LED'S on my 75 gal

[carsonroberge]

I plan on keeping soft coral's in my 75 gallon tank. I've made the decision that I want LED's based on the fact that they aren't hot and you won have to replace bulbs. I am having such a hard time figuring out the correct wattage's and PAR for the tank the dimensions are 48"x18"x21". Any opinions?

,Carson Roberge

 

[carsonroberge]

Or should I get florescent's and LED's?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Carson, what’s the budget look like?


On the low cost end, I’d look at the “Chinese” fixtures that run around $180 for 120 watts….and I think you would need two of these.

Another alternative….American assembled….would be Apollo. The issue with these would be controllability. If you already have it, they run about $400 each…and you would need two (120 watt units).

From there, you can go with the more “common” units, such as AI Sol or Vega or any of the other commercial units.

And finally, if you know how to use a soldering iron, you could go the DIY route.

 

[Dsdaley77]

***First let me start by saying I in no way work for or recieve compensation of any kind from this company I will refer to.***i have been getting ready to do the same as you, get new lights, and have been researching for the last two months. I LOVE LEDS, but the domestic lights while they work great are way overpriced. The Chinese boxes are mostly great as well ( cheap, decent quality, warrentied etc) if you go the route of the Chinese boxes you can add anything that's missing from them as I will do here shortly ( currently saving ). This is the light I am going with, all the bells and whistles..... under $150 each ($300 total), come with a remote and iPhone app to remotely control while away, great 3w lights powered around 2w for extended life and less heat, etc...... Remote controlled 120W LED Aquarium light - Detailed info for Remote controlled 120W LED Aquarium light,Remote controlled LED Aquarium light,Remote controlled 120W LED Aquarium light,GEAL-120W-14 on Alibaba.com. In addition to these lights I will accent with 2X54w t5 bulbs ( one UV 420nm and one 10,000k bulb) that I currently own and 2 blue and 1 white Ecoxotic stunners on an inline dimmer. I find that if you want moonlights, you need less wattage than the full fixtures can dim down to. But the stunners with an inline dimmer work great. So total setup looking at under $500 and I get full customization.

 

[Dsdaley77]

On a side note, PAR and LEDS are a real shaky topic, I have seen testing of LEDs with par meters that seem to show its not accurate to measure them as bin's ( production units) can differ even from the same manufacturer. More important, if you do go led, 2w (actuall usage) or more per bulb will be bright enough to reach the sand bed and for moonlights, under 1w. Fwiw most LEDs I have seen used are rarely run at 100% (closer to 50-65%)

 

[reefmaster719]

What's your take on the ai sol blues? I've never heard a bad review compared to the Chinese lights.

 

[Dsdaley77]

Personally I feel they are overpriced and broken down to bare. Why do I need to spend more money for control and other options that come standard on the newer model Chinese boxes. Don't get me wrong, if you have the money it is an option, but I would bet with out doing my research, that they are all Chinese parts anyways. My issue with all lights except DIY, is that they are mostly all cookie cutter lights in different cases (shells). What I like however about the newer generation Chinese boxes is that most reputable companies will send you a sheet (email) so you can add colors like cyan, uv, green, red, several whites and several blues in the grid to fully customize your spectrum. Now like I said earlier, I do think that all LEDs have a ways to go in providing a full spectrum, fully controllable, relevant unit that will bring the average hobbyist years of use and improved results over previous options. That's why the units I am going to order will (at least for now) only have the blues and whites 2:1 ratio and I will use additional lighting to get the look I want, for less than any single fixture I can currently buy on the domestic market.
What are your thoughts? Carson, what kind of information would help you further in your decision?

 

[Dsdaley77]

This was a 72x3W DIY I was considering early on in my research.

3x- 660 nm Red
3x- 630 nm Orange/Red
3x- 520 nm Green
4x- 460 nm Aqua Blue
14x- 450-455nm Sky Blue
14x- 440-445nm Royal Blue
4x- 410-420 nm UV/Violet/Pure Blue
4x- 3000-3500k Warm White
6x- 4100-5000 High Noon White
6x- 6000-6500k Pure White
15x- 10,000-12,000k Cool White
If I was going to do all led only it would be something like this on a remote of some kind that would give me individual control of each colors output. The fixture would in my case need a slight gap in the middle to avoid the shadowing from the center tank support on the standard 75g, one benefit to multiple units The setup I just described runs about $480 out the door but you have to put it together

 

[Dsdaley77]

A domestic light that I am kinda crushing on right now is the Maxspect Razor. Love the crisp color and early testing shows the penetration is really good. Still trying to learn more about it

 

[carsonroberge]

Thank you guy's that was a lot of help.
I'm trying to spend as little as possible of course. I'm thinking the lighting is going to be my biggest investment on my tank (besides the tank and sump). I was just confused on how many of what I should get. I like the "Chinese" products. I looked them up online can't find a good place to purchase them though. As for the color i'm not to picky just interested in my corals well being. Mainly because it's my first SW tank. I don't really have a personal opinion on the color spectrum side of LED's yet. On all my FW tanks I've just had the simple ON and OFF lol. I'm amazed on how many options there are for lighting. It makes deciding very difficult. I think my best bet is the most natural looking light's. I really like my tanks to look as close to the real thing as possible (as do most I'm sure). I also think I'd like one or two 75's then the rest LED hopefully to save some money. SO my question's are where to buy "Chinese" LED's, which one's are the most simple, and how many?

 

[carsonroberge]

Just noticed that link in there dsdaley haha. I like that one a lot. You think I'd only need two of those for my tank?

 

[Dsdaley77]

Yes, two is perfect. The key is to make sure they take PayPal so you're protected financially. Evergrow and Twilight are two of the more well known companies but there are hundreds here is a link to an Evergrow page do you can check out the products they offer as comparison.( EverGrow Lighting - Small Orders Online Store, Hot Selling led grow light grow led light ufo led grow light led grow light led grow light led grow light led grow light led grow light,120w led aquarium light led aquarium light 120w aquarium led light, ) One unit that is not quite ready for mass production is the IT-2040. It's being fine tuned by Evergrow as we speak and might be another great option in the very near future. On another much less awesome forum site that I hate, there is a guy here in the states testing it for them and he really knows his stuff. We just spent the last 3 months (Before I was banned from the site) giving the company direct feedback and suggestions that resulted in the it-2040 I am speaking of. It will be a unit to put all but DIY to shame IMO

 

[Dsdaley77]

When you select a light or if you need help understanding everything just holler cause I am by no means an expert but I bet the questions you will have will be the same ones I had