What LEDs do i need?

ajhudson15 · Feb 22, 2018

radion has the diffusers also to take away from the disco ball effect a little. I have the gen4 pro and love it

Daniel Waters · Feb 22, 2018

Now that we've established that you don't have this super deep tank, you have a lot more options. You can go basically with about any LED you want. They will all provide you the shimmer you may be wanting. I'm not going to get into the pros and cons of each, as there are plenty of discussions in the forum you can read on. If you plan to keep your T5s and have 4 bulbs, I would recommend 3 led units such as the radion xr15 pro or Kessil A360w. I don't think you need the more powerful AP700 or XR30w.

Another thing I think you may want to try first is trying some different T5 bulbs. Some ATI blue plus bulbs with an actinic thrown in will give you a much deeper blue and pop you may be looking for versus what you are using. If you want a bit whiter look, you could use an ATI coral plus bulb. If you like the t5 setup and just want some shimmer and want to keep costs down, a 48" led strip might be the way to go. Just probably want the ones with the deeper blues if you want that "pop"

ReefLEDLights · Feb 22, 2018

saltyfilmfolks said:
Fwiw. Everything penetrates to the bottom of the tank. It’s sales talk.
If. Nothing thing penetrated , it would be dark. You’ll always have more light up top and less below.

What you want to look at is how much it gives you on the bottom, and how much you want. 50-80 par is fine for shrooms a lot of lps , etc , some like 100(pretty standard) , then figure out how much is on top.

T5 falls off most evenly , led pucks have hot spots. To make this more even , you can look at more pick units , multiple a360 or Radion heads , or panel style muliti emitter, like reefbreeders photons or Orphek. On the cheap end of that is B.B. and units like the t247.

Penetration is something to consider and not a marketing gimmick.

Some quality LEDs like the Radion designed their lights with more spread which allows you to mount them closer. The down side to this is you get a lot of spill or wasted light...

We found that 200 PAR on the sand bed grows clams and carpet anemones very well Sanjay recommends a minimum of 100 PAR. To achieve the same PAR and penetration of a 400 watt Radium MH you would need two Radion LED Fixtures.

The Sirius XTC has optics optimized for deep tanks. Measured PAR on a 30" deep tank is over 200 with a coverage of 24" x 24" We designed this fixture to replace a 400 watt MH.

If your not planning on having Clams or Carpet Anemones on the sand bed a fixture with less penetration is fine... I would avoid Cheap Imports due to their quality and safety.

The best way to know if you have enough light on the sand bed is to rent or borrow a PAR Meter

Bill

Lunger50 · Feb 22, 2018

RSX 300? I have the 200 and love it so far. Easy to program, no disco ball effect

http://www.maxspect.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=269&Itemid=773&lang=en

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 22, 2018

ReefLEDLights said:
Penetration is something to consider and not a marketing gimmick.

Some quality LEDs like the Radion designed their lights with more spread which allows you to mount them closer. The down side to this is you get a lot of spill or wasted light...

We found that 200 PAR on the sand bed grows clams and carpet anemones very well Sanjay recommends a minimum of 100 PAR. To achieve the same PAR and penetration of a 400 watt Radium MH you would need two Radion LED Fixtures.

The Sirius XTC has optics optimized for deep tanks. Measured PAR on a 30" deep tank is over 200 with a coverage of 24" x 24" We designed this fixture to replace a 400 watt MH.

If your not planning on having Clams or Carpet Anemones on the sand bed a fixture with less penetration is fine... I would avoid Cheap Imports due to their quality and safety.

The best way to know if you have enough light on the sand bed is to rent or borrow a PAR Meter

Bill

Understood. But recent the emphasis and mis understanding for the laymen is my point. Similar to full spectrum , or HD. Lol.

A bright light will penetrate. Doing to evenly , or how to use it unevenly is where finesse comes in. From the manufacturer or by the reefer.

And fwiw, I’d def give Bills Lights a try. A lot of thought and finesse.

