Modding Viparspectre 165w LED combos

[hockeyhead019]

Curious if anybody here has removed some of the white LEDs and replaced them with some various colors of blues? I'm thinking 420 and maybe 480s?

I think it's general consensus that there's way too much white light in these units but they look pretty simple to de-solder and re-solder new LEDs in. Curious if anybody has and what the before/after pictures look like from a color spectrum sense.

 

[SrDudley]

Viparspectra 165watt, Anyone using these?

Hi, I'm new to this site and can't find if it has been asked before. So my question is, is anyone else using these viparspectra led lights? I have had one since Xmas, 8" over a 24x18x18 mixed reef, I have worked upto a setting of 65% blue an 20% white, which have worked upto and I have only had...

www.reef2reef.com

In this thread I believe it is the person who started the thread modified his unit a few times as well as a couple others in the thread. I believe there might even be videos or at least pics of the process and there are diagrams showing which leds they used in which positions. I am about to take the plunge with those light fixtures and was doing my research on them. Someone on etsy even sells 120 degree lenses for a wide spread pattern so they can be closer to the water surface.

Hope that helps sorry its not too specific but a point in the right direction hopefully.
Stephen

 

[SPS2020]

There are YouTube videos on how to do it; not terribly complicated, just need patience and a good soldering iron.

The 120 degree lenses are available on dBay for about $15 delivered for 100 pieces. Just replaced all of them on my Viparspectra 300watt.

 

[Crustaceon]

I'm growing acropora well with unmodified (same lenses & leds) viparspectras at half power, so the question I have is why bother changing out leds considering you already have a blue channel to work with for aesthetics?

 

[KevinC]

Curious if anybody here has removed some of the white LEDs and replaced them with some various colors of blues? I'm thinking 420 and maybe 480s?

I think it's general consensus that there's way too much white light in these units but they look pretty simple to de-solder and re-solder new LEDs in. Curious if anybody has and what the before/after pictures look like from a color spectrum sense.

I replaced before, I would not suggest the 420. They do not last long, lense will turn brown.

 

[hockeyhead019]

I'm growing acropora well with unmodified (same lenses & leds) viparspectras at half power, so the question I have is why bother changing out leds considering you already have a blue channel to work with for aesthetics?

Nothing aside from trying to get a more complete spectrum of blue light as opposed to spiking around one. Good to know you're having good success!

What are your tank details and height above the water? Light power settings?

 

[SrDudley]

There are YouTube videos on how to do it; not terribly complicated, just need patience and a good soldering iron.

The 120 degree lenses are available on dBay for about $15 delivered for 100 pieces. Just replaced all of them on my Viparspectra 300watt.

Any chance you could share the link for the lenses? I will be needing some in the near future. What is your setup/schedule?

 

[Crustaceon]

Nothing aside from trying to get a more complete spectrum of blue light as opposed to spiking around one. Good to know you're having good success!

What are your tank details and height above the water? Light power settings?

I'm running three fixtures over a 60L x 30D x 24H (187g) tank with the lights around 10" over the surface. The highest up acro is 12" below the surface. Running 40% white and 50% blue for 9 hours. My growth was actually a little slower back when I ran 10% white and 80% blue. A few setups ago, I ran galaxy hydro lights with sbreeflight conversion boards (optimized blue spectrum like what's trying to be done here). I honestly saw no difference in what I was getting with those leds, vs when I switched to t5ho (Heavy Blue + & a few Coral +) because I felt like my growth could be better, vs my current lights. You can modify your leds to get better coloration and aesthetics, but I don't think it's going to do anything for growth. It's just not that critical IMO. Now intensity.....

 

[hockeyhead019]

I'm running three fixtures over a 60L x 30D x 24H (187g) tank with the lights around 10" over the surface. The highest up acro is 12" below the surface. Running 40% white and 50% blue for 9 hours. My growth was actually a little slower back when I ran 10% white and 80% blue. A few setups ago, I ran galaxy hydro lights with sbreeflight conversion boards (optimized blue spectrum like what's trying to be done here). I honestly saw no difference in what I was getting with those leds, vs when I switched to t5ho (Heavy Blue + & a few Coral +) because I felt like my growth could be better, vs my current lights. You can modify your leds to get better coloration and aesthetics, but I don't think it's going to do anything for growth. It's just not that critical IMO. Now intensity.....

Thanks for the information!

Any difference in algae growth as you've upped the white light strength? I know it's more involved than just color spectrum since nutrients come into play, but I believe algae typically thrives more under "whiter" lighting?

