LED for 730 gal reef

cumbeje · Dec 31, 2015

Thinking about replacing my 400watt metal halide with radion. Tank is 37 in deep and 130 in long. Does anyone have experience with led with a sps tank this big? Will LED work?

ReefLEDLights · Dec 31, 2015

You will need two Radions for every 400 watt MH...

DIY is your best budget option and your best option inside a closed hood.

This is a pic of my Tank with DIY LEDs back in the day...Sadly She crashed a couple years later after a power outage.

Here is my other tank that survived. Note a Red Carpet and lots of life...Mostly a softie tank but enjoy it the same. The challenge of SPS is everything perfect 24/7...

Hope to do that 2016+ on our office tank.

As a vendor I'm biased, but here is what I've seen and experienced over the last 7 years.

-Black Box Chinese Fixtures are considered a replacement for a MH Bulb based on their price...
--Opened numerous up and believe most are from the same Chinese Company and caveat emptor
--personally I would only consider class II electrical over salt water.
--Parts that are primary yet without part numbers, source or specs scare me....

-Quality factory Fixtures like AI and Radion are quality will not burn the house down but their performance speaks for themselves.

-DIY has lots of Vendors
--Ourself, Rapid and GroupBuy all sell Authentic Cree LEDs.
--Cant confirm other online vendors.

Other than posting facts we choose not to promote our products in an information forum.

Please contact us for a specific recommendation. You have a bit of homework. I replaced my MH/VHO but it helped being part of RLL...

Cheers and Happy New Year

Bill

tonkaoz · Jan 1, 2016

I am also looking for leds for my tank 8ft by 3ft wide . I was looking at mars aqua 31 inch 300 watt on ebay . No offense rll . 6 of those are 1000.00 . Which is alot but the brang names are 3 times that or more . @jedimasterben what do you think .

ReefLEDLights · Jan 2, 2016

tonkaoz said:
I am also looking for leds for my tank 8ft by 3ft wide . I was looking at mars aqua 31 inch 300 watt on ebay . No offense rll . 6 of those are 1000.00 . Which is alot but the brang names are 3 times that or more . @jedimasterben what do you think .

No worries I would like @jedimasterben to comment.

Give them a try. If you have a deep water tank with low light corals this might be your best option.

I'm old school SPS. To light your tank back in the day you would need this for SPS 250 watt for LPS cost the same except for electricity and heat.

Three http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=40120&cat=1755&page=1

That is close to $900 with a decent bulb. Then you have to pay $80 X 3 every 9-12 months for a new bulb.

Just food for thought as there are some who did not know the 6.5K Iwasaki 400 Watt MH plant bulb was the first practicable reef bulb. Before this only a few could grow SPS .

Now some are trying to grow SPS with less...Personally I have yet to see a mature SPS Reef Tank using fixtures like the Mars Aqua...

Bill

timkenagy · Jan 2, 2016

My tank is a 180 gallon mix with mostly SPS.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-custom-180.115388/page-2#post-2647383

I use Rapid Onyx lights on mine.. As they're a great in between (price wise) from the Chinese and the higher end AI or Radion. Still get the quality of Cree technology without the crazy price tag.. But it still cost $1000 to light a 180 gallon reef (unless you went non dim, which with your size would be a significant savings)

As far as the Chinese lights. I've seen many with great results. In fact I just ordered one to try out over my frag system. I'm sure Mike at @SB Reef Lights would be able to answer any questions you may have, as he's sold thousands of them.
As far as them burning your house down? Again there's hundreds of thousands of these above tanks all over the world. I've not heard any stories of them catching on fire like the old Oddesey lights from Aqua Traders did back in the day. (Unless I'm wrong, and if so please provide me with links as I've already lost a home to fire once )

hope that helps

timkenagy · Jan 2, 2016

And not meaning to hijack your thread but Bill.. If you have a frag of this you'd like to sell or trade me shoot me a pm.

tonkaoz · Jan 2, 2016

I was looking at getting 6 of those 31" lights . I figured the tank is 3 feet wide so i would need that many to cover the whole tank . I have a 220 now with 3 of the 165 watt . Maybe i dont need 6 and i could buy less of a better brand and still have good coverage. What do you think . @ReefLEDLights

tonkaoz · Jan 2, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262025253685?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
These are the lights what do you think

BigKid4788 · Jan 2, 2016

cumbeje said:
Thinking about replacing my 400watt metal halide with radion. Tank is 37 in deep and 130 in long. Does anyone have experience with led with a sps tank this big? Will LED work?

You may want to try orphek lights. I currently use them to light my 48x36x22 tank. I have my lights at least 18" from the water. I'm getting 350 par at the bottom and it's set only at 50%. Good luck

cumbeje · Jan 2, 2016

I currently have 7 400 watt metal halides on this tank. My thought to switch was heat and energy use but I am very concerned that LED'S will cut it. I don't want to spend thousands and realize after not enough light.

Joe3122 · Jan 2, 2016

Have you look into AquaRay LED Lights by Tropical Marine Centre?
http://aquaraylighting.co.uk/

This website is a reseller in the United States but also has great information on understanding aquarium lighting.
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/LEDLights.html
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html#energy

SunnyX · Jan 2, 2016

cumbeje said:
I currently have 7 400 watt metal halides on this tank. My thought to switch was heat and energy use but I am very concerned that LED'S will cut it. I don't want to spend thousands and realize after not enough light.

