# Other Aquarium Forums > Equipment and Accessories > DIY Projects >  DIY LED for Planted Tank

## Jervis

Hi guys

A LED manufacturer paid me a visit today (job related) and I was given a working set (on loan).

The temptation is way too great to resist... how can I stop myself from testing it out on one of my planted tank?  :Laughing: 

Here's a closer look at the LED module.



It comes with waterproof (IP65) housing... 0.55W per module  :Shocked:

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## Jervis

Here's the ballast. Each of this ballast will be able to support up to 50 LED modules. It's very sleek and waterproof too  :Shocked: 



Sorry I can't reveal the brand name at the moment.

Please note that I am not doing a review for the manufacturer, they introduced me this product for outdoor signage application  :Smile:

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## Jervis

Let there be light... cool white to be precise  :Grin:

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## Jervis

Must test the LED on an existing tank  :Grin:  So I chose my Betta mandor tank (paludarium) to conduct the experiment  :Smug: 



I was given 6 modules in total. So I use 3M VHB transparent tape to stick the modules on top of my existing light casing and hood. Don't worry, the 3M VHB is very reliable  :Smile:

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## Jervis

Ready to see some tank shots?  :Grin: 

Both pix taken using the same settings on the camera. No brightness adjustment.

ORIGINAL
Using 13W PL


LED
Using 6 x 0.55W LEDs


Alright the LEDs are not as bright as the 13W PL. But with 13W, I can fit in 24 modules  :Shocked:

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## Panut

Now we know where to buy these lights if we have the urge to  :Grin:

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## Jervis

> Now we know where to buy these lights if we have the urge to


You can buy from Sim Lim Tower  :Laughing:

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## Jervis

A show showing the LEDs narrow spread  :Huh?:

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## David Moses Heng

MOntfort tank is currently running on 200 leds with no ballast. Results are so far encouraging. Even though the tank light set has got 4 pl tubes fitted, they are only on once or twice a day. The LED is on 24/7 and we don't have problems with algae. Cyrpto parva, wenditti, nana coffelia and many other plants are doing well even riccia.

I would be there tomorrow and tried to take a photo of the light set.

here's the thread on the project. http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=39996

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## patricc

Jervis, wonder what is the colour rating for the LED lights? 6500K? Is it a full spectrum LED? I wouldn mind using this for my tank.... it looks much more 'prettier' than the normal lights... at least to my wife haha dun wan her to nag me for not having a 'not so pretty' tank

In the other thread, the single leds are supposed to be 6500K

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## tawauboy

daylight white, cool white and warm white leds are currently available. in early days, manufacturers strive for 6500k daylight white leds.

white led is not a full spectrum light. it is basically a blue led with a yellow phosphor.

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## patricc

:Confused:  so which type should I go for best plant growth? Or any type of white is suitable?

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## Jervis

> so which type should I go for best plant growth? Or any type of white is suitable?


You can try mixing them just like how we mix out T5 tubes. The cool white LEDs I'm currently using doesn't bring out the green very well... the plants just doesn't look green enough  :Shocked:

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## patricc

I guess mixin daylight and warm white should do the trick if going by the rules? haha  :Grin:

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## Jervis

> I guess mixin daylight and warm white should do the trick if going by the rules? haha


Yupe I believe so... or maybe mixing White with Amber, more white less amber.

An update... all plants are doing well actually  :Smile:

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## patricc

oh ok thanks jervis maybe get all three haha

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## Jervis

An update... been slightly more than a week I filled the tank and added a wide variety of plants (from other tanks) to test the LEDs. Sorry no scaping for this tank  :Very Happy: 

Lighting duration is 10 hours daily.



After 1+ week... most plants are looking quite encouraging... in fact I do not see any sign of stress (or algae)... all these for a total of 3W!!!

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## patricc

I got 5 of the LED modules from SLT. It seems that only one shop sells the product. It is on the top floor on the left side area of the escalator. It retails around $16 each

Ballast needs only a small one will suffice. I got a 10-60W 12V ballast about 10-12 cm long only. It retails around $8.

Unfortunately, the shop only sells cool white coloured ones. Attempts to get other colours seem to be hard as they don't seem to want to bring in small quantities.

Will update again

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## Jervis

Great bro!!! What's the wattage for each LED module?

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## celticfish

@ patricc,
Do they happen to have blue LED modules? 

@ Jervis,
What's the wattage on your modules?
The new pictures seem brighter.
Did you do a white balance?

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## Jervis

I rearranged the LEDs. 3 in front, instead of 2. So the tank looks brighter. I think the filling up of water helps too  :Smile: 

0.55W per module

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## patricc

> @ patricc,
> Do they happen to have blue LED modules? 
> 
> @ Jervis,
> What's the wattage on your modules?
> The new pictures seem brighter.
> Did you do a white balance?


Sorry for the late reply....

They do have other colours including blue... white is only cool white and in fact the counter looks like a christmas tree decoration and the auntie had to switch them off while cutting cause she said it hurts her eyes so much haha  :Grin:  :Shocked:  :Laughing: 

Wattage should be the same as I got the LEO module as well...

on second thoughts, I thought of getting a FL light with a Arcadia tube for my tanks as I feel 5 modules doesn light up enough... mayb it is because my modules are around 5-7 inches away from the water surface due to the tank cover.

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## celticfish

@ Jervis,
My bad... didn't see the earlier post on wattage.
I keep thinking about my dive torch with LED of 1 Watt...

@ patricc,
Thanks for the information.
Though I'm not too DIY inclined I'm thinking of trying it out.
Maybe because of the lack of interesting fish stocks in the LFS these past months.

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## godprint

hi guys, is there more where i can read up how to do this project? i thinking of setting it up also. can anyone pm details as to which shop i can get these stuff? 

thanks alot greatly appreciate it

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## solonavi

Hi Jervis,

Didn't realised that u started on planted tank till now. Saw ur post on the LED project. How is it? 




> Ballast needs only a small one will suffice. I got a 10-60W 12V ballast about 10-12 cm long only. It retails around $8.


Mind me asking if the ballast is absolutely needed? 12VDC with some resistor not able to drive these LEDs?

Regards
JC

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## Savant

> Unfortunately, the shop only sells cool white coloured ones. Attempts to get other colours seem to be hard as they don't seem to want to bring in small quantities.
> 
> Will update again


I think we may not have to worry about small quantities if we can find many bros here who are willing to experiment....then we can do a MO  :Smile:  hopefully cheaper prices too !!

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## AnA

I had been about 3 months seen... maybe they had already brought in other colours? Will check out soon.  :Roll Eyes:

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## Savant

Looking forward to your update on the availability of the other colored LED with great interest... I'm sure a few of the pleco bros here are interested in the cool blue ones (I hope I got the colour right) for a night light... While the planted tank bros are interested in a variety of whites to provide a fuller spectrum... 

I think a good test if the lights can work would be to place them in a nano tank (in an air con room) with a ricca tied rock or another other similar easier to bubble plant and see whether it bubbles  :Smile:

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## AnA

I had just checked it out over last weekends and seem like that shop still do not have the other colours except the one Jervis has.

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