Lighting - Brands/Equipment recommendations

[Jared]

I've finally committed funds to lighting my 4 year-old pond. I would love some recommendations for brands & equipment.

1 watt LED seems to be very popular. Anyone have experience to share? Happy w/ brightness, etc?

Any good online guides/rules of thumb to keep in mind?

Any personal anecdotes/experience with mistakes or clever ideas?

Pond is roughly 15'x30' with a 15' stream. I'm just trying to make it look nice.

Thanks!

 

[brokensword]

welcome to yet another member of the Mi chapter of GPF! We're coming out of the woodwork...

Now, re your lighting issues; I used Jabeo via ebay and I liked them when I used them. They lasted, more or less, 3 years, then some of the linked lights stopped working and I had gaps in the scheme. The one thing to note re lights (I'm assuming underwater, right?) is that algae is going to grow on them and you'll have to clean the lenses periodically or all your lights will be greenish in color.

 

[Lisak1]

Ugh. We've had zero luck with underwater lights. Spent a fortune on them and they all failed within the first couple of years. Partially our fault - they should have been deeper. Partially manufacturer's fault - they should have specified!

My best advice - don't spend a lot, and make sure they are easy to take out and replace. Maybe someone here can share better reviews, but from my research they all fail.

 

[Jared]

Ugh. We've had zero luck with underwater lights. Spent a fortune on them and they all failed within the first couple of years. Partially our fault - they should have been deeper. Partially manufacturer's fault - they should have specified!

Tell me more about "deeper". I'm assuming we're talking about needing to be placed below the ice layer? That's something I wouldn't have considered thanks!

 

[Jared]

welcome to yet another member of the Mi chapter of GPF! We're coming out of the woodwork...

You might say we're "thawing"...

 

[mrsclem]

The lights either need to be removed in winter or put low enough that they do not freeze. Also, connections on the cord for the plug need to be kept dry.

 

[brokensword]

You might say we're "thawing"...

I dunno; can't remember having 80 deg in April in a very long time if ever in MY lifetime. I told the wife; we're getting a bonus pond day--enjoy it (she's from Texas, so...)!

And as mrsclem does; I removed the lights before winter. Mine were NOT deep as I found it too hard to do any cleaning and the effect I was going for was to show the fish (at night) as shadowy figures amongst the light being spread near the surface. I liked the lights on my waterfall better than what I had ringing the pond. I ditched them a few years ago as I found my wife and I don't go out that much that late to enjoy the 'show'. Plus they started to fail randomly, disrupting the show. And I found aquarium underwater fluorescents and LEDs worked a lot easier for the back of my waterfall shelves than the Jebao versions did.

 

[Lisak1]

Tell me more about "deeper". I'm assuming we're talking about needing to be placed below the ice layer? That's something I wouldn't have considered thanks!

Below the ice line, for sure. Way below is even better. Our lenses cracked and water leaked in. After it happened I was like "well DUH!" But again, why not include that little tidbit in the instructions?

We'll install ours near the bottom of the pond if we ever get around to putting in new lights.

 

[Mayank]

WELCOME to another Michigan ponder like Brokensword said! After two sets of lights went belly up (UGH is right, @ Lisak1) cause they're all cheap junk (and they don't stay attached and float up and its super easy to cut the damn wire when you're trying to cut back the stupid pennywort, etc, etc rant rant rant) I just moved on.
I bought wireless, two AA battery-powered lights from Amazon, $ 48 and love them. You can have them on a timer but I just turn them on when I'm sitting at the pond with the remote. I'm sure when the AA batteries die it'll be a drag to get them out and put new batteries but hey, whatever. At least when I have company (when this pandemic ends!) I'll be able to show off my pond which just never happened with the wired ones because something always went wrong!!
Amazon.com : LOFTEK Submersible LED Lights with Magnets, Suction Cups, 13 LED Waterproof Underwater Led Lights with Remote RF, Battery Operated Decoration Light for Pool, Pond, Centerpieces, Foundation, Vase (2 Packs) : Garden & Outdoor

 

[mrsclem]

I think you will find that unless you have a clean, even surface, these lights like all of them will float. The suction cup don't stick to pond liner. I solved that problem by using 4x4" black ceramic tiles and a roll of black duct tape. Put the light on the tile, tape and drop.

 

[Lisak1]

oh that's a great idea! @mrsclem I remember you saying you had done this!

 

[jmajid]

I dont have a working light in my pond; the light that was installed by the previous owner was a pool light and the bulb is bad (i think)... that will be on my list the next time i drop the water low enough, that i can check if it is that or if it's something worse... I'll also plan to change to LED at that time. BTW i have a concrete pond, so that's why the pool light in the wall.

However, i have seen people wonder if it's better to highlight areas from outside the pond, rather than inside the pond?