We all remember when LED lighting was simply used for just supplementing your main light source for moonlights or possibly actinic solutions. But now with LED manufacturers such as CREE are pushing the limits with super low wattage high lumen LED's. Lighting a Reef Aquarium of any type is quite the norm and getting popular faster than we can meet the demand. With companies such as AquaIllumination and AcanLighting there are fixtures and modular lighting applications to fit the needs of even the most serious reef tank lover. But not only are LEDs meeting the demands of Aquarium Owners, they are soon to be affordable solutions to the common household light bulb.
CREE LED's are the standard LED used in most aquarium light fixtures that are used for the main light source for your reef aquarium. Recently CREE announced that they have surpassed the luminous efficiency once believed to be the boundary of LED technology. They are now seeing 231 lumens per watt, running at a temperature of 4500k. It wasn't to long ago they believed 200 lumens to be the max. So by this data you can see that LED technology will soon(or already is) be a staple in the aquarium industry just as Metal Halide or T5 lighting is today.
There are only a handful of manufacturers producing LED lighting for aquariums that are truly worth notating. One being AquaIlluminations based out of Ames Iowa. Thought AquaIllumination has been around for 3 years it wasn't till the last 6 months that hobbyist really started to take notice with the recent advancements in the SOL modular LED lighting. The unique thing about these fixtures are that they not only provide a full color spectrum, thunderstorm simulation and dimmable technology, they are modular. This means they expandable. No more buying a single sized aquarium fixture such as a 36" or a 48". You simply add modules as needed. Pure Genius. And don't hesitate to preorder as they generally have a 1 month minimum wait time due to production restraints.
Other notable manufacturers that are also very popular are companies such as Maxspect, AcanLighting. While AquaIllumination may be the most popular based on their modular design, don't look past the other big players as they are manufacturing quality products just as AI is and are very controllable.
Now on to the point of this story. The recent advances in LED technology and the need to go "green", expect to see LED Light bulbs for the household. With a cost of around per bulb each bulb is said to pay for itself within the first year of use, and last roughly 10x longer than the standard incandescent bulbs. Another great thing is these do not contain mercury like those "twisty" CFL bulbs you see and is completely recyclable.
So as you can see LED technology for the aquarium is not the end of an era, expect to see LED technology popping up not only for us reefers, you will soon be seeing it in your home and even street lights.
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