# LED lights are the bizz!



## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

i have been playing around with various tube light combinations which were ok....but..

i found this store that specialises in led lights of all shapes and sizes mainly for cars and house interiors.

upshot is that the owner of the shop dumped on me a load of different type of led lights to play around with for a modest deposit.

so i messed around but found this little waterproof 2x2 light combination that you can buy in strips... in white or blue..

so you can buy it in strips ..a bit like buying packets of crips from a bar ie lots and lots of these 2x2 modlues all linked together that you can just hang across the tank... and they are so cheap like a few dollars a module.

you just cut it at the length that suits you and wire it up to the transformer.

and the light quality is so much better than tube lights ..with lots of shimmering caustics from the waves on the water surface becuase each led light has a lens that outputs parallel light like you would get from a far away light such as the sun.

simply put the quality of light for the money is ridiculous... dont go to some specialist who will sell you some overpriced unit ...these lights are so cheap to produce so its just a case of buying a length of this stuff to suit your tank and your away.

not to memntion the low power consumption and low heat output.

even tried puuting gell filters under the cool running lights to get various colours and tones and it worked like a dream.

tubes lights are so last century.. :wink:


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

any pics of the tank with the led lights on it?
any pics of the led lights themselves?
how about the url of the LED store?


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

Great. But without more info this thread is completely worthless. The fact that you are in "asia" makes this even less accessible to 98% of this forum.

That being said, with my background in LED work(i worked for the largest manufacturer of LED video displays in the world) quality LED fixtures are much harder to come by stateside.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

let me get some pictures of my tank although its quite hard to show the clarity of light but i will show these fittings...

my experience is that even in hong kong the interesting stuff ironically is firstly available in the usa before asia simply because companies just focus on the usa.

give me a some time and i will post pics!!

ps..although i said it was waterproof..i wouldnt drop it into the tank fulltime on account that it has an aluminium mounting plate!!

its for hanging across the top over the water.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

thats it ..any length you want... and its got this hard clear plastic glaze over it that makes it waterproof.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

check out that link to my tank with these lights...total cost less than 30 usd all in (12 light units and a transformer)..amazing bang for your buck.

the tank shimmers from the water surface ..no heat, the fish are really defined and the colours are spot on.

i want to get its wired so the two blue lights at either end can stay on at night while rest shut down.


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

looks nice, maybe a bit dim, but very nice.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

i might get another strip for the front for full on illumination.. but this lower level/contrasty effect is quite dramatic.


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

seen these on ebay and often wondered about them
http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/ind ... ductId=370


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

bulldogg7 said:


> seen these on ebay and often wondered about them
> http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/ind ... ductId=370


i think that would be way too bright for a tank...now if they were spread out say 3 deep x the length of your tank that would be great.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

ok i doubled the lights and the price but i still think its very cheap....






a lot brighter and it looks great.... its about the nearest that i have got to a show tank so far.

just under 60 leds including 8 blue.


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## oscars4me (Feb 22, 2009)

under_control said:


> Great. But without more info this thread is completely worthless. The fact that you are in "asia" makes this even less accessible to 98% of this forum.
> 
> That being said, with my background in LED work(i worked for the largest manufacturer of LED video displays in the world) quality LED fixtures are much harder to come by stateside.


Boy under_control you sure are tough on people. :lol: :lol:

Anyway I think it's a cool idea and the video is good too.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

oscars4me said:


> under_control said:
> 
> 
> > Great. But without more info this thread is completely worthless. The fact that you are in "asia" makes this even less accessible to 98% of this forum.
> ...


thanks ...acctally i cannot think of one thing that a small island in the philippines has over the usa in terms of whats on offer.. i think you just need to look.
The price of leds has plummeted ever since some guy in japan worked out how to make them real cheap.

and yeah "out of control" i dont know what was eating him with the attitude ..maybe he is annoyed because he worked for the biggest led company in the world but still cant get any :wink:


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

Spend some time looking at US retailers for quality LED arrays like the ones you have shown. you will not find them for anywhere near the pricing you have indicated.

THere are numerous threads at the planted tank and apc where people are trying **** hard, and the options just aren't there.

You didn't even give us brand names for these leds, so we can't even try to duplicate these results.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

http://www.ares-online.com/catalog/commercial_service/6/led_modules_with_272.html
these sound pretty similar .made in china .. no suprises there but there are many chinese factorys ouputing this stuff as we speak.

so there must be usa companys importing this stuff.

if you are looking for brand names at these prices i think its not going to happen.

i think these lights are aimed at the 12v car market.

oh yeah..i got it wrong ..i now have 112 individual led light sources ...not 60 as said earlier.


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## under_control (Jan 9, 2008)

Like the product you linked, they typically only offer at wholesale and are harder to get any quality ones in the quantity we desire without significant mark up. We just can't get the wholesale prices on these types of modules.

I have an LED fixutre made from single LED arrays that I hand built. It was the most painful thing i have ever done. The light is great, but never will I do that work again.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

hmmmm ok maybe i just got lucky .. i know the guys round here dont really go for huge mark ups because the market here wouldnt be able to accomodate it.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

yeah i just went on alibaba i think i saw a minimum order of 1000 pieces which came in at about half a dollar each..

same thing individually on ebay 16 usd ..someone is making an awfull lot of money on ebay.


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