Ok make a case for which LED lighting I should get!

revhtree · May 29, 2010

If I decide to go LED what system/setup would you make a case for?

250g Reef - 72" long - 34" wide - 24" high

I am seriously considering it.

wishntoboutside · May 29, 2010

i would be a litlle biased but i would say AQUAILLUMINATION is the only one i would put my corals under.

gilmour01 · May 29, 2010

for $5 u.s. dollars i will fashion you a fixture consisting of a cardboard box with LED christmas lights stapled to the bottom of it. i expect these to be big sellers, so get'em while you can. on the LX model, i spray paint the box black (food for thought)

TopNotchCorals · May 29, 2010

The only thing I am going on is basically "show and tell" from luke33's LED fixtures.Where else can you go where a retailer not to mention a sponsor samples everything on his own tank before making it available to the public and answers every possible question as a fellow hobbyist rather then a seller.I see nothing but beneficial information from the fixtures he is selling and thats why Im choosing to go with his fixture.

inactive · May 29, 2010

DIY would be best IMO, if you need some stuff machined, let me know.

Wijic · May 29, 2010

From what I've been reading about LED lights (I am saving up to make my reef tank LED) every unit has its own pros and cons. A lot of it depends on what you're looking to get out of LED. Revh, what are the gains you're hoping to achieve by switching? More control? Brighter lighting? Fewer bulb changes? Some units are all about minute adjustments of color temp and time. Some are much more basic. Also, what price range are you after?

Azurel · May 29, 2010

A. Energy savings.
B. Cost saving from no bulb replacement
C. More money for corals instead of paying the power company as part A.
D. You still get shimmer effect like Halide
E. Depending on fixture or DIY you can control spectrum or K value
F. I plan on doing it in the fall and you heard about it and want to jump infront of me so I don't beat you to the punch> "cause your that guy"

Rev I think in the end the LED is the way to go, it will be a while before the plasma arc lighting will be sound enough for regular users and cost down enough for us to afford it...

Troylee · May 29, 2010

Hands down the best led systems are the Cree LEDs that you build your self... Nothing can compare to a fully contrallable highly efficiant Cree system.... The kits reef led lights offer are the hot ticket that started all the led craze in the first place..... Talk with bill, rev he could help ya out or I'm more than willing to.... I will be doing a build soon...

thewackyreefer · May 29, 2010

bayreefer said:
The only thing I am going on is basically "show and tell" from luke33's LED fixtures.Where else can you go where a retailer not to mention a sponsor samples everything on his own tank before making it available to the public and answers every possible question as a fellow hobbyist rather then a seller.I see nothing but beneficial information from the fixtures he is selling and thats why Im choosing to go with his fixture.

Couldn't agree more, I purchased 2 for my 60g I'm putting together.

jaytizzle · May 29, 2010

Rev, I have two tanks. One is a 24g aquapod and the other a 120g oceanic tech. I swapped from MH+T5 on the 24g to a 90W LED fixture in January or February. This was an established tank that had been running almost 2 years when I swapped. I was nervous but decided that it would be okay to use my small tank as a guinea pig situation. It worked very very well. Yesterday I pulled my 8-bulb Tek T5 fixture off of my 120 and replaced it with 2 x 120W LED fixtures. They aren't the same ones but are similar in appearance to the ones that luke sells (and almost identical to the ones from ReefFanatics that you can see on vendor sites). Mine are 2:1 ratio of White:Blue LEDS. It makes a very nice 14k or so look. I may try to make the color bluer by adding a LED bar or something but that's another story.

For the cost, you can't beat the fixtures like what Luke is selling. I completely trust LED fixtures at this point. I am easily getting 2'x2' coverage from my fixtures. Just sharing my experience... Hope that helps!

iani · May 29, 2010

I would not do LEDs over such a big tank for these two reasons.

1. There are no LED fixtures on the market that I know of that can cover a 34" front to back spread.
2. Once you get to larger tanks IMO efficiency drops. You will need many more LEDs to cover the spread and intensity that a single MH (with a nice big reflector) can cover. Something like a luminarc III can do a 36x36" area. You could probably get away with 2 x 250w MHs on your tank.

Who Dah? · May 29, 2010

Should you decide to go this route, I'd recommend adding dimable/controlable to the criterion. Not just 'all white on, all blue off', but something where you can control the intensity of both.

Troylee · May 29, 2010

Who Dah? said:
Should you decide to go this route, I'd recommend adding dimable/controlable to the criterion. Not just 'all white on, all blue off', but something where you can control the intensity of both.

The only way Get this is by building your own fixture or buying over seas crap due to patent issues....it sucks one company has to ruin it all for everyone else.... Guess that's buisness...

Who Dah? · May 29, 2010

Who Dah? said:
Should you decide to go this route, I'd recommend adding dimable/controlable to the criterion. Not just 'all white on, all blue off', but something where you can control the intensity of both.

troylee said:
The only way Get this is by building your own fixture or buying over seas crap due to patent issues....it sucks one company has to ruin it all for everyone else.... Guess that's buisness...

Interesting - I did not know that was an issue!

Garth Schafluetzel · May 29, 2010

rev talk to bill with reef led lights. he has by far the best customer service hands down and from what ive seen so far his product is amazing. on tuesday i should have a pic or 2 of 24 of the 3 watt cree's over the 125 and then over a 38 but hands down this is the route im going but ill probly add some t5's for extra pop

Aquascaper · May 29, 2010

:bigsmile:YGPM

Akwarius · May 30, 2010

I'm currently building a setup with 10, 20k par38's over a 125 with 234w of t5 supplementation. I would recommend using some t5 if you are finicky about color. The CW and RB leds blend into a limited spectrum. I don't have any data on this, but if you were to see it in person you would say that the color is nice, though slightly unnatural. If you can find or build a fixture with some red and/or uv leds this problem may be avoided.

macawmagic · May 30, 2010

the fixtures I've liked the most so far are the aquaillumination's. They're a little pricey, but are controllable where you can dial up the blue and dial down the white. supposedely the new ones are going to have 1 white, and 2 diff blues per each 3 led bank.

I'm trying to sell one of my mh's so that I could buy a cheap led fixture that a local is selling. less than $200. going to put it over my 29 to start playing with certain sps and make sure that the light works just as good as everything thats already been proven. If so then i'll be replacing everything thats not led's!

hope that helps rev!

jaytizzle · May 30, 2010

I've already been there, macaw. I did the guinea pig routine 6 months ago. That's how my 120 just got switched over! You will like it!

WWC · May 30, 2010

x2!!! I will do the same if i was him

ianiwane said:
I would not do LEDs over such a big tank for these two reasons.

1. There are no LED fixtures on the market that I know of that can cover a 34" front to back spread.
2. Once you get to larger tanks IMO efficiency drops. You will need many more LEDs to cover the spread and intensity that a single MH (with a nice big reflector) can cover. Something like a luminarc III can do a 36x36" area. You could probably get away with 2 x 250w MHs on your tank.