Fuge Light - Help me pick the best bulb

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I'm looking at possibly upgrading my fuge lights. I currently have a 5w LED bulb (red and blue spectrums), but I am thinking about upgrading to this 36w Par 38 bulb:

E27 PAR38 4BLUE 8RED 36W LED Grow Light Lamp Plant Hydroponic Flower Greenhouse | eBay

Is it worth it? Would the extra wattage likely increase growth?

 

[jt17]

If you only have 5w over your fuge then you should see improved growth. The bulb sounds good although you don't really need the blue for macro algae. My one concern is where it ships from. I have been happy with my led I got from Home Depot. They're just the par 38 daylight LED flood lights that are designed for wet locations. They come in a variety of sizes to.

 

[heathd.hd]

I had one of them 5w led bulbs and wasn't getting much growth. I switched it our for the spiral 100 w daylight bulb like I see alot of people using and boom! My cheato goes from softball size - basketball size every month now.

 

[reefjunkie53]

I just put in this

 

[reefjunkie53]

 

[MrDJeep123]

I've had something similar. It didn't do squat. I would pass.

 

[heathd.hd]

I'm definitely intrested in your results though. I would like a led light instead of the spiral CFL.

 

[heathd.hd]

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Polaroid-L...Light-Bulb-PLPAR38W-120-2200-30-3D/204718924/

Like this. lots of light 30w usage. Idk.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Thanks for the answers, guys!
heathd.hd I am thinking I may use the bulb you linked. It's about the same brightness and price (and I don't have to wait for it to come from China). Is that the same color temp you're getting good results with? I was thinking the red spectrum was better for algae growth, but "the proof is in the pudding" as they say, so if you're getting good growth with this spectrum, I'll give it a shot.

 

[heathd.hd]

I'm actually just using one of these right now bud. It works great. Idk was thinking about the other idea just because the CFL bulb in my sump makes me think it's a bad idea. There made with some bad stuff if it was 2 ever break. That's the only reason I'm thinking about the led light I posted.

 

[heathd.hd]

Here's a little video of my setup.

http://youtu.be/ThFZiSuePcE

I have a wp-10 In There and it spins my cheato pretty good. Also keeps detritus from sitting on the bottom.

I had a 5w par 35 bulb from reefradiance I tried and got nothing for growth. I just think it didn't have enough power.

This makes that the cheato double in size monthly.

 

[TJ's Reef]

Daniel, any of the LED's in the 'Daylight' spectrum will work very well for you. The one big advantage above lesser power consumption and lower heat is that 'White' LED's are created from Blue LED's by adding phosphorous coatings to alter spectral wavelength, so there is still a big spike in the 450-460nm range to go along with the higher ranges of Greens and Reds produced by the phosphors. Blue's and Red's are still the primary spectrum needed for terrestrial plants to perform photosynthesis under and why you see many 'Grow Lights' with only Blue/Red emitters. The rest of the visible spectrum is mostly just that and makes it more pleasing to our eyes is all.

Cheers, Todd

 

[KoleTang]

Look into the eBay LED warm white flood lights. Here is one in use:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...m-filtration/179426-keithcorals-refugium.html

 

[heathd.hd]

That's a good read kole tang I definitely used that thread to influence my decisions in my fuge.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Daniel, any of the LED's in the 'Daylight' spectrum will work very well for you. The one big advantage above lesser power consumption and lower heat is that 'White' LED's are created from Blue LED's by adding phosphorous coatings to alter spectral wavelength, so there is still a big spike in the 450-460nm range to go along with the higher ranges of Greens and Reds produced by the phosphors. Blue's and Red's are still the primary spectrum needed for terrestrial plants to perform photosynthesis under and why you see many 'Grow Lights' with only Blue/Red emitters. The rest of the visible spectrum is mostly just that and makes it more pleasing to our eyes is all.

Cheers, Todd

Thanks for the tip, Todd. That's good info. So the one linked from Home Depot should work, right?

Look into the eBay LED warm white flood lights. Here is one in use:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...m-filtration/179426-keithcorals-refugium.html

Thanks! That is a good read.

EDIT (bc I misread 500par as 500w). So the light above from Home Depot seems similar to what Keith is using, right?

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Ok...so far, what I'm understanding is that the more light I can blast in there, the better. I'm looking at 120w-150w equivalents at this point (30w or more for LED).

What is the ideal spectrum for growth? Or does it matter as long as it's "daylight" (which I assume means between 2700k and 6500k, right?)?

I'll change the name of the thread to reflect the question a bit better. :)

 

[heathd.hd]

I think your on point here bud. My light is 6k right now and doing well. I'm kinda looking also at the lumen factor. My CFL is at like 1200 lumen and the led I posted is almost 1700 lumen forgive me if my numbers are wrong but I'm thinking more light the better!

 

[TJ's Reef]

Yes, those LED Flood lights are AWESOME for refugiums but would greatly benefit from some fan cooling being tucked away in our aquarium stands. I run a DIY LED Fuge light with 10 3w emitters consisting of 4 RB's, 4 CW's and 2 Red (very patriotic) that I buit using PC heatsinks with attached fans. First pic is of when first building it and last two pics from today. I still need/want to add some optics to increase light penetration and reduce light spill.

Cheers, Todd

 

[heathd.hd]

Oh man! That's nice Todd. The one thing I hate about the daylight bulb is it lights up my stand white at night. Grrr. Would love the glow off a cool led setup. Haha build me one!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I think your on point here bud. My light is 6k right now and doing well. I'm kinda looking also at the lumen factor. My CFL is at like 1200 lumen and the led I posted is almost 1700 lumen forgive me if my numbers are wrong but I'm thinking more light the better!

Sounds good. I think you're bringing up the lumens just helped me make the decision. I was looking at a couple of different options still, but the one you linked me to above is at 2200 lumens and some of the comparable others that are also 120w equivalents are only 1200 lumens. I'm figuring with that much light going in there, I'd better be able to grow something! LOL