# Article on LED lighting for Aquariums



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Anyone read this yet? Recently published in June. Quite comprehensive.
Supports LEDS for FW and SW aquariums.

Aquarium PAR 38 LED | Aquarium Article Digest

A snippet from the article:

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*LED [light-emitting diode] Overview:

This aquarium light type uses semiconductor technology as its light source. A light emitting electrical diode.

The difficulty in developing LEDs for aquarium use, both reef and freshwater planted, is getting the correct wave length in light measurements called, nanometers and ultimately the usable light [PUR-PAS] of the emitters [PUR = Photosynthetically Usable Radiation. PAS = Photosynthetic Action Spectrum. Both are similar terms although PAS is more scientifically appropriate].

The picture above is of an office with many reef aquariums (which includes stony corals, SPS and LPS) set up with AquaRay LED lighting systems, please click to enlarge

Please reference this forum post for more about this picture:
EcoSys complete aquariums

Essentially, the best LED fixtures are NOT aquarium lights in the traditional sense, even the emitters are not a "bulb" as many people think.

High end LED fixtures use complex circuitry to evenly spread voltage over drivers and emitters to control each emitter precisely. Because of this, LED lights properly driven will not loose spectrum quality unlike ALL fluorescent lights, unless these emitters are daisy chained together, dimmed via linear or analog reduction, which is common....
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## So_lil (Feb 12, 2014)

TYVM for the article was a great read.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Thanks for posting this article. Enjoyed learning more about LED & reef tanks.


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## Hammer (Apr 22, 2010)

Interesting....thanks


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## moosily (Apr 30, 2010)

I have been looking for an article on led lights. great read!


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