Cheap LED Lighting for Aquariums and Planted Aquariums

After reading and researching about aquarium lighting and lighting for plants, I found that many speak in favor of cfl daylight being a reasonable source of quality light for aquariums and plant growth. Even though you get special grow cfl lights which are very expensive, one can do just fine with the regular daylight cfls which are used in regular house lighting. Daylight cfls emit a fair spectrum of light which is useful for plants. Whenever I visit shops, I notice them using fluorescent tube lights in their aquariums. Today with so much advancement in technology, people are using led lights for aquariums now. There are various led lighting systems available at fish shops, but they are very expensive and might not match the size of your aquarium. I live in India, a place where few cool things are available down the road. You have to go searching a lot for these types of things. So i decided to go DIY and make the most out of the stuff that is highly available.

I started to think about what led lights would be great for aquariums. LED bulbs and tubes which are designed for households emit the brightness and spectrum required for plants to grow in your aquarium. These things could easily fit into a pre-designed aquarium cover. Problem is, i do not have an aquarium cover and was not really inclined in wasting my time and money in creating one. I was wanting something as compact and simple as possible.

Waterproof LED Lights

Waterproof LED Lights

One day while checking out options at the lighting shop, i came across waterproof led lights of various colors to chose from. I went and bought myself a good amount of these and stuck them on a glass cover and placed it over my aquarium. I mixed red, green, blue, white and warm white to try and cover a wide light spectrum needed by plants. A nice option - The light was quite bright, the tank was lit up well, the plants were responding quite well to it. There was a major downside to this as these lights came as a bunch, so in order to evenly mix colors, I had to rewire them all and that took a lot of time and energy. Another downlide was that the sticker which is used to attach it on a surface gives up and the lights fall into the aquarium.

Pros

• Cheap cost
• Bright light output. The more you add to the panel, the more brightnes.
• Many colors to chose from - Red, Green, Blue, White and Warm White when mixed, should be good for plants.
• Waterproof
• Safe even if they fall in the water.

Cons

• Sticker used for attaching led to surface is not reliable and gives up. Once attached, its messy to remove as sticker glue doesn't come out easily.
• If you decide to rewire them to mix light colors, its a lengthy task.
• Ugly wires takes up lots of space on the panel.

Strip Lights

I tried led strip lights too. You get the waterproof version of these which are a bit more expensive. They come in various colors. They are easy to attach.

Now the downside here is the light intensity. The intensity wasnt enough. So i deccided to try something new. I was looking for cheap, yet powerful, highly luminous light sources with good cri (color rendering index). After searching I realized something amazing at the office. I noticed downlight led panel which was really bright. the brightness and quality of light produced by it was great too. So i decided to try it out in my aquarium. So I rushed to the shop and picked up a led downlight of 15 watts, 1000 lumins, daylight. I used pvc pipes to mount it atop my aquarium. I siliconed the light to the pipes to secure it. The light output was amazing and the plants started to release a large amount of oxygen bubbles. The entire aquarium was litup a great deal.
I do not find anyone talking about using these types of lights even though they are quite similar to cfl light, take up less power and give out more light and last longer. Besides the light is all focused in the right place, rather than getting wasted elsewhere. CFLs and tubelights give out a lot of wasted light in opposite directions which is a waste of good energy. downlights on the other hand focus all f the light down into the aquarium.
Here are some pics of what I have done. It is quite neat and compact and doesn't look ugly. If you find this article useful, you could perhaps use it in your setup.

The Convict Cichlid (Kindle Edition Ebook)

Cheap Lights for Growing Aquatic Plants

I have tried a lot of simple low budget light combinations to get good results with growing aquarium plants and have come to a conclusion. Fluorescent lights are just a perfect for the job and are cheap. I would recommend going in for the reddish and bluish ones. I recommend adding a 50/50 of red and blue florescent light in your tank for good results. By doing that, you will get a purple ambiance in your aquarium. You can even add a daylight florescent tube for a brighter look and improved plant growth. The deeper the aquarium the more lights will be needed so that a significant amount of light reaches the plants.

