Are LED lights REALLY all that different ....

[Bpb]

Is there innovation in some premium LEDs luminaires? Yes, some companies are incorporating wide spectrum LEDs (far red/infrared, for example) into their products There is some question if this IR radiation is actually beneficial to all zoox clades - from a strictly photosynthetic view point, it is, since this radiation is absorbed by the Reaction Centers of Photosystem I. However, it is possible that radiation from Photosystem II can 'spill-over' (AKA state transition) to PSI in at least some cases. So, effects of broader spectrum are an unknown.
As for binning If a LED's spectral characteristics fall outside of the QC specs, it is binned along with others with similar ones. I've used an Ocean Optics' spectrometer and looked at hundreds of LEDs used in aquarium LEDs, and have never seen one that varied more than a nanometer or two (+/-) from the standard peaks (450nm for instance.) I can't say the same for some Individual LEDs I've ordered from online vendors. Some are so far out of the advertised peaks that I wondered if the wrong ones were picked for shipping. In some other cases, the primary peak matched that advertised, but there was a secondary (and unadvertised) shoulder that made the output appear much different than one would expect.
As for integrating spheres, BuildMyLED (now Fluence Bioengineering) showed me a huge sphere (about 6' diameter if memory serves) in their lab. They got out of the aquarium market when the marijuana and indoor farming market took off. Would like to see them get back into the reef market. One of the founders of BML (Nick) had a nice little reef in his office. I think Orphek has some useful numbers on their website.
Fluence Bioengineering has a proprietary (probably patented) heat sink machined out of an aluminum block thus negating the need for cooling fans on their large 'indistrial' units. Haven't seen anything similar on other luminaires.

I really liked the design of the BML strips. I wish I had never sold mine. Anyone who used their lights probably wishes they would come back to the reef world. The amount of effort put into their reef lights likely cut into their probably quite lucrative horticultural interests

 

[oreo54]

Doesn't, atm, help here but an FYI:
CREE is now producing 5050SMD Led's (not your old 5050 smd in terms of watt output) with watt efficiencies of over 160-200 Lumens/watt.

That's double the efficiency of most of the current other tech out there.
Combined w/ "directional" efficiency your energy savings are now a reality..

5W class diodes in a very small package..

https://www.cree.com/led-components/media/documents/data-sheet-JSeries-6to36V-5050.pdf.pdf

 

[alton]

I really liked the design of the BML strips. I wish I had never sold mine. Anyone who used their lights probably wishes they would come back to the reef world. The amount of effort put into their reef lights likely cut into their probably quite lucrative horticultural interests

My oldest BML was purchased in 2012 and going strong. I bought a used one years ago and just replaced the driver the other day. LED's are finally lasting like advertised. I bought 6 AI Hydra that are 5 years old but where never run at more than 50% for $100 a piece for my 310. My only issue was a Mars Aqua fixture that after a year I had to run it at 100% to keep up with the newer Mars Aqua lights running at 50%.

 

[Bpb]

My oldest BML was purchased in 2012 and going strong. I bought a used one years ago and just replaced the driver the other day. LED's are finally lasting like advertised. I bought 6 AI Hydra that are 5 years old but where never run at more than 50% for $100 a piece for my 310. My only issue was a Mars Aqua fixture that after a year I had to run it at 100% to keep up with the newer Mars Aqua lights running at 50%.

I would guess that the mars don’t do as good of a job at keeping the diodes cool so they degrade faster. No real heat sink like the others mentioned

 

[bam123]

I have been in the hobby since the early 1990s. There are magnificent tanks of all kinds with all kinds of lights. Right now, I love my ORPHEK atlantek and bars LEDs. I will never go back. I don't trust ANY crap made in CHINA when it comes to safety.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I think customer service is the biggest deal to me next to functionality.

 

[Bpb]

I have been in the hobby since the early 1990s. There are magnificent tanks of all kinds with all kinds of lights. Right now, I love my ORPHEK atlantek and bars LEDs. I will never go back. I don't trust ANY crap made in CHINA when it comes to safety.

Orpheks are made in China

 

[bam123]

Orpheks are made in China

Correction: Taiwan (not mainland China). Going to have to check now, I think I smell something burning(

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Its really the design & quality of components that make the difference, not where its assembled.

 

[Bpb]

Its really the design & quality of components that make the difference, not where its assembled.

Agree. The quality of my maxspect gyres and my jebaos from a materials standpoint is night and day different and they’re both chinese

 

[oreo54]

I'll have to look at the Fluence website. Haven't talked to Nick in a few months now. I should give him a call.

