Sorta DIY LED Lighting

[mike31154]

I think the issue with those floodlights you linked to is that they're really designed for outdoors and it appears they lack sufficient cooling for indoor application. The LEDs used in them are multi chip arrays that come in sizes from 10 watts to over 100 watts. My DIY fixture uses all 10 watt multi chip LEDs that I ordered from eBay, 3 rows of 9 LEDs over my tank, various colours from 10000K white to royal blue. Each of my multi chips is open to the room though & has it's own heatsink with fan. For moonlight & dawn/dusk, I added a couple of strips of waterproof RGB SMD5050 LEDs, also purchased on eBay, a 5 meter reel, so plenty left over.

For additional info, check the link for my build below. There are other options I looked at as well, including PAR38 bulbs & MR16 bulbs. My fixture has been running great for almost 2 years now, only issue is the cheap fans, but I have spares.