Full spectrum LEDs

KimG · Aug 30, 2019

Hi all.
After being away from the hobby for a few years, the wife and I set up a IM SR80.
We made a DIY led fixture composed of 70 x 3w Bridgelux and Epileds leds (Royal blues, bright blues, UV, violet and cool whites).
I have tried adding reds and warm whites but never really liked the look unless I really dim them down.
I was toying with the idea of getting a few Bridgelux full spectrum leds and giving them a try. Probably just 2 to 6 over the entire tank.

As anyone ever tried to add them to DIY fixtures? Any toughs on this?
Tank you all for the feedback.

Cheers
Kim

Ron Reefman · Aug 30, 2019

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I've made some changes to commercial led fixtures but have never done a full diy build. At one point I worked for an led aquarium fixture supplier and have played with led fixtures almost from the time they were first getting used in the hobby.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't add those leds, but on the other hand, given you like the cooler white look, I don't know that I'd bother. I'm like you, in fact I only run the white leds for a long midday segment of my lighting. For 3 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the evening the blue leds are on but not the whites. I have red and green leds in the fixture and I never even turn them on (I have 6 channels of color control and sunrise/sunset control as well). I've picked my corals and anemones to maximize the amount they fluoresce under the blue leds. That's the look I really love.

oreo54 · Aug 30, 2019

You're in luck..

I've been boring people w/ this "experimental" array .. but you might find something useful..

The amount of 420nm violets is optional w/ about 5 minimum..
Upper right chart does not include the violets but gives a "relative" idea of the fresh fish spectrum vs a 6500k MH.
Green is the major advantage of the MH's.
Tint of course is more "purple" than aqua w/ violets added.
simple 2 "type" array..
Red line is 400 and 450nm respectively..

This is data w/ adding the violets..
* MIXING LIST
----------------------------------------
myData fresh-fish-v2.csv [115°] x9
myData viosys420k.txt [70°] x5
----------------------------------------

* SIMULATION DATA
----------------------------------------
Luminous flux : 33,265 lm
Radiant flux : 129,070 mW
PPF : 564 umol/s
TCP : 10640 K
CRI : 75
λp : 418 nm
Color : #CAB5FF
----------------------------------------

* PERFORMANCE @ 30cm
----------------------------------------
Irradiance : 212 W/m²/s
Illuminance : 47,866 lx
PPFD : 903 umol/m²/s

10 viosys will push your K rating to a "true" 20,000K.
Dimming of course will drop you to 6500k at zero % on the violets..
Can't guarantee exactly. Needed to make a few assumptions based on the violets mA rating vs "lumens" which the calc required. Pretty sure it's in the ballpark.
simple lights, no fancy colors to play with..
More "mh like"..

KimG · Sep 1, 2019

HI guys.

Thank you both for the answers.
Yep, I prefer a coller look, but always looking out for possibilities. I believe some corals should be able to use some of the reds. Also, hopping to bring some of the colors up. The whites and blues only tend to fade some of the colors.

Nice. looks super good the distribution.

I still find it funny, that with so many people playing with leds and diy no one as tried this type of leds.

Cheers.

oreo54 · Sep 1, 2019

Well to be fair.. "quality" white Led's weren't a priority for industry initially (parallels the flourescent history of ugly whites).
They first had to top the efficiency of current "other" light sources on a global scale.. not "economically viable"otherwise.
High CRI or color rendering white diodes take a hit in Lumen efficiency due to the added phosphors so before you err downgrade them statistically you need to upgrade the base pump.

Then again this refers to lumen output which is only slightly related to "PAR" output.

All "normal" whites are royal blue and a single broad yellow phosphor (afaict). Raising K temp just involves less.
Lower K diodes like 3000-ish generally add a smidge of a red emitting phosphor though not always.
some low k whites just look like yellow lights..

Phosphors are really expensive btw..

Then there is the blue pop thing..

AFAICT nobody really "builds" diodes for specifically reef/coral lighting besides Kyocera.
There objective is to duplicate light spectrum at specific depths..
To be honest, and to most peoples desires not exactly what they want..

Well generally speaking. There wee things like OCW from ledgroupbuy.

Ocean Coral White

LED Group Buy, an Online Aquarium Lighting Store offering high end LED Lights, Power Sources, Full Spectrum Lighting, & more at wholesale prices. Shop Now!

www.ledgroupbuy.com