T5 compare to LED lighting

[dota]

Hi, im gonna replace my T5 to DIY led

Do u think, should i order the LED with the same amount Watts with the T5? (because i heard dat led is more powerful)

well, i make it simple.. 50w Red LED compare to 112w T5, which one is stronger / are they bout the same .. ?


Please help me figure this out :) , Thank you

[SantaMonica]

For scrubber or display?

[rleahaines]

Hi, im gonna replace my T5 to DIY led

Do u think, should i order the LED with the same amount Watts with the T5? (because i heard dat led is more powerful)

well, i make it simple.. 50w Red LED compare to 112w T5, which one is stronger / are they bout the same .. ?


Please help me figure this out :) , Thank you

From my own experience making a DT fixture and use of LED's for a algae scrubber I recommend the following:

1. For a display - the LED's that give out the same amount of lumens would be roughly 1/3 the wattage of T5. However, be careful. 1 watt LED's in a fixture don't nearly have the same penetration power as 3 Watt LED's -- so 50 Watts of 1 Watt LED's are not equivalent to 150 Watt T5 lamps. You need 3 Watt LED's or more - there are some 5 Watt available. You also need to be very careful of color - make sure you have the correct spectrum you want. You also need to be careful of the lenses on the LED's. LED light can be intense, but also can be directed by lenses.

What you actually get depends on the depth and size of your tank. 50 Watts of LED light or 17 3 Watt LED's would give the same light as 150 Watts of T5. However this does not mean that the penetration of light and PAR would be the same.

2. For a scrubber, red LED's work best with some blues. Again- pay attention to the color spectrum.

And use 3 Watt LED's - not 1 Watt. Basically 1/2 to 1/3 the wattage as CFL bulbs used for a scrubber. A rule of thumb - One 3 watt Red LED for every 3 square inches of scrubber area. So if you have a scrubber that is 3" X 4" you would need four 3 Watt LED's.

There is a lot of info about this that has been posted by Floyd Turbo.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Actually I have been recommending one 3 Watt red (660nm Deep Red) on each side of every 4-8 square inches of material. So if you have a 3x4 screen = 12 sq in, maximum of 3 per side, minimum of about 1.5 per side (bad example, but you get the idea).

One 3W red per each 3 sq in is probably a bit much, but if they were backed off a bit, it would be fine.

[Pny]

However, be careful. 1 watt LED's in a fixture don't nearly have the same penetration power as 3 Watt LED's -- so 50 Watts of 1 Watt LED's are not equivalent to 150 Watt T5 lamps.
This does not make sense... The luminosity is just a power per unit area, and the total power will just be the sum of powers of all the incident beams.


Actually I have been recommending one 3 Watt red (660nm Deep Red) on each side of every 4-8 square inches of material.
Do you have the specification of such 3W LED? Most 660nm LEDs sold as 3W is usually much lower wattage...

[rleahaines]

This does not make sense... The luminosity is just a power per unit area, and the total power will just be the sum of powers of all the incident beams.


Do you have the specification of such 3W LED? Most 660nm LEDs sold as 3W is usually much lower wattage...



An array of 1 watt or less LED's will not have the same amount of penetration in water as an array of 2 or 3 Watt LED's.

Some fixtures that focus LED's - like floodlights - that are 1 Watt, may have as much penetration.

Keep in mind that each LED is a point source of light. The intensity of each point source and orientation is the key here. An array of - One Watt point sources will each individually the penetration of 1 Watt of power. just putting them next to each other or in an array still only gives you the same amount of penetration depth.

A 3 Watt LED gives you 3 times or more the depth of penetration and intensity of light from the point source

The reason why some LED fixtures out there don't work for reef tanks very well, although they light up the tank fairly well is that they don't have this PAR penetration. Examples are the Marineland LED fixtures being sold as "reef compatible".

If you want similar penetration as other types of high powered lighting you really have to invest in higher power LED's.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I will partially agree with you. The truth is that if you replace one 3W LED with 3 1W LEDs, you will end up with much more light (radiant flux). But, there is not much development being done with 1W LEDs. They are roughly the same that they were several years ago. All the $$ is being dumped into 3W or better.

