Diy light for high tech planted tank

[Vítor]

Hey guys , i wanna do my own light and i was thinking about building it with smd5730 LED's with 6500k, should i use some red and blue LED's aswell or i will be good with only white ones , each LED produces about 35lm-55lm. My aquarium is a 40cm cube.

[Fish Folk]

This is not a very complete answer. But I think that you could set up panels like these, framed neatly in a wooden or 3D-printed plastic box, and suspend above your aquarium as desired...

I have a couple going right now for aquaponics. Very intense light! See photo...

Edited May 29, 2023 by Fish Folk

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2023 at 7:11 AM, Vítor said:

Hey guys , i wanna do my own light and i was thinking about building it with smd5730 LED's with 6500k, should i use some red and blue LED's aswell or i will be good with only white ones , each LED produces about 35lm-55lm. My aquarium is a 40cm cube.

There is a talk on lighting for saltwater on the BRS youtube channel that I recommend checking out.  Focusing research on spectrum specifically is applicable to any lighting setup.  Ultimately you want to view the charts for the LEDs you want to use and their effectiveness.  Wavelength of blue and Red LEDs specifically can lead to better success than others.

 

[TOtrees]

On 5/27/2023 at 10:11 AM, Vítor said:

Hey guys , i wanna do my own light and i was thinking about building it with smd5730 LED's with 6500k, should i use some red and blue LED's aswell or i will be good with only white ones , each LED produces about 35lm-55lm. My aquarium is a 40cm cube.

Here's an "I think..." answer. I'm not an expert, but I've done some past research, am generally sort of competent, and keep plants alive both in and out of water (which isn't the same as saying ALL my plants are healthy/thriving 🙂 ).

I have a wide variety of lights on a number of tanks. Of the lights that are LEDs, some have only daylight/6500K diodes, some have daylight plus blue, and some have daylight plus RB&G. Among the lights that work well, are a number that ONLY have 6500K diodes. So I have to assume/presume/conclude that on lights with the blue or RGB diodes, those are there for user preference. This aligns with what Cory generally preaches when he touches on lighting. All the adjustments are there for users to make the tank/fish/plants look the way they like, not necessarily to help the plants. 

As FYI, the light that most impresses me right now in terms of sheer power and ability to grow things like crazy is the Sunblaster LED conversion lamp. I have a shimp and bn pleco tank that is dominated by hornwort, and the amount of hornwort that I have to pull out of that tank every couple weeks is insane. I leave a handful of 10" sprigs floating on the top (each sprig with multiple growing tips), and 2 weeks later the tank (a 15 gallon) is 80% full top to bottom. Con: if you don't have a setup that will control or limit algae, you will get algae with this light. Pro: the plant growth that this light fuels results in crazy water cleaning ability. So in my tank with the hornwort, there is not a lick of algae (which I should maybe rethink since it's neos and bns, but they're fed right and it shows no signs of problems 🙂 ). 

Back to your question, I'd go with all 6500s, aim for twice the brightness you think you'll need, and include a dimming function to get the brightness that works for your setup. Maybe put 25% of the diodes on a separate channel, so they can be your sunrise and sunset setting. Unless the dimming function is variable/programmable, which would allow better control. But this is a level of customization/construction that I'm not familiar with, ie I know these options exist because I see them in use, but I've never played with the software that drives it myself. 

[Vítor]

On 5/29/2023 at 4:58 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

There is a talk on lighting for saltwater on the BRS youtube channel that I recommend checking out.  Focusing research on spectrum specifically is applicable to any lighting setup.  Ultimately you want to view the charts for the LEDs you want to use and their effectiveness.  Wavelength of blue and Red LEDs specifically can lead to better success than others.

 

I thought about doing a light with the led strips i did thought aswell using a flood light with 6500k 3100lm 30w but it's not dimmeable. I saw the video that you recommended and it does make sense, but i didnt see any of this floodlights with their wavelength or even led strips with the wavelength. So makes it a bit hard... The floodlight wouldnt be that horizon to horizon light but a couple inches above the aquarium i don't if it would be fine, something like md fish tanks do.According to that graphic would you think that like 70% of cool white (6500k) plus 30% of warm or neutral light would be enough for the plants and would it look good?

On 5/29/2023 at 2:48 AM, Fish Folk said:

This is not a very complete answer. But I think that you could set up panels like these, framed neatly in a wooden or 3D-printed plastic box, and suspend above your aquarium as desired...

I have a couple going right now for aquaponics. Very intense light! See photo...

But those grow lights arent the ones lightning the aquarium are they?

[Vítor]

On 5/29/2023 at 2:57 PM, TOtrees said:

Here's an "I think..." answer. I'm not an expert, but I've done some past research, am generally sort of competent, and keep plants alive both in and out of water (which isn't the same as saying ALL my plants are healthy/thriving 🙂 ).

I have a wide variety of lights on a number of tanks. Of the lights that are LEDs, some have only daylight/6500K diodes, some have daylight plus blue, and some have daylight plus RB&G. Among the lights that work well, are a number that ONLY have 6500K diodes. So I have to assume/presume/conclude that on lights with the blue or RGB diodes, those are there for user preference. This aligns with what Cory generally preaches when he touches on lighting. All the adjustments are there for users to make the tank/fish/plants look the way they like, not necessarily to help the plants. 

