[rhodophyta]

Has anyone been trying LEDs on their tanks? I saw one lamp at Home Depot that looked bright enough for a small tank, but really no data was available and the human eye is a poor guide on this. There are also these: http://www.earthled.com/zetalux-led-light-bulb.html
Seven watts producing the equivalent of 50 watts if I read right. The drawback is four bulbs for $179. I still have one similar shaped but different technology three watt bulb that produces about 50 watts of light, but after buying one for under $10 a couple years ago, I have never seen them again. It looks like a twist bulb inside a globe, but the tubing is about the diameter of spaghetti.

 

[Cory Keeper]

far too expensive for what you can do with the same $179, not enough light either, even with 4.

Also, that 7w vs 50 is LED vs Incandescent. Not LED vs CFL.

Save your money and simply build you own LED array.

 

[rhodophyta]

Well, the Zetalux prices may go down, but that is what they are now. The Home Depot LED lamp was much more reasonable, lamp and fixture for about the same as any other desk lamp. The little mystery bulb which looks like a twist bulb except the tubing is about 1/8" in diameter gives off an amazing amount of light for 3 watts. I think most light equivalency comparisons are made to incandescent.

 

[Malawi]

AFAIK - LEDs give about the same light output per watt as florescent lighting.