lighting queston using led

[THE MAD REEFER]

I am setting up my 185 acrylic build https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/large-aquariums-180g/124208-daves-185-sps-tank.html and I am not sold on led at the moment due to the fact that the last set of led units I was not at all pleased with.

my tank is 60" wide, 30" tall and 24" front to back, it has a 3 sided rock wall built into the unit, I want to keep sps mainly with some softies and lps (depends on my emporer) but my main concern is what type of led unit should I be looking for as the ones I used were less than $180 for 120 watt units

again these were the units and I was not to thrilled after 6 months

I know led is the future and all but am I stuck going back to t5 units or can someone educate me on led lighting fixtures in the hobby

I have been researching and all and rethinking this idea through, any help would be very helpful and I thank you early for your reply

 

[seamus2050]

I went with Reefbreeders Photon48. they are powerful and controllable.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

I have had great results using LEDs going on over 7 years. My first experiment was with Luxion LEDs then Cree XP-E and now Cree XT-E

With the proper mix of Binned Cree LEDs you can come awfully close to duplicating the look of any MH Bulb. Personally I chose to duplicate the 400 watt Radium over my tank.

Everyone, their brother and second cousin are importing those Chinese Fixtures. The quality varies greatly with some looking better than others.

I prefer using Cree LEDs as their Cool White is Full Spectrum without the Red.

I would stay with a domestically produced fixture. I'm not alone as there are a couple of good companies in the USA using quality Cree LEDs.

The Devil is in the details and its best to look at what each fixture provides as far as individual components and LED Mix. Seeing one over a live established reef always helps.

Once you go Quality LED you will never go back. Using the Latest Cree XT-E LEDS with efficient Drivers and Optics you can achieve PAR ratings more than a 400 watt MH while only using 118 watts.

Bill

 

[seamus2050]

reefledlights sounds like he knows what he is talking about. I should have added that reefbreeders offered a controllable fixture in my price range, which was $500.

 

[Ron Reefman]

David, leds can work. I'm a perfect example. Take a look at this post: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/led-lighting-specific/114635-chinese-light-emitting-diodess-bad-inferior-9.html#post1512659

What brand of fixture is that? Even though it is only blue and white, it could work if used correctly. What were the issues you had? Coral growth, color of the water, color of the coral...?

ReefLEDlights has some good points and more experience than me, but I do question some of his points. Like binning and led brand being all that important. Binning insures that an led is a specific wavelength, right? But I think a light is better if it has a variety of wavelengths of blue spectrum from 400nm to 480nm, so I think binning is less important now than it may have been 3-8 years ago when led quality was less controlled and brands varied more. And I don't want to duplicate a MH light, I want my led fixture to be better than a MH which produces a lot of light spectrum my corals or I don't need. But that's a matter of personal choice. I completely agree that Chinese fixtures are all over the map when it comes to quality and science, but then I see some of the same things in US made fixtures as well. And a big price tag doesn't make it a better light. I would only consider Chinese fixtures made by EverGrow, because I have used 6 of them and they work great. I've used SunSun and TaoTronics and been far less than satisfied. But then I've had Eco Tech Radion and although it produced good light (but no better than a well made Chinese fixture), it was a PITA to adjust and it ran way hotter than I wanted. So for the price I think it was a poor value. And even quality leds can give you big problems if you don't understand what you have. You can still bleach corals and you can still give them too much of the wrong spectrum of light, quality in the build and light production is not a replacement for user understanding and knowledge.

Bill, can you post up a spectrum chart of the Cree white led you mentioned? The one without red?

Thanks.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

David, leds can work. I'm a perfect example. Take a look at this post: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/led-lighting-specific/114635-chinese-light-emitting-diodess-bad-inferior-9.html#post1512659

What brand of fixture is that? Even though it is only blue and white, it could work if used correctly. What were the issues you had? Coral growth, color of the water, color of the coral...?

ReefLEDlights has some good points and more experience than me, but I do question some of his points. Like binning and led brand being all that important. Binning insures that an led is a specific wavelength, right? But I think a light is better if it has a variety of wavelengths of blue spectrum from 400nm to 480nm, so I think binning is less important now than it may have been 3-8 years ago when led quality was less controlled and brands varied more. And I don't want to duplicate a MH light, I want my led fixture to be better than a MH which produces a lot of light spectrum my corals or I don't need. But that's a matter of personal choice. I completely agree that Chinese fixtures are all over the map when it comes to quality and science, but then I see some of the same things in US made fixtures as well. And a big price tag doesn't make it a better light. I would only consider Chinese fixtures made by EverGrow, because I have used 6 of them and they work great. I've used SunSun and TaoTronics and been far less than satisfied. But then I've had Eco Tech Radion and although it produced good light (but no better than a well made Chinese fixture), it was a PITA to adjust and it ran way hotter than I wanted. So for the price I think it was a poor value. And even quality leds can give you big problems if you don't understand what you have. You can still bleach corals and you can still give them too much of the wrong spectrum of light, quality in the build and light production is not a replacement for user understanding and knowledge.

Bill, can you post up a spectrum chart of the Cree white led you mentioned? The one without red?

Thanks.

Binning the Cree Cool White is huge. The following chart is generic. That said different Bins will have more or less yellow. Chinese Cree Fixtures will not guarantee a specific spectrum bin. They may guarantee an intensity bin which is good for efficiency but more often than not lousy for looks. Our last meet with AI, they said they do not bin their LEDs...

One critique of Cree LED Fixtures is that they need more blue or are too yellow... This is because some are using the more yellow/common Cree Cree Cool White LEDs.

The Blue Line is the Cree Cool White without the red. Depending on bins the graph will shift just enough to notice the difference.

As you can see the Cree Cool White is full Spectrum Missing Blue and Red. We Added Blue and skipped the Red for a look very close to the 400 watt MH Radium.

The Radion LED chose a sleek look and trends for their design. Overall its a good light, if you ignore the price. I would of skipped the Yellow and Green as they are all ready covered and for those who prefer a warmer look substituted Cree Warm White instead of Red. Real estate on a circuit board is valuable and most dial these colours way back.

Generic or Knockoff 3 watt LEDs are a different story. Although they use less efficient LEDs maybe rated for 20-30,000 hours, by design they are more spectrum specific. This is why some of the better imports capitalized on this to make coral look good. I also say avoid Neutral Cree Cool White based on the high yellow look. This may not apply to 3 watt Generic LEDs as they will not publish their spectrum like Cree.

I'm Old School...Yes back when the 6.5K Iwasaki and 20K Radium on a magnetic ballast were the best growth choices. I do want to duplicate proven MH Lights then tweak the spectrum for optimal looks and growth...

BTW the bulbs were $65-$95 a pop back then and the Radium lasted only 6 months before a spectrum shift. The 6.5K was way yellow and I used it for a High Noon effect with 110watt VHO for Morning and Evening Viewing.

Just some more food for thought...

Bill