 K rating.

[malawinovice]

720 lumens output

[mudskipper1]

This has been of interest to me for some time now, but I have only gotten as far as determining that nobody that I have found has really tested LEDs as fuge lights, still just working out the lights for the display, and the different spectrum would just be another project, that said, I think cool whites would be a starting point, and then maybe experiment with diodes in the deep blue range, and the red range, to try to match the photosynthesis peaks. I think it won't be hard at all to make something that works, maximizing might take time, but aesthetics aren't really important in most cases, so it *should* be easier.

[mudskipper1]

I will be able to try a few different standard LED bulbs with edison mounts before too lond I think, but it is probably easier to just use a few 3 watt with a driver.

[taylor t]

I have LED on my fuge. CRAZY growth! Cheato grows insanely fast. It's DIY. Most would say it's a waste of LED. I'm using cool white xre Q5 with royal blue xre's. Sometimes I throw some sps frags in temporarily. Waaaayyy overkill for a fuge, but works very good. I'm using 12 of each (3 watt cree). I was only using it until I get my other fixture made for another tank, but I've decided to buy another one for the fuge only. CFL are much cheaper, but don't work near as well.

[mudskipper1]

Interesting, I would kinda like to see what just a few diodes would do, like 2 or 3 on a really small fuge, whether it would be enough to keep the cheato growing.

[redfishblewfish]

I’ve been using a Lights of America (Sam’s Club), 11 watt screw in LED floodlight in the standard clip-on fixture. About $20. I’ve had it for about 10 months and notice that the cheato isn’t growing as fast as it was under a full spectrum CF that I use to have.

[ctenophors rule]

sams leds do seem weeker than the ones I use.

I wont buy another one.

However I use the 13 watt 3,500k leds from homedepot with the screw in clamp on fixture 26.17 and get amazing growth. I have bought more, and will still buy more.

I use one on my 47 gallon tall tank, its freshwater, but it grows high light needing plants very well. and this is a deep tank.

I also use it over my refugium in my dottyback tank. great chaetogrowth before I got sick of the smaller pieces getting everywhere. Now I have switched to caulerpa exclusively.

Don't get lowes led's. I have never tried them, but they are the same Kelvin as homedepot, but 3 times the cost!

[OneReef]

For awhile I used a par38 12k LED bulb over my cheato for a few months and it grew like mad