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I'm considering using LED lighting for my viv. It's still in the early stages. I have not even siliconed the great stuff yet, but I was wondering if the light output would be sufficient for the plants.
LED Lighting
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if im not mistaken even though LED's are bright, they lack the lumens like in CFL's.
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I was going to go with the reef aquarium pre made LED that you can get fairly inexpensive at petco for qround 50 bucks. It's supposed to be great for freshwater plants but I see your point. I will probably just scrap the idea.
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ya theres different types of Led lights the technology is still fairly young, and manufactuers are still tweaking with lighting spectrums etc to get these to work as good as what we use now. unfortunatly when they get it right the product is at a premium price. Ems1016 is right in a few years these will be the standard. expecially with how much electricity cost. leds are more popular right now in reefs than plants right now but im sure it will catch on
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I can echo this. I have two of these, one is over my varadero viv and the growth and color on the plants is excellent. These are VERY bright, plenty bright enough for good plant growth.Or just grab one single screw in LED bulb from lightyourreptiles.com when he gets more in stock
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I have one of those "inexpensive" LED - garbage compared w the new screwin LED from light your reptiles.com - exo terra top $40 - [email protected] LED screwin bulbs $60 (i bought 4 and got slight discount)
LEDs should last 4 years min. maybe more by what i read
The std CFL plant lights will last 15-18 months before losing needed intensity for healthy plant growth ( 1 bulb is about $5-7 cheaper than the LED screwin)
LED puts out very little heat vs any other light source - depending on where you live this could be important health factor for your frogs if you have mult vivs in the same room + heat build up w light over each viv.
Cost to run the LED vs CFL others is cheaper (helps offset minor initial cost difference)
Id highly recommend LED - lots of creative solutions and benefits w LED and price is not that bad anymore.
Good luck
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for $7bucks$ you can go to walmart and get a 2pack of 6500k bulbs in the following wattages, 10watt, 13watt, 20watt, 26watt.
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not true anymore.
but.. don't get wrong... I still love full spectrum CFLs.
Cheers.
Todd
It's more of a relative statement
For an equivalent wattage LED, it has 20% less light intensity as the CFL bulb. But you will also be paying 10x more $$$
Here's some eye candy http://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Hydro-BlackStar-Light-Flowering/dp/B004E662SA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311012289&sr=8-1
For an equivalent wattage LED, it has 20% less light intensity as the CFL bulb. But you will also be paying 10x more $$$
Here's some eye candy http://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Hydro-BlackStar-Light-Flowering/dp/B004E662SA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311012289&sr=8-1
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we all know what those lights are for, but for the walmart solution $7$ bucks a year far out weighs the cost for an LED light,fixture. But if it looks cool than that is a whole other story, hence my mistking setup as opposed to a spray bottle.It's more of a relative statement
For an equivalent wattage LED, it has 20% less light intensity as the CFL bulb. But you will also be paying 10x more $$$
Here's some eye candy Amazon.com: 240W Lighthouse Hydro BlackStar Grow Light 6 Band 3W Chips Flowering 240 Watts: Patio, Lawn & Garden
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As a DIY kinda guy, I like LED's. I can't fit a CFL and all it housing under a bookshelf easily. Plus these nightlight examples are 24LED's at 12v and 66ma. I have 3 in parallel and they work well for $10 total (each 24 LED strip was $2.66)
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I just fixed my day lighting of 66 LED's at 12v and around 200ma. I made a few mistakes in my testing (the transformer did have enough amps which is why the light it a bit dim) but now the 3 in parallel are working well. This ran be $30 total (each ring of 33 LED's was $5.00). I'll post a better picture if I can.
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I just fixed my day lighting of 66 LED's at 12v and around 200ma. I made a few mistakes in my testing (the transformer did have enough amps which is why the light it a bit dim) but now the 3 in parallel are working well. This ran be $30 total (each ring of 33 LED's was $5.00). I'll post a better picture if I can.
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anone else not seeing the posts?
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dimensions/price?
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I tried this product on a nano planted tank. Its pure GARBAGE IMO. I really don't mean to rain on your parade, however, its just a bad product and you probably wont get any decent growth from it.
WontonSally is right about the CFLs from Walmart. I'm using 1 of the 26 watt (100w eq) over one of my vivs and it is getting the job done. However, these bulbs run considerably warmer. My vivarium temp is ~2-4 degrees cooler with the screw in LED I got from light your reptiles. If heat isn't a concern for you then the cheep CFLs will get the job done. For me, you cant beat the color and appearance of the LEDs.
Agree with this. Find room to stick in a 23-26W CFL and you're set to go. LED is a waste of money and I still believe is inefficient in terms of lumens per watt and even more so in terms of lumens per dollar.
It's not that LED is still immature as a lighting technology. It's more that it reached its limit. I'm sure there will be better solutions in terms of lumens per dollar in the future. It just won't be in the current LED technology.
At this point in time, indoor plant grow lighting is governed by the light intensity bracket you want to be in. For low to decent plant life sustaining, the most efficient way is fluorescent technology AKA CFL bulbs or high output T5 strips. But if you want higher lumens for top notch growth, you'll want to head into HID territory which isn't necessarily great on your animal life. In terms of terrariums, i believe HID isn't necessary unless it's for large enclosures in the realm of >48x48x48.
All small, mid reptile vivariums or planted terrariums should use fluorescents.
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Thank you so much guys for the valued input. The experience you guys have shows me I was wrong and I'm glad to have you guys around. Compact flourescent it is! Cheaper anyway. I liked the idea of the moon lights though but not necessary.
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