The red light helps the plants develop roots and the blue light helps with stem and leaf growth.

Another thing to keep in mind is the type of fish you got with the plants. Avoid keeping fish that will harm the plants as that will greatly affect growth.

The Convict Cichlid (Kindle Edition Ebook)

What is stress and it's effect on fish?

A fish can get stressed out for many reasons. Aggressive tank mates, transporting, too much water current caused by power heads, poor water quality, disease, too much light, hitting the glass, lack of privacy in a transparent tank etc. are common causes of fish stress.

Stress directly affects the normal functioning of a fish. It's mental and chemical balance is affected making it prone to disease as the immune system gets weak. After prolonged exposure to stressful situations, a fish can develop chronic conditions, organs may malfunction or fail causing imminent death.

One example of fish stress is keeping 2 male convict cichlids together in one tank. They are territorial and aggressive in nature and will fight each other from time to time. In the wild, the loser runs away never to be seen again but in a fish tank, such a thing is not possible. This causes stress of the very presence of the dominant male. These fish may display signs of fear by sticking close to the surface of the water at the corners. Appetite may be affected too.

So please keep in mind the basic idea about fish stress while keeping fish and give them the best experience possible to make them happy and healthy.

The Convict Cichlid (Kindle Edition Ebook)

Danger of keeping large amount of fish together

It's never usually a good practise to have a large number of fish stocked up in a single tank. The reason for that is if any illness strikes, it strikes with a bang and can be more fatal than otherwise. Heavily stocked tanks are a perfect place for any disease to spread and thrive and persist which makes the disease more fatal than it actually is. Some examples are diseases like ick.

In situations like this, you should immediately reduce water level and start medicating with the right medicine for the problem with the correct dosage. Beware of overdose as that can easily kill your fish. Read the dosage and apply the right amount depending the volume of water in tank.

Do regular water changes. Make sure any dead fish are removed immediately.

The Convict Cichlid (Kindle Edition Ebook)

How i dealt with green water problem

My tank is located in a sunny spot as it's too big to be kept inside the house. I'm sure many of you too got your tanks or ponds in the open with no shade.

The sun along with its benefits brings along some problems too. Well I wouldn't quite say this is a problem as it does not affect the fish health, but it can be a nuisance to owners as they will not be able to admire their own pond or tank.

I'm taking about green water. Many call it green soup. This is known as phytoplankton which is a microscopic algae that does not attach to any surface but exists freely in the water and spreads super fast in certain conditions.

Phytoplankton are a natural water conditioner. They absorb the bad stuff from the water and multiply their mass. Thus the water is better conditioned for your fish.

But now I'm going to talk about the bad side. I personally like to admire my fish on a daily basis and if anything, even this kind of good stuff block my view, I consider it a problem. So here's what I did to bring this problem under control.

Breeding Convict Cichlids in Bulk in a Single Tank

Convict Cichlids are very aggressive fish and cannot be kept together. Especially when they begin to form pairs and raise young. This causes huge amount of stress to the tankmates. Here is a solution to your problem if you house many of these cichlids.

Place containers facing upwards inside your aquarium. They should be big enough for an adult pair of convicts to move around in. Its as simple as that. The pair will not take much time in finding it and making home there. You can use a glass bowl which will give you the privilage to view them spawn and raise their fry.

Do fish need space?

All living things need some space from one another. The more space, the better. I have observed that fish grow much faster if they are provided their own space. I have keep a single convict Cichlid baby in its own aquarium and it out grew all the others that were stocked together.

In my opinion, all living things have an energy field around them. With competitive species especially, the presence of a dominating companion will inhibit it's progress. Even though the fish may seem fine, at some level of its consciousness, it feels fear and stress in the presence of its competition. The results eventually show in its growth and health.

I raise convict Cichlid fry in a single tank together. But I won't be able to house them together for long. As they grow they need to spread out. Their requirement for personal space expands as they grow.

However this rule may not apply for schooling fish like Danios, tiger barbs, neons etc. These fish need to be in groups to function properly.

The Convict Cichlid (Kindle Edition Ebook)