In an SPS system , other than heat and energy, you will not see a benefit in switching to LED. Metal Halides and T5 are still the best option for growing SPS. LED's are getting there but they still have a ways to go. You'll find the sales forums littered with LED units for sale, many switching back to MH or T5. I'm not sure what an LED system would cost you over such a large reef but it'd likely take a few years to recoup costs vs what you currently have.

jedimasterben · Jan 2, 2016

tonkaoz said:
I am also looking for leds for my tank 8ft by 3ft wide . I was looking at mars aqua 31 inch 300 watt on ebay . No offense rll . 6 of those are 1000.00 . Which is alot but the brang names are 3 times that or more . @jedimasterben what do you think .

If you're looking to get it done considering upfront cost first, then they are the way to go. I would still recommend a couple of modifications (such as removing the red and green LEDs, removing the lenses), and they're also easy to connect a controller to. You can connect them directly to an Apex VDM or, my personal choice since I don't buy into the Apex ecosystem, a Bluefish Wifi controller. How tall is your tank?

cumbeje said:
I currently have 7 400 watt metal halides on this tank. My thought to switch was heat and energy use but I am very concerned that LED'S will cut it. I don't want to spend thousands and realize after not enough light.

The issue is mostly that you just need enough of them to get proper coverage. Or do a hybrid light with a couple of T5HO to fill in the gaps. How tall is your tank?

SunnyX said:
In an SPS system , other than heat and energy, you will not see a benefit in switching to LED. Metal Halides and T5 are still the best option for growing SPS. LED's are getting there but they still have a ways to go. You'll find the sales forums littered with LED units for sale, many switching back to MH or T5. I'm not sure what an LED system would cost you over such a large reef but it'd likely take a few years to recoup costs vs what you currently have.

I see comments like this every day but the data shows that LED is a viable option when you don't try to eke out every bit of coverage you can from a single fixture. You'd be surprised at how many large coral farmers have already switched to LED. I've personally helped around two dozen so far, from 'small timers' with a couple of small raceways to the largest having eight massive 24'x4' raceways and using moving rails. A lot of them are using Chinese LED panels due to overall cost and small cost of replacement if one failed.

tonkaoz · Jan 2, 2016

jedimasterben said:
If you're looking to get it done considering upfront cost first, then they are the way to go. I would still recommend a couple of modifications (such as removing the red and green LEDs, removing the lenses), and they're also easy to connect a controller to. You can connect them directly to an Apex VDM or, my personal choice since I don't buy into the Apex ecosystem, a Bluefish Wifi controller. How tall is your tank?

The issue is mostly that you just need enough of them to get proper coverage. Or do a hybrid light with a couple of T5HO to fill in the gaps. How tall is your tank?

I see comments like this every day but the data shows that LED is a viable option when you don't try to eke out every bit of coverage you can from a single fixture. You'd be surprised at how many large coral farmers have already switched to LED. I've personally helped around two dozen so far, from 'small timers' with a couple of small raceways to the largest having eight massive 24'x4' raceways and using moving rails. A lot of them are using Chinese LED panels due to overall cost and small cost of replacement if one failed.

My tank is 24 high . So i figured 6 would give good coverage. Just wondering why you would remove the red and green . I know u have alot of expertise in this area . Do you think if i remove the lenses i would get better coverage. Thanks for the reply

jedimasterben · Jan 2, 2016

tonkaoz said:
My tank is 24 high . So i figured 6 would give good coverage. Just wondering why you would remove the red and green . I know u have alot of expertise in this area . Do you think if i remove the lenses i would get better coverage. Thanks for the reply

Dedicated red and green LEDs are poor additions. They do not blend well and cause color banding. The warm white LEDs in the fixture cover far more spectrum than these two diodes do, yet for some reason they still include them, which is beyond me. Well, I say that, but I know the reason, and that is because the average person doesn't understand spectrum and will see that it doesn't have the green and red LEDs and think the fixture is inferior to one that does have them, even though that may not be the case.

For 24" tall, six is more than enough, and removing the lenses will be best. You will have more intensity than you'd need even without the lenses.

tonkaoz · Jan 2, 2016

TE="jedimasterben, post: 2652252, member: 21410"]Dedicated redBlues green LEDs are poor additions. They do not blend well and cause color banding. The warm white LEDs in the fixture cover far more spectrum than these two diodes do, yet for some reason they still include them, which is beyond me. Well, I say that, but I know the reason, and that is because the average person doesn't understand spectrum and will see that it doesn't have the green and red LEDs and think the fixture is inferior to one that does have them, even though that may not be the case.

For 24" tall, six is more than enough, and removing the lenses will be best. You will have more intensity than you'd need even without the lenses.[/QUOTE]
Awes
Awesome what would you replace the red and green with ? More blues

jedimasterben · Jan 2, 2016

Royal blue, blue, violet, white, basically anything you'd like. Just takes a few minutes to do a bunch of LEDs. You can get new LEDs (and be guaranteed that they are what they say they are) from Reefbreeders, they're super cheap.

tonkaoz · Jan 2, 2016

Cool thanks . Ill message you when i get them for some further advice . It will be a little while before the tank is ready .

Anthony kolodziej · Jan 2, 2016

for deep tanks you have 2 options 400 watt halides and asmuch as I hate to say any led ....... the orpheck leds are designed to go even deeper than that

cumbeje · Jan 2, 2016

Anthony kolodziej said:
for deep tanks you have 2 options 400 watt halides and asmuch as I hate to say any led ....... the orpheck leds are designed to go even deeper than that

why do you add hate to say it?