Thinking of upgrading to LEDs

[mseepman]

Take a look for the D120 fixtures...two of those would only cost a little more than that Vertex light (which I believe is only for supplimenting another light and not a light by itself). There are some easy places to get it here in Canada and they do a good job for the money plus are dimmable.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by paddyob

Tired of buying bulbs. It's a constant drain. Replacing at 6-8 months. It's a retail gold mine knowing the mark up.

Why not replace and move on from that?

I think unless you can actually buy decent lights, you're better off replacing bulbs until you've got enough cash for decent lights. No point downgrading from a decent T5 setup, so as with everything in this hobby, do it right the first time or you lose more money than you can count!

[WarDog]

Try these?
http://www.buildmyled.com/

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I think unless you can actually buy decent lights, you're better off replacing bulbs until you've got enough cash for decent lights. No point downgrading from a decent T5 setup, so as with everything in this hobby, do it right the first time or you lose more money than you can count!

+... 1 million.

I wouldn't trade a decent T5 fixture for that light. That would be OK as supplemental lighting to a metal halide setup, but based on those specs it would be totally inappropriate as your only light. Having only 450 and 470nm bulbs over your tank would make it look like you had a giant box of windex in your living room and I feel confident in saying that your corals would take a major hit in the growth department, if not stop growing/die completely. For an LED fixture to work as the only light source it needs white bulbs.

Once you go LED, I dare say you'll not go back, but only if you buy the right fixture. I still double think my lighting choice every time I see a healthy T5 tank because the SPS colours are so freaking good under them. I still haven't seen an LED tank that looks as incredible as a T5 tank in terms of coral colour (though some are getting close), so I wouldn't switch from them as a platform to LEDs unless I was getting the best there was. Whatever LEDs might lack compared to T5s in terms of coral colour (and at the high end of the market that's not much anymore) they more than make up for it in their other advantages, but if you went from T5 to an all blue supplemental fixture you'd be kicking yourself in a month.

It's better to either wait until you can afford better fixtures, or wait until what's considered 'cutting edge' today (which is very, very good) has come down in price.

[nrosdal]

here is my 120 gallon with 2 d120 lights above it. $350 and your 4 footer is well covered

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I think unless you can actually buy decent lights, you're better off replacing bulbs until you've got enough cash for decent lights. No point downgrading from a decent T5 setup, so as with everything in this hobby, do it right the first time or you lose more money than you can count!

It's not about having or not having the cash. I can buy them, but the wife is hard to convince I NEED to spend it.

That battle is going poorly, so I'm looking for alternatives that my wife can live with.

And under $500 is probably my cap. Today, tomorrow or in 5 years.

So what I need is a product that is worth buying. I know there are lots of Chinese knock offs... And some with very good reviews.

So, bring uninformed on LED, I need to know why I should buy brand name when most of them prObably have Chinese made parts.

New territory. Bah. I hate research. And pros and cons. They suck. :P

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by nrosdal

here is my 120 gallon with 2 d120 lights above it. $350 and your 4 footer is well covered

Serious? I just watched a video of your tank on YouTube?

[asylumdown]

Werd.

Things to look for

brand of the diode - crees are the best but others are swooping in, especially in the lower NM and novel colour (ie not white and blue) range

Wattage of the diode - on a large system don't buy anything with less than 3 watt diodes.

Number of diodes/total wattage/arrangement on the fixture/lenses - this lets you know what sort of spread and punch you'll get.

colour mix of the diodes - standard for the past 5 years has been blue/royal blue/some kind of white (warm, neutral or cool). This works, but you might find yourself thinking of your tank as washed out if these are the only colours you get. There's umpteen nauseating threads on the various forums debating the merits or lack thereof of the various flavours of white diodes. Latest and greatest fixtures all have more colours than this, and DIY forums have been doing multi-colour units for years.

The number of controllable channels - the more the better, but the more the pricier.

After that things like heat control, diode lumen per watt ratings (cree keeps coming out with more and more efficient diodes), build quality, and control interfaces are icing on the cake that will make your light either pleasant to work with/last a long time/cost more than your first car. But for the bare bones purpose of growing corals and how they look while doing it, it's the first list that counts.

[nrosdal]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

Werd.

Things to look for

brand of the diode - crees are the best but others are swooping in, especially in the lower NM and novel colour (ie not white and blue) range

Wattage of the diode - on a large system don't buy anything with less than 3 watt diodes.

Number of diodes/total wattage/arrangement on the fixture/lenses - this lets you know what sort of spread and punch you'll get.

colour mix of the diodes - standard for the past 5 years has been blue/royal blue/some kind of white (warm, neutral or cool). This works, but you might find yourself thinking of your tank as washed out if these are the only colours you get. There's umpteen nauseating threads on the various forums debating the merits or lack thereof of the various flavours of white diodes. Latest and greatest fixtures all have more colours than this, and DIY forums have been doing multi-colour units for years.

The number of controllable channels - the more the better, but the more the pricier.

After that things like heat control, diode lumen per watt ratings (cree keeps coming out with more and more efficient diodes), build quality, and control interfaces are icing on the cake that will make your light either pleasant to work with/last a long time/cost more than your first car. But for the bare bones purpose of growing corals and how they look while doing it, it's the first list that counts.

ya, what he said

[monocus]

i have one-it's the cheaper version of the illumina-par is soso.i bought a chinese version the same length for a third of the cost(9 3watt leds blue/white),with the same par.it might be better to build your own.thats what i do now.