 

[SPS2020]

Any chance you could share the link for the lenses? I will be needing some in the near future. What is your setup/schedule?

Sure!

120 Degree Lenses on eBay

 

[Crustaceon]

Thanks for the information!

Any difference in algae growth as you've upped the white light strength? I know it's more involved than just color spectrum since nutrients come into play, but I believe algae typically thrives more under "whiter" lighting?

No difference whatsoever in algae growth. I keep nitrates around 10ppm and phosphates around .06ppm. I think the big thing is you tend to actually see the algae under white light. It's really still there under heavy blues and i'd still have to clean my panels just as frequently.

 

[SrDudley]

Sure!

120 Degree Lenses on eBay

Thank you very much!

 

[piranhaman00]

It is very well known by now that white light alone does not cause algae growth, you also want full spectrum light for corals, I would run the channels equal

 

[SPS2020]

It is very well known by now that white light alone does not cause algae growth, you also want full spectrum light for corals, I would run the channels equal

IMO, the white channel on the Viparspectra is waaay too much if run equivalent to the blue channel. YMMV

 

[ikaros70]

I run Viparspectra’s on my tanks.
Only thing I did to them was upgrade the lenses to 120*. About $10-15 per light fixture from AliExpress. Helps a lot with spread.
Only other thing I did was add a few 470nm bars. Gave me more of a 14-20k look.
I’m from the days metal halide had a stronghold on the hobby, so I like the 20k radium look.
I now have 4 Viparspectra across the top of my 210.
These lights are very powerful, I run mine at 40% blue and 1% white, that’s plenty for my mixed reef. LPs and softies towards the bottom, sps towards the top.
I get ~120 par on sand bed, ~200 toward the middle and ~300 on top.
I had 3 Viparspectra across the top originally but adding the 4th and lowering the light intensity really helped with the light spread, nice and even through my 210.

You could always add a couple of 470nm light bars if you want more blue and be done with it. They start about $42 on AliExpress.
That’s what I did.

If your that worried about growth, go metal halide, hands down best growth out of any lighting I have tried over the years.
Over the years, I found that MH and T5 combo gave the best growth.
Only reason I switched, Is cause MH bulbs are getting harder to find and getting more expensive.
Used to be able to get 14k Pheonix bulbs for ~30 bucks, now most places are charging 70-80 bucks per bulb. On larger systems, adds up quick.

About 7 months back, I rebooted my 210.
I purchased like new/used Viparspectra’s for about the same price as what a new bulb costs now.
I am giving leds a try and we will see how it goes. If I end up not liking them for any reason, I kept my halides and will go back if need be.
Only issue is the costs of bulbs now, it’s pretty ridiculous but so is the costs of everything else now.

 

[oreo54]

I run Viparspectra’s on my tanks.
Only thing I did to them was upgrade the lenses to 120*. About $10-15 per light fixture from AliExpress. Helps a lot with spread.
Only other thing I did was add a few 470nm bars. Gave me more of a 14-20k look.
I’m from the days metal halide had a stronghold on the hobby, so I like the 20k radium look.
I now have 4 Viparspectra across the top of my 210.
These lights are very powerful, I run mine at 40% blue and 1% white, that’s plenty for my mixed reef. LPs and softies towards the bottom, sps towards the top.
I get ~120 par on sand bed, ~200 toward the middle and ~300 on top.
I had 3 Viparspectra across the top originally but adding the 4th and lowering the light intensity really helped with the light spread, nice and even through my 210.

You could always add a couple of 470nm light bars if you want more blue and be done with it. They start about $42 on AliExpress.
That’s what I did.

If your that worried about growth, go metal halide, hands down best growth out of any lighting I have tried over the years.
Over the years, I found that MH and T5 combo gave the best growth.
Only reason I switched, Is cause MH bulbs are getting harder to find and getting more expensive.
Used to be able to get 14k Pheonix bulbs for ~30 bucks, now most places are charging 70-80 bucks per bulb. On larger systems, adds up quick.

About 7 months back, I rebooted my 210.
I purchased like new/used Viparspectra’s for about the same price as what a new bulb costs now.
I am giving leds a try and we will see how it goes. If I end up not liking them for any reason, I kept my halides and will go back if need be.
Only issue is the costs of bulbs now, it’s pretty ridiculous but so is the costs of everything else now.

Remember those lights on 100% are only 110w each approx.
55w blues only.

