# Household GU10 LED lighting



## foxfish (28 Aug 2012)

I have 3 x 9w GU10 bulbs + 2 x 39w T5s over my 220lt tank, all the lights are 50cm above the water.
Here is a pic of just the 3 LEDs on.


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## geoffbark (28 Aug 2012)

very nice!!

i like the conduit spray bar

what have you mounted the gu10's in?


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## foxfish (28 Aug 2012)

Thanks, actually waste pipe overflow - we have a black & white theme in our lounge.
The LED lights are fitted into a wooden canopy using standard down light fittings....





The far light is a warm white, the center a blue & the near light is a daylight white.


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## geoffbark (28 Aug 2012)

That is a good piece of DIY. Maybe you could put an article together for the lights. I know I would be interested in replicating it.


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## HarryRobinson (28 Aug 2012)

Very well done there fox  I used GU10 leds for my tank too


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## foxfish (29 Aug 2012)

The LEDs are very effective lighting in that they please the eye but, I can tell you that one 39w T5 is considerably brighter than 3 x 9w LEDs!
That is not a technical fact but an observation from my prospective.
The LEDs shine very bright & seem to penetrate the water well but the tubes offer a much broader beam that lights up my whole room through the tank glass.
However the combination works very well at showing off the tank & producing good plant growth.
I use the LEDs on their own for one hour before & two hours after the T5s come on - just for effect & the  effect is superb, sending ripples of light into our room. 
Unfortunately the LEDs on there own just dont seem to offer very good pant growth.


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## Johno2090 (29 Aug 2012)

Do you know what kelvin they are? In my experience LEDs have always trumped t5's they don't look as bright to the human eye but the par and directed light output means plant growth should be a lot higher than with t5's 

In this respect you can't really trust your eyes, brighter to you isn't always better!


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## foxfish (29 Aug 2012)

Well I guess the warm white would be around 3500k. the daylight 6500k & like I said the middle light is blue!
I think in my case, using the bulbs I have, I would need another six or eight to get good plant growth.
This is not an issue for me though as I am very happy with the combination set up I am using   
The tank has been used as a bit of a lighting experiment over the last 9 months, it started off with a 70w MT then 4 x T5 & now as it is.


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## Johno2090 (29 Aug 2012)

Damn I was looking at these recently for a few nanos. Might have a go at diying some Cree ones.


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## foxfish (29 Aug 2012)

Thesse are the bulbs, each one houses 3 x 3w cree LEDS http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-X-CREE-GU10 ... 3a6e3130ab


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## HarryRobinson (29 Aug 2012)

My tank has two 12w gu10 led's (cree 4x3w) Very very bright


NR in Situ by Harry.R, on Flickr


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