Marineland type fixtures would be much better if they tripled the number of LEDs. But then you still have the 'punch' issue - 1W LEDs do not have much of that. But for scrubber purposes, they would probably do OK. You still have the "old technology" factor, coupled with the fact that you aren't saving much money, and that you have to wired 3x the number of LEDs into the same space.

When time is money, 3W wins.

[dota]

at the moment im using 3w LED for my DT, n now i wanna try it to my scrubber :)

i hv a 20" x 6" screen, as it is my only filteration, so i have to make it strong.

How many 3W led on each side do u recommend?
will the 3w led burn my algae..? ( it about 2" to the screen)
does all the Red Led are 660nm... ?

Thank You

N also, should i apply the Led with lens..?

[SantaMonica]

I would do 3 leds by 10 leds = 30 leds. No lenses. 120 degree domes.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I have been recommending one 660nm Deep Red LED on each side of every 4-8 sq in of screen. So:

20x6 = 120 sq in

120/4 = 30 LEDs per side (maximum quantity)

120/8 = 15 LEDs per side (minimum quantity)

You can go anywhere in between these numbers as well. Proximity to the screen is also a factor - if your lights are going to be permanently mounted more than 3" away, I would lean more towards the higher quantity of LEDs. If you are going to be 2" away (what I consider to be the closest you should be) then you can use fewer, or you can use the maximum amount but you may need a diffuser. Also you can vary the photoperiod to adjust to the needs of the tank/screen. If you run the lights too long and there is not enough nutrients for the algae to grow, then you will end up with photo saturation, indicated by areas of no growth (too much light), which is easily fixed by reducing the photoperiod.

Hope that helps
Bud

[dota]

Okay, im still consider to buy the led or not... If my algae cant go thicker in 1 mnth time, i would change it to led

By the way, if 1 side using led 3w x 30 pc, n the other just T5 bout 72w.. Wat happen to the screen growth ? Will it be stronger..?

[Floyd R Turbo]

LED and fluorescent can't be compared watt-to-watt like that. 90W of LED would be at least twice if not 3x as powerful as 72W fluorescent. In other words, you would have a bare screen under that much LED light.

For LED, use the following formula:

for Regular lighting level, 1 3W 660nm Deep Red on each side of every 8 sq in of screen
for High Intensity lighting level, 1 3W 660nm Deep Red on each side of every 4 sq in of screen

[dota]

hi Guys.. FINALLY, i just bought a DIY LED for my scrubber :D but only for 1 side ( i would like to see how it goes 1rst )

i have 3w x 36 pc (24pc 660nm Red + 12pc blue) actualy i ordered 3w x 30 pc.. (but he gave me extra 6 pc)

i have reduce the photoperiod from 18 hr to 15 hr / day, and also i moved the led back a bit ( bout 3" )

i hope this will bring thicker n greener alage

[dota]

here are some of my LED pics for scrubber. Screen 20 " x 6 " ( with 3w x 36 pcs)

Do u guys think, any benifit of mixing with the blue..? at the first i want it ALL RED, but the seller suggest me to add some blue.

because if its better with all RED, i would change it to all RED

[SantaMonica]

Very nice, since you already have the blue, see how it grows first

[dota]

oke, i just worry the power is not as stronger as all red :(

should i keep the light run 18 hr ?

[SantaMonica]

Seems a strong light, so start at 12 hours.

[dota]

its been a week, but the algae doesnt seem start growing more.. :(( or does the algae adjusting with the new light source..?

[SantaMonica]

Light is probably too strong.

[dota]

Ok, i will try to move it back a bit, and reduce it to 12 hours ? Or less

[SantaMonica]

Try 9 hours. Also you could put a piece of black plastic over part of the light.

[dota]

u mean like a window tint ?

[SantaMonica]

That is probably too much.

Just some strips of black plastic from a TV dinner.

[dota]

im still running 12 hour at the moment, i will post u the pic end of this week.

if i use the window tint, i will only use the 10 - 20 % light reduction. Do u think, that is still too much?

[SantaMonica]

Try it.

[dota]

I forgot to take pic on the screen, it grew GHA :) but veryyy thin... Now im running 9 hr

[dota]

Here is my pic of my algae, its gha right? But very thin, n also loose, i dont know how to make it thick :(

[SantaMonica]

I really need pics of the screen before cleaning. But it does look like dark GHA. So you can increase the light now.