cheap lighting for fish only

president89 · 06/26/2011, 12:36 PM

Hi Guys,

I'm going to start what I hope turns into a fish breeding room. Well it'll be a fish room, but we'll see about the breeding.

So Alot of my tanks will be 10 and 20H gallon tanks. I know most go with strip lights. I've been looking into LED threads and am intrigued by those. I see alot go with the 3watt cree setups for reef stuff. My question is, if I were to use these, how many would light up a single 10G tank. I suppose that depends on the optics. I would think since I'm not trying to grow anything in the tank, the depth the light penetrates the water isn't as important as what allows me to see the fix themselves.
MH - too expensive waste of money for this applicate
t-5 -still too expensive
Shoplights - basic go to in past - but are LEDs going to be cost efficient over the long run when thinking about initial cost vs monthly cost. Basic DIY kit is $60 for 6 LEDs with driver and heatsinks... That's 18W.

Just let me know what you think.

disc1 · 06/26/2011, 01:04 PM

If you're not growing coral, it wouldn't take a lot of LED's to light up one of those tanks. Maybe 3 or 4 each if you do it right.

president89 · 06/26/2011, 04:43 PM

Since the tanks will be lined up side by side with the short side facing me, is there anyway I should stagger the LEDS?

06/26/2011, 12:36 PM	#1
president89 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 466	cheap lighting for fish only Hi Guys, I'm going to start what I hope turns into a fish breeding room. Well it'll be a fish room, but we'll see about the breeding. So Alot of my tanks will be 10 and 20H gallon tanks. I know most go with strip lights. I've been looking into LED threads and am intrigued by those. I see alot go with the 3watt cree setups for reef stuff. My question is, if I were to use these, how many would light up a single 10G tank. I suppose that depends on the optics. I would think since I'm not trying to grow anything in the tank, the depth the light penetrates the water isn't as important as what allows me to see the fix themselves. MH - too expensive waste of money for this applicate t-5 -still too expensive Shoplights - basic go to in past - but are LEDs going to be cost efficient over the long run when thinking about initial cost vs monthly cost. Basic DIY kit is $60 for 6 LEDs with driver and heatsinks... That's 18W. Just let me know what you think.

06/26/2011, 01:04 PM	#2
disc1 -RT * ln(k) Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Little Rock Posts: 9,705	If you're not growing coral, it wouldn't take a lot of LED's to light up one of those tanks. Maybe 3 or 4 each if you do it right. __________________ David Current Tank: Undergoing reconstruction...

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06/26/2011, 04:43 PM	#3
president89 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 466	Since the tanks will be lined up side by side with the short side facing me, is there anyway I should stagger the LEDS?