 

[ikaros70]

I know what the wattage is, I am a systems engineer by trade.
Each channel at 100% running 55w on the meter. These lights maxed out 110w total on my meter.
Not exactly the 165w as advertised but I kinda expected that since it’s a black box led and all.
Unfortunately, can’t just go by wattage with led, like we could with MH.
You run these lights at 100% and the par numbers are through the roof.
On my 210 with 4 Viparspectra’s across the top, I started with blue channel set to 60% and white channel at 1%, par was ~360 on the sand bed and almost 600 towards the upper half, and was over 700 at the water line, I think was 760 range at water line. way too much par and dialed them back rite away.
If I would have just dialed them in by wattage or just by eye, my corals would be toast.
Par meter was pretty much a necessity with dialing in the led’s.
was nice when we ran MH, never had to mess with the lighting, was pretty much hang the fixture and run with it. I never really had a need for a par meter with MH.
Par meter for my leds was a must.

 

[oreo54]

I know what the wattage is, I am a systems engineer by trade.
Each channel at 100% running 55w on the meter. These lights maxed out 110w total on my meter.
Not exactly the 165w as advertised but I kinda expected that since it’s a black box led and all.
Unfortunately, can’t just go by wattage with led, like we could with MH.
You run these lights at 100% and the par numbers are through the roof.
On my 210 with 4 Viparspectra’s across the top, I started with blue channel set to 60% and white channel at 1%, par was ~360 on the sand bed and almost 600 towards the upper half, and was over 700 at the water line, I think was 760 range at water line. way too much par and dialed them back rite away.
If I would have just dialed them in by wattage or just by eye, my corals would be toast.
Par meter was pretty much a necessity with dialing in the led’s.
was nice when we ran MH, never had to mess with the lighting, was pretty much hang the fixture and run with it. I never really had a need for a par meter with MH.
Par meter for my leds was a must.

Take all the over -focusing lenses off and hang them the same height (maybe a bit taller) as a MH were hung and you also may just be able to not need a par meter.
Last time I saw some efficiency measurements (comparing "white" lights of course) those cheap diodes were at about 1/2 that of 1W of metal halides. Around 50L/Watt give or take.
Maybe they are using better dies nowadays in that there egg, maybe not.
not everyone is an engineer soo it is worth mentioning..
Care to guess how many people think it is 135 watts? There are other people in the world.

Don't even bother with lenses, just redesign the splash guard.
Those 120's may or may not be a "120" degree lens. The orig 90's might have been 60's there are reports all over the board and even with visual inspection and not measuring FWHM to get the true angle. garbage.
Then again they seem to work.

 

[hockeyhead019]

I run Viparspectra’s on my tanks.
Only thing I did to them was upgrade the lenses to 120*. About $10-15 per light fixture from AliExpress. Helps a lot with spread.
Only other thing I did was add a few 470nm bars. Gave me more of a 14-20k look.
I’m from the days metal halide had a stronghold on the hobby, so I like the 20k radium look.
I now have 4 Viparspectra across the top of my 210.
These lights are very powerful, I run mine at 40% blue and 1% white, that’s plenty for my mixed reef. LPs and softies towards the bottom, sps towards the top.
I get ~120 par on sand bed, ~200 toward the middle and ~300 on top.
I had 3 Viparspectra across the top originally but adding the 4th and lowering the light intensity really helped with the light spread, nice and even through my 210.

You could always add a couple of 470nm light bars if you want more blue and be done with it. They start about $42 on AliExpress.
That’s what I did.

If your that worried about growth, go metal halide, hands down best growth out of any lighting I have tried over the years.
Over the years, I found that MH and T5 combo gave the best growth.
Only reason I switched, Is cause MH bulbs are getting harder to find and getting more expensive.
Used to be able to get 14k Pheonix bulbs for ~30 bucks, now most places are charging 70-80 bucks per bulb. On larger systems, adds up quick.

About 7 months back, I rebooted my 210.
I purchased like new/used Viparspectra’s for about the same price as what a new bulb costs now.
I am giving leds a try and we will see how it goes. If I end up not liking them for any reason, I kept my halides and will go back if need be.
Only issue is the costs of bulbs now, it’s pretty ridiculous but so is the costs of everything else now.

Thanks for the PAR readings, that seems to track well with what others have posted about the light and it's strength relative to PAR. I have mine running at 35/1 Blue/White since I'm a little too close to the water lol I have the 120* lenses coming so that should definitely help with the spread.

Dialing the white channel back appears to have given me the look I wanted anyways without adding any blues but some continued internet research seems to point to them being surface mounted and rather simple to replace, so if I ever feel like starting to tinker then I'll go ahead and pull a couple of the whites.