LED Q.

[Mike nickerson]

i have been pondering the idea of switching over to led's but don't have a big enough budget to buy any name brands, i have looked at rapid led but am wondering if thee are any quality cheapo's out there

[NoobtoSalt]

Rapid is the way to go. From what I have looked into there is no such thing as "quality" and "cheap" in the same sentence. On that note you might want to contact kenny at reefstar and let him know what your looking into. Maybe he can get you hooked up for less than you think.

[Mike nickerson]

I have but the price quote was still to high for my budget.

[nelsz3]

Look up reef breeders blue z reef has one from them I have been checking in to them reasonably priced

[SteveHash-fish20]

Reefledlights.com looks pretty good.

 

I know Reefnjunkee's set up is from there so you should probably ask him for more info.

But they look pretty amazing and don't have that windex blue look to em.

Like some of the other LEDs (whistle)

[saltygobie]

Check out aquastyle.com

[Blue Z Reef]

Look up reef breeders blue z reef has one from them I have been checking in to them reasonably priced

 

I like my reefbreeders unit, but most all of these budget units are chinese made and come from the same factory. I found the same light for $25 less than I paid at $225 here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120W-NOVA-A4-Full-Spectrum-LED-Aquarium-Light-48x3-BRIDGELUX-Coral-Reef-Dimmable-/290771643863?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43b3572dd7

 

Overall, you will be most happy if your fixture has royal blue (not just regular blue, makes the windex look ppl talk about) and a mix of colors (red's and UV's make things really pop). The rapidled kit lets you tune it to your personal color wants. I've seen noob's rapid also and like it too. Just do your reading on what people are actually using and getting growth with and don't impulse buy. So far i've been impressed with my fixture (high par tested) but i've only had it for like 2 months now, so not sure on reliability just yet. Warranties are nice, also something to consider.

[Tuduku]

ledgroupbuy.com and www.stevesleds.com are where I bought my LEDs. And I got my drivers from bravoelectro.com for way less than the LED sites. If you have questions about a DIY build feel free to message me.

[Mike nickerson]

thanks everyone for all your links very helpful ill have some reading to do after work tomorrow

[Mike nickerson]

what tank do you have your light on blue?

[reefnjunkie]

Those specs on the LED unit Blue Z linked are what I would shoot for if I was doing a DIY, my units are very similar but spaced out over a 8.5" x 24" heatsink.

 

Wish there were units like that when I built mine, LEDs have come a LONG way in just the last 3 months, heck a year ago there were hardly any options.

 

My guess is that unit will cover a 2sq ft area nicely, maybe a 30sq inch area, but I would not count on it

[Mike nickerson]

yeah i was looking at his that he got from reef keepers and the eBay link I'm liking the reef keepers if that's the one you were talking about here http://reefbreeders.com/controllable_led_fixtures.html

and that's for sure i remember reading about led's last year and everyone was bashing on them and saying they were crashing there tanks and will never amount up to halide's and now look a year later they are the next gen of lighting.

yeah i have a 75g so i would be getting 2 fixtures but possibly starting ought with one to see how i like them

[Blue Z Reef]

I have my light on a 30 cube. Coverage isn't very wide due to optics and having it at water level (literally its like 1" off surface). Would have better coverage at about 8-10" but my hood won't allow it.

 

 

Those specs on the LED unit Blue Z linked are what I would shoot for if I was doing a DIY, my units are very similar but spaced out over a 8.5" x 24" heatsink.

 

Wish there were units like that when I built mine, LEDs have come a LONG way in just the last 3 months, heck a year ago there were hardly any options.

 

My guess is that unit will cover a 2sq ft area nicely, maybe a 30sq inch area, but I would not count on it

 

This is why I was saying rapid kits and diys are nice. It's much easier to spread the light out for coverage. I'd say 2x2 is probably max for my fixture if elevated at 8". Less if lower. It's probably covering about 2/3 of my tank with high par light and the rest is lower. There is a similar fixture with the 4 disks inline that would help with spread more but they run about $275 iirc

[Blue Z Reef]

Check out these:

 

http://www.chesteraquaria.com/LED.html

 

The one for $260 with 3 channel would be great for coverage. I want to do these on my 90 but waiting for my budget to build up again lol

[Mike nickerson]

I have my light on a 30 cube. Coverage isn't very wide due to optics and having it at water level (literally its like 1" off surface). Would have better coverage at about 8-10" but my hood won't allow it.

