Custom LED Lighting

[hachadwick]

I am going to build a custom Super Bright LED fixture for my 55 gallon FOWLR tank. I am planning on placing some plants and invertebrates in the tank later on. I have a couple of questions:

1. Is the color of light important? Does it impact the fish and invertebrates?
2. At night, when I go to bed, should I dim the lights, turn them off, or leave them on?

I am going to put digital color control and dimmer on the unit. Let me know what you all think because for the price of a LED unit built for aquariums, I can build a custom one.:lamp5:

 

[chichimom79]

The lighting isn't important for fish, only for photosynthetic corals and anemones and clams, etc... Take a look at some of the DIY threads on LED lighting. I'm sure you will get some great ideas.

 

[Northstar24]

Yes, color matters greatly when it comes to coral and invertebrates - and it really isn't the 'color' per se, but the spectrum of the light

Look at places that sell kits for DIY LED fixtures. You can also search for build threads, there are literally hundreds of them on this site and on others.

As far as at night, most people that run LED's run the blue channel at somewhere from 1-4%. Mine runs at 4% but my controller mimics the phases of the moon, so some nights they are actually at 4%, and others the tank is completely dark for the night (new moon)

 

[chichimom79]

What controller are you running, North?

 

[Northstar24]

Just the controller available from AquaIllumination - all it controls is the lights

 

[hachadwick]

So, is there another characteristic of lighting that matters other than brightness?

 

[Northstar24]

Yes, the spectrum - it is aurguabley more important that how bright a light is. You can have the brightest light on the planet, but if it's lacking in the spectrum that corals need it won't do a thing to keep coral alive (let alone grow)

Search is your friend - there are all kinds of articles on this out there

 

[hachadwick]

What about fish? Is a certain light better? I know light is less important for fowle, but is there anything I should know? Thanks

 

[Northstar24]

No, fish dont really care about what light is used to light the tank, it is more for our viewing pleasure in this case

You could use a T8 fixture to light a fish only tank - just keep in mind that the T8 fixture WILL NOT support corals, clams, or anemones