LED setup.

gmoney243 · Apr 23, 2012

Also some people are using the same reasoning to go back to MH. Because they feel the growth and colors are better and would rather spend more on electricity and replacement bulbs. Leds arnt perfect no brand. You just gotta figure what's best for you.
Either one of those brands will smoke your t5 for growth and probly color. I was using ati bulbs before led.
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dwilliams87 · Apr 24, 2012

Alright guys, I just purchased my setup! I decided to go with the Bridgelux for this one. I did make one little change though. I went with a 36 LED Dimmable Setup. I decided to do that with 18 Royal Blue, 12 10000K, and 6 6500K. I went 60 optics. I got a heatsink that is 7.1" x 15.8" with fan. I went with the 36 because the 24 came with a heatsink that I just didn't think was large enough, and the 36 was the same price as the 24 with the heatsink. I figured if I wasn't going to use that heatsink then I might as well get the 12 extra LED's for the same price. And then I got the heatsink that I wanted. Being able to dim it I can do whatever I want with it. Here is a layout of the way I plan on setting it up.

gmoney243 · Apr 24, 2012

Looks good if ur using a heatsink. Since u got way more than enough led I would do c-channel ans only use like 24 of them and if u got a bigger tank a 36 kit should cover up to about a 50g tank. C-channel would make it easier to add on later. As is 36 led on a heatsink that size is gona need to be like 2' above tank lol

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dwilliams87 · Apr 24, 2012

OK, 1 more question for you guys, what else do I need to have at the house to be ready for this other than a soldering iron and some solder? Should I have some extra wire?

gmoney243 · Apr 24, 2012

Couldn't hurt but I didn't need extra. Make sure to acclimate slow led burn corals easy

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mixer911 · Apr 24, 2012

I agree with mike with using the u channel. The heatsinks are way overkill. Plus the u channel allows u to make changes to your setup if u ever want to your change it out (like a future tank upgrade)

dwilliams87 · Apr 30, 2012

Alright guys, I got the Led's assembled, now I need help with figuring out high high to hang it off the water and how bright to set it. I know once the pot reaches probsbly about 90%, thats where the biggest change is, so i don't neccessarily think 50% is at 50 %. Again it is 36 Bridgelux setup, 18 Blue, 18 White, Dimmable Drivers, 60* optics.

mixer911 · Apr 30, 2012

your gonna need at least a par meter to start with. You could eye it, but thats gonna require watching for any signs of change in the corals daily. Hard to say where to start. 60* is pretty direct optic, so I would start low % and adjust it up as needed. I would hang them at least 12"-16" off the water to start with.

dwilliams87 · Apr 30, 2012

Cool I got my name in the list for the par meter so im just waiting on that. I'm gonna keep the t5's on it until i can do it safely though. Thanks

gmoney243 · Apr 30, 2012

I would just start them off very low and make changes slowly to see how corals reaact. Your corals wont die from lack of light at least not for a long time. And besides its best to start them now because when u get par meter u still wont be able to just turn them on and set and forget. You needa acclimate slowly ramping up over course of month or so

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killereef · Apr 30, 2012

With the 60 degree lens, i agree with mixer. Have them 12 to 16, if you have them lower it would be like a spot light and dark on the side.

dwilliams87 · May 1, 2012

I got the led's hung and at half power, however they are not very bright. I have them hung right at 12". If I turn them up the color comes out of the coral the way I would expect. Should I hang them higher and turn them higher?

dwilliams87 · May 1, 2012

I guess because I'm ignorant with this, I'm a limitless disappointed because everything looked better under the T5's than the LED's thus far. Do most people have this feeling in the beginning?

Dowtish · May 1, 2012

Daniel, I meant to call you back, but I'll just say it here. Most all these questions are out of my league.

But I can tell you that you will need a par meter to make a decision on the amount of light you want over the tank, but given the list of requests that could be a while. So, I would just run them at 50-60% and ramp up from there after every 10 days or so. Just observe the corals for burnt tips and bleaching.

If anything your corals should look better with all that blue. i'm sure gmoney and pwoodard will chime in on how they run their blues compared to whites.

gmoney243 · May 1, 2012

When I first hooked mine up I thought the corals all looked better or same as ati t5 bulbs. Some corals can give off different colors under different lights but I think its maybe your blues arnt up enough if your not seeing that pop u like. Try just turn up blues till u see slight pop then turn up whites till u get color u like just as a test then turn back down to let your corals get used to leds

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Zef004 · May 1, 2012

Just take your time. I would not move it just dimm it down to 30-40% and every 2 days bring it up 10%.

mixer911 · May 1, 2012

dwilliams87 said:
I guess because I'm ignorant with this, I'm a limitless disappointed because everything looked better under the T5's than the LED's thus far. Do most people have this feeling in the beginning?

Should be the other way around. Granted I still use some T5's, color wise the LEDs should look better or very close to Metal Halide's if blended correctly.

Take is slow as Zef pointed out, it is very easy to burn the corals with the LEDs, especially with the 60* lens.