As FYI, the light that most impresses me right now in terms of sheer power and ability to grow things like crazy is the Sunblaster LED conversion lamp. I have a shimp and bn pleco tank that is dominated by hornwort, and the amount of hornwort that I have to pull out of that tank every couple weeks is insane. I leave a handful of 10" sprigs floating on the top (each sprig with multiple growing tips), and 2 weeks later the tank (a 15 gallon) is 80% full top to bottom. Con: if you don't have a setup that will control or limit algae, you will get algae with this light. Pro: the plant growth that this light fuels results in crazy water cleaning ability. So in my tank with the hornwort, there is not a lick of algae (which I should maybe rethink since it's neos and bns, but they're fed right and it shows no signs of problems 🙂 ). 

Back to your question, I'd go with all 6500s, aim for twice the brightness you think you'll need, and include a dimming function to get the brightness that works for your setup. Maybe put 25% of the diodes on a separate channel, so they can be your sunrise and sunset setting. Unless the dimming function is variable/programmable, which would allow better control. But this is a level of customization/construction that I'm not familiar with, ie I know these options exist because I see them in use, but I've never played with the software that drives it myself. 

My horwort is already thriving with my light but my Ludwigias rubin are not happy at all. I've searched for that light in europe but didnt find it, specially in my country but will look for it. I can be about to say something very stupid but chihihiros with the 3 in 1 led tecnhology, the leds are rgb and when they put all the colors together, it becomes white so wouldnt be the same as having all white with certain kelvins?

[Fish Folk]

On 5/29/2023 at 12:09 PM, Vítor said:

But those grow lights arent the ones lightning the aquarium are they?

No. But they could be if set up. I’d probably select two of these, and one featuring red + blue LEDs along with white. Three LED panels, suspended ca. 8” above the tank lid.

[TOtrees]

On 5/29/2023 at 12:17 PM, Vítor said:

chihihiros with the 3 in 1 led tecnhology, the leds are rgb and when they put all the colors together, it becomes white so wouldnt be the same as having all white with certain kelvins?

I can only answer based on my limited knowledge. It is possible to make a "false" or "fake" white light by combining R+G+B only, but from what I understand it doesn't look good, and I don't imagine aquarium plants would appreciate it. Better to go with the daylight or 6500, IMO. I also suspect that in terms of aquarium lights, anything sold as RGB is actually RGB+W. Eg I found this about Chihiros RGB 60 light: "Chihiros RGB 60 comes with 120 LEDs (56 white, 24 red, 48 green, 8 blue)". I suspect that most of the perceived brightness comes from the white and green, and in my limited experience there isn't much difference between them. In other words, 56W + 48G would be very similar to 104W. I come back to what I said earlier. Every light I have that is 6500 only is very good for me, and I don't miss the customization I'd get from RGB. 

[Vítor]

On 5/29/2023 at 5:44 PM, TOtrees said:

I can only answer based on my limited knowledge. It is possible to make a "false" or "fake" white light by combining R+G+B only, but from what I understand it doesn't look good, and I don't imagine aquarium plants would appreciate it. Better to go with the daylight or 6500, IMO. I also suspect that in terms of aquarium lights, anything sold as RGB is actually RGB+W. Eg I found this about Chihiros RGB 60 light: "Chihiros RGB 60 comes with 120 LEDs (56 white, 24 red, 48 green, 8 blue)". I suspect that most of the perceived brightness comes from the white and green, and in my limited experience there isn't much difference between them. In other words, 56W + 48G would be very similar to 104W. I come back to what I said earlier. Every light I have that is 6500 only is very good for me, and I don't miss the customization I'd get from RGB. 

Do you think if i put those numbers to % and then build my own light with that pecentage it would look the same?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Vítorprobably would work. Straight 6500 k white lights will look fine but you’ll not get the max out of the fish or plant colors from a viewing perspective. I’ve supplemented with grow lights with a wider spectrum and it works to some degree. The good wrgb lights give you the best color rendition which is what you need for the best viewing of plants and fish. I’ve now done everything from 6500 k white spotlights, shop lights, grow lights, cheap aquarium leds, low and mid range leds and for me the best my stock and plants have looked is with a moderate intensity full wrgb at around 6500k. When I’ve tried to diy it I typically get 70-80% of what I get with a well made commercial planted tank light. If that’s where your budget is at and it won’t drive you nuts when things are 10-30% off do it. For me I hunt on Facebook Marketplace, my clubs email thread, club auctions and other avenues such as planted tank selling sites and buy lightly used good lights for what I was paying for my diy solutions when all was said and done. 

[Vítor]

On 5/30/2023 at 1:28 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Vítorprobably would work. Straight 6500 k white lights will look fine but you’ll not get the max out of the fish or plant colors from a viewing perspective. I’ve supplemented with grow lights with a wider spectrum and it works to some degree. The good wrgb lights give you the best color rendition which is what you need for the best viewing of plants and fish. I’ve now done everything from 6500 k white spotlights, shop lights, grow lights, cheap aquarium leds, low and mid range leds and for me the best my stock and plants have looked is with a moderate intensity full wrgb at around 6500k. When I’ve tried to diy it I typically get 70-80% of what I get with a well made commercial planted tank light. If that’s where your budget is at and it won’t drive you nuts when things are 10-30% off do it. For me I hunt on Facebook Marketplace, my clubs email thread, club auctions and other avenues such as planted tank selling sites and buy lightly used good lights for what I was paying for my diy solutions when all was said and done. 

Did you noticed any difference between the diy wrgb and the flood light at 6500k?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

It was essentially a led flood with strip lights of r, g and b and there was a subtle difference but they were powerful enough. I did a grow light plus a flood light and I felt that was better. 

[Vítor]

On 5/30/2023 at 6:20 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

It was essentially a led flood with strip lights of r, g and b and there was a subtle difference but they were powerful enough. I did a grow light plus a flood light and I felt that was better. 

Which grow light do you use, i think im will build my own ligh with led strips