Aquarium LED strip: tips for selection and placement

For the comfortable life of fish and plants in the aquarium, in addition to changing water, caring for water filters, the illumination of the reservoir is important. The closed world of a home reservoir needs lighting, since natural light is not enough for full functioning. The inhabitants of the aquarium require an "artificial sun" from 10 to 12 hours a day. The best solution to this problem is to use an LED strip as a backlight source.

Before using an LED strip as a lamp in a home pond, you should think carefully about calculating the power of the lamps. Cheap and low-power LEDs will not be able to provide high penetrating power of light through the water column and will only illuminate the top layer in the aquarium. For uniform illumination of the aquarium landscape, it is assumed that for each liter of water, approximately 0.5 watts of power and 40 lumens of brightness are required. It should also be borne in mind that for reservoirs with a volume of more than 200 liters, these calculations are doubled.

For herbal aquariums and reservoirs over 60 cm in height, calculations are based on a power of 1 watt per liter of liquid and a lighting brightness of 60 lumens or more. It must be remembered that every 10 cm depth reduces the luminous intensity by 50% at best.

For a competent choice of LED strip lighting you need to pay attention to the following parameters:

• the size of the aquarium;
• species of fish and plants living in the reservoir;
• the degree of moisture resistance and moisture insulation (IP) of the tape;
• power and brightness of LEDs;
• the length of the LED strip;
• the duration of the backlight.

In most cases, LED backlighting is mounted in the lid of the aquarium, but to decorate a home pond, you can place it on the bottom and walls around the perimeter. Under water, a tape is installed only with protection against moisture IP68. Keep in mind that long-term illumination from the depth of the tank can negatively affect the behavior of the fish and the growth of plants.

If only fish live in the aquarium, then you can use the simplest LED strip with a white light spectrum. But do not go too far: if there is too much light, then the inhabitants of the aquarium may start to get sick, and the water will acquire an unpleasant odor and become cloudy.

For a reservoir with plants, you should more carefully approach the choice of the spectrum of light, the power of the lamps and their placement in the reservoir. In addition, algae require precisely red-orange and violet-blue lighting, preferably combined with each other.

Let's take a look at the positive and negative aspects of using LED backlighting.

Pros:

• installation is straightforward;
• low power consumption;
• does not generate heat during operation, which negatively affects the comfortable life of the aquarium population;
• the ability to install directly into water, as the tape is waterproof;
• long service life, far exceeding conventional lighting;
• only environmentally friendly materials are used in the manufacture of LEDs, the life of pets will not be endangered;
• the ability to make lighting with your own hands.

There is only one minus: quite high price. This disadvantage is more than covered by the rest of the advantages of LED lamps.

Based on these parameters, according to your capabilities and taste, you can choose the LEDs that will provide an economical, durable and practical lighting in the aquarium. When buying them, we advise you to pay attention to the products of well-known and trusted manufacturers, since the products of Chinese companies very often do not correspond to the declared indicators.

Installation of LED lighting, despite the apparent complexity, actually does not require special knowledge and skills. This is the easiest and safest method, especially for beginner hobbyists.

To install the backlight, we need the following tools and materials:

• LED strip (from the English Light-Emitting Diode);
• power unit;
• waterproof glue;
• sealant;
• scissors;
• stationery knife.

The installation of the luminaire begins with the fact that it is necessary to cut a certain amount of tape to make the backlight. Measure the rule seven times and cut once here at the right time. The cuts are marked with a special icon on the tape. If you cut elsewhere, then this piece will remain inoperative. It is better not to make mistakes and follow closely how and where to cut. Using scissors, separate the required amount of tape, focusing on the badges. This operation should be repeated as many times as required for mounting the lighting.

Having received the required number of identical parts of the diode strip, we connect it to a power source from the electrical network. To do this, we clean the edges of the tape from the silicone film that protects the lamp from moisture in places of direct contact. We make a neat cut so as not to damage the live tracks.

Remove the cut off protective layer. Under it are electrical wires, one of them is a plus, and the other is a minus. In the same way, we clean up all the segments that are prepared for the lamp.

Next, we proceed to soldering, connecting all the segments together, leaving only one end unused, which is the end of the tape. After soldering two segments together, we check the operability by connecting to the power supply - plus to plus, minus to minus.

The check must be carried out sequentially, so that later you do not find out where the break occurred or there is simply no contact. After we solder all the sections together, we again carry out a performance check. If everything works, then proceed to the installation of the aquarium cover on the body.

Before applying the tape, degrease the surface for reliable adhesion. You can wipe with any solvent. The LED strip itself has an adhesive base, it does not need to be cleaned.

We glue the tape on the lid, check again if everything works. Then we insulate all soldering points with a sealant. We fix the supply wires with glue. If the tape has a level of protection lower than IP 65, it will be correct to place the luminaire in a protective box to protect it from water vapor. The power supply and on / off device are located on the outside to exclude moisture and create conditions for proper heat transfer.

Diode strips as the main light source in an aquarium will eventually replace other types of lamps due to their economy and efficiency.

You can learn how to choose a power supply for LEDs in an aquarium from the video below.