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