IN the "Did not know that" dept..

Startup Fluence began operations in Austin TX, back in 2013 focused on customizing LED spectra to mimic sunlight for specialty applications. The company has since focused most of its energy on horticultural solid-state lighting (SSL). Back in 2017, Fluence showed early expertise in horticultural-centric metrics that would be far more beneficial than those developed for the human eye. The following year Osram took a stake in Fluence and is now the parent company.

Osram part..

Fluence Bioengineering will leverage German horticultural wins to spread SSL presence

Osram business unit Fluence has established partnerships with growers in Germany for its horticultural LED lighting portfolio, hoping to expand EMEA presence.

www.ledsmagazine.com

 

[PlasmaBoy]

After a year of trying to get plasma lighting to work, I have come to the conclusion that only a few corals like true full spectrum. Most of the corals in our tank don’t like red and maybe high UV amounts. My favourite light now is T5 with LED. I wanted plasma to work as it replicates the sun, I think it would work well if I could get the right highlight shallow sps. I even tried strong led blue supplementation, to shift the colour, I feel the UV levels are too high, I even attempted to block the UV with thick layers of glass.

Led works, LED with T5 is a match made in heaven.

 

[Dana Riddle]

After a year of trying to get plasma lighting to work, I have come to the conclusion that only a few corals like true full spectrum. Most of the corals in our tank don’t like red and maybe high UV amounts. My favourite light now is T5 with LED. I wanted plasma to work as it replicates the sun, I think it would work well if I could get the right highlight shallow sps. I even tried strong led blue supplementation, to shift the colour, I feel the UV levels are too high, I even attempted to block the UV with thick layers of glass.

Led works, LED with T5 is a match made in heaven.

I'm not a big fan of too much red either. These researchers found red light could regulate zoox densities in at least some corals.

Kinzie, R.A. and T. Hunter, 1987. Effect of light quality on photosynthesis of the reef coral Montipora verrucosa. Mar. Biol., 94:95-109.

Kinzie, R.A., 1993. Effects of ambient levels of solar ultraviolet radiation on zooxanthellae and photosynthesis of the reef coral Montipora verrucosa. Mar. Biol., 116:319-327.

Kinzie, R.A., P.L. Jokiel and R. York, 1984. Effects of light of altered spectral composition on coral zooxanthellae associations and on zooxanthellae in vitro. Mar. Biol., 78:239-248.

 

[oreo54]

We evaluated the role of light and of photosynthesis on calcification by assessing the response of the corals Porites lutea and Acropora variabilis to different components of the light spectrum. Calcification and photosynthesis of both species decreased under “lagoon” blue, green and red light (peaks at 500, 550, and 600 nm, respectively). However, blue light (peak at 455 nm) enhanced calcification rates of P. lutea and A. variabilis (up to 4.1- and 10.5-fold of dark values, respectively) reaching levels comparable to those measured under full spectrum illumination.

Frontiers | Light Enhanced Calcification in Hermatypic Corals: New Insights from Light Spectral Responses

Light enhanced calcification (LEC) is a well documented phenomenon in reef-building corals. The main mechanism proposed for LEC is that photosynthetic CO2 up...

www.frontiersin.org

 

[Dana Riddle]

Frontiers | Light Enhanced Calcification in Hermatypic Corals: New Insights from Light Spectral Responses

Light enhanced calcification (LEC) is a well documented phenomenon in reef-building corals. The main mechanism proposed for LEC is that photosynthetic CO2 up...

www.frontiersin.org

How did that paper make it through peer-review?

 

[oreo54]

How did that paper make it through peer-review?

NOW THAT is an interesting comment..

 

[Dana Riddle]

NOW THAT is an interesting comment..

I find it difficult to believe that oxygen production did not reach the compensation point at PPFD of 400 in the blue light treatment (peaking at 455 nm.) The statement that PPFD was the same in all treatments disregards the fact that some radiation is below and above that sensed by the Li-Cor quantum meter.

 

[oreo54]

I find it difficult to believe that oxygen production did not reach the compensation point at PPFD of 400 in the blue light treatment (peaking at 455 nm.) The statement that PPFD was the same in all treatments disregards the fact that some radiation is below and above that sensed by the Li-Cor quantum meter.

Hmmm. I get it.. but personally I prefer to look at trends since an systematic error usually is universal.. but not going to err "argue" the point really BUT it does pose a major ?????.
Point is , for me, that one can sort of eliminate err "issues" using a full er spectrum and that the spectrum is coupled.
and annoyingly complicated...
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2008.01852.x