FloatinBy · Feb 22, 2018

saltyfilmfolks said:
Understood. But recent the emphasis and mis understanding for the laymen is my point. Similar to full spectrum , or HD. Lol.

A bright light will penetrate. Doing to evenly , or how to use it unevenly is where finesse comes in. From the manufacturer or by the reefer.

And fwiw, I’d def give Bills Lights a try. A lot of thought and finesse.

Im thinking 2 of his lights. He was more then willing to spend 30mins on the phone with me and even atated to go with the diy kit and save money. Havent even bought from him yet and he has amazing costumer service.

FloatinBy · Feb 22, 2018

saltyfilmfolks said:
Understood. But recent the emphasis and mis understanding for the laymen is my point. Similar to full spectrum , or HD. Lol.

A bright light will penetrate. Doing to evenly , or how to use it unevenly is where finesse comes in. From the manufacturer or by the reefer.

And fwiw, I’d def give Bills Lights a try. A lot of thought and finesse.

Im thinking 2 of his lights. He was more then willing to spend 30mins on the phone with me and even atated to go with the diy kit and save money. Havent even bought from him yet and he has amazing costumer service.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 22, 2018

FloatinBy said:
Im thinking 2 of his lights. He was more then willing to spend 30mins on the phone with me and even atated to go with the diy kit and save money. Havent even bought from him yet and he has amazing costumer service.

He’s a really good dude.
Knows his lights too.

Oldreefer44 · Feb 22, 2018

Suggest looking into Orphek. Could get by with 1 Atlantik 4. Suggest taking a look at the BRS video on them.

FloatinBy · Feb 22, 2018

I think im going to go with 2 of Bills DIY XTC with the storm x controller

terri_ann · Feb 23, 2018

Before you buy, you might want to look at ReefBrite, and talk to Tullio. Never hurts to get more than one manufacturer's opinion.

gcrawford · Feb 23, 2018

On my 120 I've had many lights over the years - all with success and some with side affects (Metal Halide Heat being the hardest to overcome). Having a canopy, I've settled on two Kessil A360WE units and two BRS T-5 retro kits (2 bulbs ea) all controlled by my apex. The setup is worry free, sunrise to sunset, can have low level lighting during the night if I want for moon light using a low setting on the Kessils and everything is growing like crazy. I can snap a pic tonight if you'd like. I saw that you adjusted your initial tank measurement to 60 inches. Might need 3 Kessils for that. I use two for 48 inches.

Centerline · Feb 23, 2018

FloatinBy said:
Current set up. 2 actinic and 2 50/50s. Ill get a pic tomorrow of just blues and then with all 4 on. Thats just the two 50/50s. And ignore GHA i removes that rock today and scrubbes the hell out of it so its no longer there.

Do you run the tank with those tops on it?

ReefLEDLights · Feb 23, 2018

WOW good to see a good discussion here...

Some complain about the "Disco Ball Effect" Others call it Shimmer and like it...

When choosing a fixture ask what your corals want. Photosynthesis is rather complex and at its prime is around 5-6 hours using the maximum intensity of the sun... Being a complex process with some triggers we are firm believers in a natural sunrise and sunset... This has three primary benefits.

First... Corals have developed their photosynthetic process over million of years with the help of zooxanthellae algae. Why change the natural cycle.

Second... Reefs with a lot of fish have a lot of nutrients... Most nuisance algae are shallow and receive a great amount of light for 8-12 hours a day depending on latitude and season. Why provide them extra light that your corals are not using...

Third... Less energy. back in the 90s when I first started out my MH was on for 10 hours and my VHO for 14... This created a lot of heat and Comed really liked me when I sent them a check for the electrical bill. Today If not LED its T5... T5s can be staggered well especially in an 8 bulb setup but the life/spectrum/intensity of a T5 starts to degrade after 6 to 9 months...

Spectrum is key and corals need an abundance of the 400-440nm this is the T5 Actinic... We used to augment our LEDs with this but the latest Semi P2NU Violet aka UV provides ths with much less heat and energy consumption.

