Is it time to convert

Calvertbill · May 12, 2012

my tank lighting to LEDs?

I have a 630 gallon system of which 450 gallons are in the DT. When I designed and built the system I installed four 48" PCs and four 14K Phoenix MHs for my lighting (although more often than not the MHs are the only one's lit. The tank is mostly Tangs (4-12"), recordia, kenya trees, one 14" carpet anemone, and one 75 lb. Gigas clam.

I have never been able to keep acropora or any other hard corals although if I could, 1/3 of my tank would be a forest of screaming greens.

My electric bills have always been high but it's difficult to segregate the tank costs from the rest of the house ($600-800/ month).

I'm down to my last 16 Phoenix bulbs so I figure it's time for me to edumacate myself about LED technology but I'm not sure where to start. I've looked at many systems marketed for aquarium use but they're meaningless to someone (me) who thinks in terms of temperature, depth penetration and so on.

So how should I learn:

1. coverage area (how many bulbs do i cram into a fixture designed to cover a tank 120" x 24" x 36" deep

2. I went one website which displays a variety of bulbs by they all seem to be 18W. I don't understand the concept of one size fits all. I'm used to the concept more wattage=more light. Do you use the same bulb for a 15 gallon LFS tank and my dream tank (2180 gallon 14' U shaped tank surrounding my bed)

3. Fixtures - So I just take a 10' x 2' piece of plywood and screw a bunch of sockets into it?

4.Do all bulbs emulate the sun so therefore I no longer have to think about light temperature?

How do I start?

pumarjr · May 12, 2012

With a quick search, you will find plentiful amounts of information on the subject of LED's in the Aquarium. LED's are far brighter than metal halides in comparison. to answer #4, No, every chip or diode has a different spectrum output then there's getting the fixtures that use chips from good bin's and so on. I am currently using the EcoTech Radion XR30's on my DT. I absolutely love them, complete control, integration with my Vortech pumps, individual channel control, sunrise/sunset. pretty much whatever you want. LED's are also good in the fact that your tank will no longer need a chiller. Fixtures can last for a few years vs. bulb replacements every few months.

Reef Breeders · May 12, 2012

First thing you need to think is cooling, can you get airflow over your heat sinks? How much space do you have, with enough for mh probably a lot. Next thing you need to consider is the type of LEDs, you will want a mix of colors, mostly comprising of royal blue and cool whites. You will also need optics, in your case 60 degree or 40 degree would be optimal. If you want to keep sps, you will have to think about surpassing your current lights, not meeting them. 36 LEDs can replace 1 250 watt mh bulb, 48 can way out do them, and is about= to a 400 watt mh bulb. IME, 36 LEDs uses about 60-80 watts if you get the most efficient ones.

Calvertbill · May 12, 2012

Both of you mentioned cooling. I thought the LEDs threw less heat into the envelope above my tank than the MHs. Was I wrong?

jonbar1 · May 12, 2012

They still produce a decent amount of heat when driven in higher numbers or at higher amperage. They produce their heat at the chip which needs attached to a heatsink to pull the heat away from the LED and into the air above the fixture. Small fans will optimize this dissipation. The heat doesn't radiate out with the light like a MH so the water usually doesn't feel the heat.

gmoney243 · May 12, 2012

Its time! With led your bill at $800 would go to about $250-$300/ month. The ecotech radion xr30 will cover 2'x2' area per and grow anything you want. Diy project will cost much less and you will need 1 led for every 2.5"-3" . I use about 120 on a 180 and bleached my chalices so turned dow slightly all is better and acros are growing well. Also I use bridgelux led for an even cheaper cost fixture all looks great and grows much better than my t5. Use 2rb:1cw is my combo.

Sent from my Vortex using Tapatalk 2

RonMidtownStomp · May 17, 2012

4x250W=1000 watts. Let's figure 6 hours a day at $.20/kWHr to be safe and estimate high. That's $1.20/day for electricity for four metal halides, or ~$36/month. Let's figure $40 to be on the safe side. You have to run the AC to put the heat outside. As we've established, LEDs still run hotish. They also still consume power. Savings for LEDs replacing four 250W metal halides should be on the order of $30-40/month. That's a lot, but not $500/month.

CJO · May 17, 2012

RonMidtownStomp said:
4x250W=1000 watts. Let's figure 6 hours a day at $.20/kWHr to be safe and estimate high. That's $1.20/day for electricity for four metal halides, or ~$36/month. Let's figure $40 to be on the safe side. You have to run the AC to put the heat outside. As we've established, LEDs still run hotish. They also still consume power. Savings for LEDs replacing four 250W metal halides should be on the order of $30-40/month. That's a lot, but not $500/month.

You're making a few assumptions that may or may not be right. Firstly, he also has four 48" PCs, which are likely at least 96W each. Secondly, I'm pretty sure that he runs them longer than 6 hours a day. Thirdly, with that large of a tank, I would think he'd be using 400W MHs. However, you likely did underestimate the cost of electricity, which is around $0.13/KW*h in Maryland. That gives you about $70-$80 per month from the bulbs. Then, you have to add the cost of the chiller, which will run you quite a bit more than with LEDs.

However, that is pennies compared with the money he'll be saving with not having to replace bulbs every year! That's where a lot of the savings with LEDs come in.

CJ