Where to find cheap LED strip light?

DrewBrees713 · Sep 28, 2018

i already have 2 black box for my 6ft long tank but would like to brighten things up a bit more for viewings, not really for the corals. I saw a led white only 27watt strip with remote on Amazon for about $16 . Any suggestions would be appreciated. And if you could post a link where to buy thatd be awesome thanks!

https://www.amazon.com/RoLightic-30...s=White+led+strip+with+remote#customerReviews

sbash · Sep 28, 2018

I can think of a few options.

First, get two more black box fixtures. I put four on my 6' tank and it gets great coverage and a nice brightness overall.

That said if another two fixtures are not in your budget; if your black box fixtures have lenses, remove them. This will give you (probably) close to an extra 40 degree spread out of the diodes. Although it won't technically make things any brighter, it will balance the light out and eliminate some shadowing.

Third, look for freshwater light bars. You should be able to get a white 72" light bar on eBay of under $100. Mind you, depending on the depth of your tank (i.e. height), you may or may not need 3watt diodes. For example, a 12" tank could easily get away with 1 watt, maybe even 1/2 watt diodes; but a 30" deep (think a 220 gallon) would need 3 watt diodes just to brighten up the sand enough to make sense.

If you really wanted to get creative, you could get 3' light bars and add some sort of a middle bar (assuming you don't already have one). That might cut costs too...

DrewBrees713 · Sep 29, 2018

My black boxes have a mixture of 90 and 120 degree lenses according to the Ebay seller i bought them from. They do have a bit of shadowing but thats expected. Thanks!

naoki · Sep 29, 2018

Those cheap LED strips with constant voltage drivers are generally inefficient. So it will cost more in a long term. If you want better quality linear modules, you might want to consider Bridgelux EB strip Gen 3. or Samsung F-series (with a proper CC driver like Meanwell). These are one of the most cost effective white LEDs at this moment. But you have to make sure the water doesn't splash.