Most Fixtures are really weak in the 400 to 440nm here is a graph of the Sirius XTC Led Board with all LEDs at 100%.

Here is the XTC Tweaked to best user looks vs AI Sol now Hydra

Spectrum Matters....Control Matters...

Bill

FloatinBy · Feb 23, 2018

I guess what i mean is the strobing on bottom of the tank lile how the colors seperate and swirl all over. I love the shimmer tho. I feel it just looks so much more realistic.

FloatinBy · Feb 23, 2018

Centerline said:
Do you run the tank with those tops on it?

Yes i do. I clean the tops/windows or w.r you want to call them daily. I plan on dome fire fish and did have a goby which tried to escape almost daily until he finally did one day i forgot to put thwm back on after feeding.

Centerline · Feb 23, 2018

FloatinBy said:
Yes i do. I clean the tops/windows or w.r you want to call them daily. I plan on dome fire fish and did have a goby which tried to escape almost daily until he finally did one day i forgot to put thwm back on after feeding.

You may want to consider replacing those with screen tops. They would let more light in and lower the heat a bit as the heat would have a chance to escape. Could be that in itself would solve your light issue. Just a thought. BRS has some fairly inexpensive ones.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sumps-tanks-refugiums/diy-screen-tops.html

FloatinBy · Feb 23, 2018

Centerline said:
You may want to consider replacing those with screen tops. They would let more light in and lower the heat a bit as the heat would have a chance to escape. Could be that in itself would solve your light issue. Just a thought. BRS has some fairly inexpensive ones.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sumps-tanks-refugiums/diy-screen-tops.html

I never really habe had a heating problem. I do run a computer fan in the hood.

Centerline · Feb 23, 2018

ReefLEDLights said:
WOW good to see a good discussion here...

Some complain about the "Disco Ball Effect" Others call it Shimmer and like it...

When choosing a fixture ask what your corals want. Photosynthesis is rather complex and at its prime is around 5-6 hours using the maximum intensity of the sun... Being a complex process with some triggers we are firm believers in a natural sunrise and sunset... This has three primary benefits.

First... Corals have developed their photosynthetic process over million of years with the help of zooxanthellae algae. Why change the natural cycle.

Second... Reefs with a lot of fish have a lot of nutrients... Most nuisance algae are shallow and receive a great amount of light for 8-12 hours a day depending on latitude and season. Why provide them extra light that your corals are not using...

Third... Less energy. back in the 90s when I first started out my MH was on for 10 hours and my VHO for 14... This created a lot of heat and Comed really liked me when I sent them a check for the electrical bill. Today If not LED its T5... T5s can be staggered well especially in an 8 bulb setup but the life/spectrum/intensity of a T5 starts to degrade after 6 to 9 months...

Spectrum is key and corals need an abundance of the 400-440nm this is the T5 Actinic... We used to augment our LEDs with this but the latest Semi P2NU Violet aka UV provides ths with much less heat and energy consumption.

Most Fixtures are really weak in the 400 to 440nm here is a graph of the Sirius XTC Led Board with all LEDs at 100%.

Here is the XTC Tweaked to best user looks vs AI Sol now Hydra

Spectrum Matters....Control Matters...

Bill

Thanks for posting this - interesting stuff and also thanks for reminding me about VHOs - I used to run URI Actinics for 12 - 14 hours a day myself. MH for 4 or 5. Loved the look and have yet to see any light combo that looked as good as VHOs and Radiums. Its obviously subjective - but I sure wish I could get that specific color. Even with a Spectra I have running Radiums and ATI true actinic T5s it just doesn't look the same. I also run Hydra 52 HDs and Radion G4 Pros and it seems that no amount of fiddling can replicate that look. Do you have a product that does so?

andys · Feb 24, 2018

FloatinBy said:
I think i need to do a hybrid. I only have 4 T5s as eell and theres plenty of room to add more in canopy. Or my other thought was to build a new "canopy" with center cut out to then hang lights. I cannot go without a canopy as my tank is sealed with windows cut out of the top if that makes sense.