anyone tried SMD leds for corals?

[johnfallon135]

obviously not for sps but lps and softies? i have roughly a 100 watt strip i may use. spectrum isn't a serious issue as it has many different colors it's a rgb strip

 

[2smokes]

Ive seen a fish only tank that was lit with 5050 led strip and had somme soft crals in like kenia tree.I personally used 5050 led strip to grow algae in my algae scrubber with sucess.You will still need a radiator to chill the leds and if its a shallow aquarium i think they might work well for LPS and sofies,maybe somme deep water SPS too like seriatopora gutatus.The RGB 5050 led strips are much dim than one color only 5050 led strip so i wouldnt use RGB altough it looks good and you can change the light spectrum.Also ,why not use 10W led chips?10W led chips are dirt cheap ,but you will also need a MR16 driver for each led between the led and the 12V power source.https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10W...32348806308.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.RXKP68

 

[Flippers4pups]

obviously not for sps but lps and softies? i have roughly a 100 watt strip i may use. spectrum isn't a serious issue as it has many different colors it's a rgb strip

You would have a difficult time keeping LPS and most softies long term with those because of the spectrum they produce. Also I've seen these in other applications and I really don't think they have enough power to penetrate very deep.

 

[ericarenee]

I had some i put in a dark area in the back of my hood just so that i could see things in there better. NOT To light the tank. within a month they were rusty and corroded i took them out and tossed them. I WOULD Not use them anywhere near saltwater.. they did not even last under the kitchen cabinets close to the stove and sink..

my opinion they are a fire hazard

 

[Flaring Afro]

I had some i put in a dark area in the back of my hood just so that i could see things in there better. NOT To light the tank. within a month they were rusty and corroded i took them out and tossed them. I WOULD Not use them anywhere near saltwater.. they did not even last under the kitchen cabinets close to the stove and sink..

my opinion they are a fire hazard

Are you using the waterproof ones and did you waterproof your soldered connections? People use them a decent amount in freshwater and I don't see how saltwater would affect the silicone like covering, besides salt build up making it need to be cleaned.

I've heard someone claim he had much more algae growth with rgb white vs actual white LEDs. He thought it was because it had the red LED. Not sure how true that is. Also, RGBs definitely are dimmer than white or blue strips. I don't think you'd necessarily need a heat sink for 5050s, just airflow over them. I wouldn't try 5630s without one though. Also, some on eBay are cheaper than others and just will burn out quickly no matter what.

 

[ericarenee]

Are you using the waterproof ones and did you waterproof your soldered connections? People use them a decent amount in freshwater and I don't see how saltwater would affect the silicone like covering, besides salt build up making it need to be cleaned.

I've heard someone claim he had much more algae growth with rgb white vs actual white LEDs. He thought it was because it had the red LED. Not sure how true that is. Also, RGBs definitely are dimmer than white or blue strips. I don't think you'd necessarily need a heat sink for 5050s, just airflow over them. I wouldn't try 5630s without one though. Also, some on eBay are cheaper than others and just will burn out quickly no matter what.

they were water proof a full 20 foot roll uncut anywhere . The ones i had under the cabinets where kinda expensive actually. I have switched to something that looks like the same kind of strip lights but is in a glass tube..

I DO use the multi-chip outdoor flood lights in my sump and refugium. I have 12-30w 7000k over my refugium tanks.. the tanks are made of a 55 gallon drum split connected with bulkheads.. both full of calurpa algae .
the fuge is the life of my systems. they are all connected to be gravity fed into the fuge and water circulated back to thanks with a reeflo hammerhead .

 

[LED Jack]

Please do not confuse SMD LEDs with LED tape strips. SMDs by definition mean the LEDs are attached to a printed circuit board. Here are some 6' tubes I had made with SMD chips. With that being said the tape strips usually fail when put under any type of unusual conditions.

 

[mcgyvr]

spectrum isn't a serious issue as it has many different colors it's a rgb strip

Think again..

 

[zooman72]

Please do not confuse SMD LEDs with LED tape strips. SMDs by definition mean the LEDs are attached to a printed circuit board. Here are some 6' tubes I had made with SMD chips. With that being said the tape strips usually fail when put under any type of unusual conditions.

This...

SMD's can grow coral, usually in shallower aquariums, but spectrum is still important (RGB diodes aren't going to cut it), and the more powerful ones still employ a heatsink - see Current TrueLumen Pro strips or Orbit Marine fixture, and the new AquaMaxx Nemolights.

The strip you noted in the first post is not powerful enough nor has the right spectrum spread for just about any typical reef aquarium - they would work well to light up your cabinet/ sump area though.

 

[johnfallon135]

so just because a light is clearly or dark blue doesn't necessarily mean the spectrum is above 10000k (white) at least right?

 

[LED Jack]

Kelvin temperature is not the same as spectrum. Look at it this way, you can put a clear blue cover over a light source and just because the light is blue it does not mean it can grow corals.

 

[Steveb]

Please do not confuse SMD LEDs with LED tape strips. SMDs by definition mean the LEDs are attached to a printed circuit board. Here are some 6' tubes I had made with SMD chips. With that being said the tape strips usually fail when put under any type of unusual conditions.

Do you happen to have a build thread for these?

 

[LED Jack]

I did not build them I had a factory build them for me. I am in the LED business and work with many factories that build lights for me.