 

what degree in optics did you get also did you buy the new digitally controlled fixture that has a choice between 60, 90, and 120 degree optics

[Mike nickerson]

i like those although it wont let me read more about them

[Blue Z Reef]

They are 90 degree but its layout is different with the controllable fixtures, they will likely have better spread.

[Mike nickerson]

yeah i just looked at the new fixture it has wider spacing then the older ones i think I'm going to try this guy out and see how it works if i don't find anything else

[reefnjunkie]

If those LEDs in that last link are blue (like it says) I would not buy them, the majority IME need to be RB and smaller mix of blue and then some UV

 

you want The 450-460nm range for best photo synthesis check these links out if they work;

 

http://reefledlights.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/XLampXP-E2.pdf

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/aafeature

 

initially allmy fixtures were a 2:1 ratio of RB to cool white, granted they were no other colors that were being discussed. I tried a couple red and greens and those I either have taken off or will be, I'm needing some thermal epoxy which I'll grab tomorrow.

 

my next 2 units I'm building will be 4x30 and each will have 24 LEDs -12 RB, 6 cool white, 3 blue and 3 UV all with the 60 degree optics.

reefledlights has some good info on their website look for the 'how to DIY LED tab

[Toby Flenderson]

DIY led is the way to go, but it can be deceptively expensive. No regrets here.

[Mike nickerson]

DIY led is the way to go' date=' but it can be deceptively expensive. No regrets here.[/quote']

 

haha yeah it can i went rapid led and was like wow that's cheap and then i added all the stuff i would need and it added up very fast haha

[Mike nickerson]

what are your thoughts on this brad http://reefbreeders.com/controllable_led_fixtures.html

[reefnjunkie]

My experiance has not been that positive with the red and green so for me, I dont like those units only for my experiance with red/green but thats just me-Granted there is a fair amount of discussion and topics on red and the effects of that spectrum on corals.

 

There are many here using red and green and no ill effects, but no tank is the same-

 

From a strict benificial aspect, I dont think red/green have any thats worth the space they take up.

 

Mike is your unit going to be visible or in a hood, and do you have a controller?

 

The funny thing is intially I was all about the ramping up and down on the RB, Cool whites, high noon etc, but thats over, I have my RB come on at 10:45, off at 11:00, all the whites come on at 12:00 and off at 10:30 and everything is running at 650-700mA, or basiclly 2 watts.

[Blue Z Reef]

What did red and green do that's so bad? Green is just for color usually, but red shouldn't hurt anything, I've read mixed things on needing red in the spectrum. I haven't noticed anything bad yet.

 

The controllable unit is pretty cool, it ramps in 5% increments, not gradual, but the coral wont be effected by that. I think the ramping up and down is nicer while letting things adjust until you can just turn them all on and off together. Regardless of what you get, I'd get dimming so you can start your white channel off lower and get things adjusted up.

[Reef Breeders]

My experiance has not been that positive with the red and green so for me, I dont like those units only for my experiance with red/green but thats just me-Granted there is a fair amount of discussion and topics on red and the effects of that spectrum on corals.

 

There are many here using red and green and no ill effects, but no tank is the same-

 

From a strict benificial aspect, I dont think red/green have any thats worth the space they take up.

 

Mike is your unit going to be visible or in a hood, and do you have a controller?

 

The funny thing is intially I was all about the ramping up and down on the RB, Cool whites, high noon etc, but thats over, I have my RB come on at 10:45, off at 11:00, all the whites come on at 12:00 and off at 10:30 and everything is running at 650-700mA, or basiclly 2 watts.

I disagree, the color rendition with 660, 630, 500, 520, and 420nm LEDs in addition to the cool whites and royal blues is night and day. If you have a healthy system, the reds will NOT cause algae growth, in fact 660nm hits a chlorophyll growth spike in corals. I have done side by side comparisons with and without reds, and it is an enormous change, basically the difference between washed out pinks, and deep crimson reds in coral tissue. The same with 420nm violets, except with blues, and purples. The greens and cyans help to give the greens that extra pop, without having to go with a deep blue color. I have never experienced increased algae growth with the reds, in fact I use them to grow chaeto in my fuge, the chaeto grows like crazy, nuisance algae is no where to be seen. I also have a mushroom coral under all 660nm and 450nm, in a 5:1 ratio, and it is doing great.