Are you happy with your LED's???

[naesco]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Hi Wayne, my tank is 72x30x30. Looking at a single unit for that tank, I see two comparable options:

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/vt...2+Inch%29.html (almost $5k )

http://www.thereefshoppe.ca/index.ph...4b84f6d9596c71 ($4k)

If I look at the Key model you mention, the largest unit I see is 78cm x 27cm at $630ish. I'm not sure what kind of coverage you get off that, in the worst case scenario though I could fit 4 of those over top of my tank and $600*4 = $2400, still a pretty respectable purchase price.

I was looking at these Orphek units that fit inside a T5/T8 socket and they look pretty neat but even then it looks like something like $160 per unit (I assume they mean one T5 replacement). I assume that it's fair to expect 5 to 10 times the longevity out of one of these over one T5 lamp so maybe that's fair but then you lose the ability to "mortgage" that part of the tank expenses over time.

I have very little doubt that with most units available today, that most people don't "regret" the jump to LED, per se. I doubt I'd regret buying a Porsche one day, although that doesn't mean I can afford to get into one. Life's funny that way.

My son's tank is 6' by 4'. He bought 2 eco exotic Cannon LED 'pendants' for just under $600.00 each from Ocean Aquatics. His tank looks spectacular. He sent Ocean a picture that they are using. I guess a techy can let you know the difference between the two you are looking at at J&L
http://www.ecoxotic.com/aquarium-led...-pendants.html

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by naesco

My son's tank is 6' by 4'. He bought 2 eco exotic Cannon LED 'pendants' for just under $600.00 each from Ocean Aquatics. His tank looks spectacular. He sent Ocean a picture that they are using. I guess a techy can let you know the difference between the two you are looking at at J&L
http://www.ecoxotic.com/aquarium-led...-pendants.html

I didn't see the Cannon's on Ocean Aquatics website but looked up Eco Exotics website and it doesn't give a lot of detail. What kind of spread does a single unit cover and how high does it have to be mounted to get any descent coverage? It looks like one spot light covers a 3'x4' area on your son's tank, is it an SPS tank with only 2 units? It also looks like you can only get one color in each unit is this right also? Thanks!

[doch]

See, if I did end up going LED, there's no question in my mind that I'd go DIY. From the builds that I've seen, it doesn't look like it would be all that hard. The only thing that I'm not sure if you can do with a DIY LED set up is the lightning flashes. Do I need it? No. Would it be cool to have? Likely. Also, may very well be a novelty that would get anoying after a while. For my tank (48*30*26), I priced it out in the realm of $1200-$1700, depending on what extent I would go to (I tend to go overkill). If I hadn't already bought the t5's my decision would likely leave me with about a 100 LED DIY set up. I already bought the t5's... I think I'll stick with them. For now. Come time to do a bulb swap on my 6*36" t5 (current light, soon to be temporary frag tank light), I'm going to sell it, and build a 48 LED set up for the frag tank. At that time, whether I like the LED's or not, I will certainly let you all know.

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by doch

See, if I did end up going LED, there's no question in my mind that I'd go DIY. From the builds that I've seen, it doesn't look like it would be all that hard. The only thing that I'm not sure if you can do with a DIY LED set up is the lightning flashes. Do I need it? No. Would it be cool to have? Likely. Also, may very well be a novelty that would get anoying after a while. For my tank (48*30*26), I priced it out in the realm of $1200-$1700, depending on what extent I would go to (I tend to go overkill). If I hadn't already bought the t5's my decision would likely leave me with about a 100 LED DIY set up. I already bought the t5's... I think I'll stick with them. For now. Come time to do a bulb swap on my 6*36" t5 (current light, soon to be temporary frag tank light), I'm going to sell it, and build a 48 LED set up for the frag tank. At that time, whether I like the LED's or not, I will certainly let you all know.

Just wait until halloween, they always have flashing LED stuff to simulate lightening and other effects. You could easily rig it up to your tank see what it looks like. And after you've had your fun and relized that it's more of a novilty it's only a few bucks down the sump and that DIY LED fixture will look even more appealing.

[naesco]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

I didn't see the Cannon's on Ocean Aquatics website but looked up Eco Exotics website and it doesn't give a lot of detail. What kind of spread does a single unit cover and how high does it have to be mounted to get any descent coverage? It looks like one spot light covers a 3'x4' area on your son's tank, is it an SPS tank with only 2 units? It also looks like you can only get one color in each unit is this right also? Thanks!

It is a brand new tank but he will be adding SPS a bit later on when the tank matures.
I do not have a light meter but the two units had complete coverage over the whole of the tank. In order to achieve this the pendants hang 12inches above the water line. As he likes the fluorescence the LED provides, he chose blue.
I can't comment on the technical aspects or compare this lighting to other LED lighting from a technical point of view but his tank looks great.
He chose the blue because he likes to observe them fluoresce.

A three foot tank would require one pendant at a $600.00 cost which is comparable to a MH system without the added heat and high maintenace cost.
IMO, one unit would leave the edges dimmer on a 4 foot tank.

If a reefer is starting up a new tank I could not in good conscience recommend MH.

For a reefer who has MH they may decide to wait a little longer to replace their lighting. The price of LEDs will go down a bit, there will be more selection and improvements will be made.

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by naesco

It is a brand new tank but he will be adding SPS a bit later on when the tank matures.
I do not have a light meter but the two units had complete coverage over the whole of the tank. In order to achieve this the pendants hang 12inches above the water line. As he likes the fluorescence the LED provides, he chose blue.
I can't comment on the technical aspects or compare this lighting to other LED lighting from a technical point of view but his tank looks great.
He chose the blue because he likes to observe them fluoresce.

A three foot tank would require one pendant at a $600.00 cost which is comparable to a MH system without the added heat and high maintenace cost.
IMO, one unit would leave the edges dimmer on a 4 foot tank.

If a reefer is starting up a new tank I could not in good conscience recommend MH.

For a reefer who has MH they may decide to wait a little longer to replace their lighting. The price of LEDs will go down a bit, there will be more selection and improvements will be made.

That's pretty amazing that only 2 of those Cannons could lighta tank that size at only 12" above the water. The picture of the units make them look like they would only produce a very focused beam of light. Thanks for the info!

[Delphinus]

Wayne his tank is 4' tall ? Wow.

When you get a chance please post some pictures, I'd love to see those. I did see those Cannons when they first came out and thought that might be a good way to get into LED's but unfortunately even at $600 versus money already spent for the existing halides it will still be a while before I pull the trigger on the switch over but I'd still love to see them in action besides just the usual promotional stuff out there. Thanks!

[naesco]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Wayne his tank is 4' tall ? Wow.

When you get a chance please post some pictures, I'd love to see those. I did see those Cannons when they first came out and thought that might be a good way to get into LED's but unfortunately even at $600 versus money already spent for the existing halides it will still be a while before I pull the trigger on the switch over but I'd still love to see them in action besides just the usual promotional stuff out there. Thanks!

No, it is six feet long and four feet wide. I will try to get him to post a pic here.

[phi delt reefer]

orphek and Kriesel (sp?) make multi chip LED cannon that uses a mix of different colors vs. the Ecoxotic solution which uses one color. Meant to be a halide replacement (ie. strong point source light).

keep an eye out on Dave Fason of Nano Box. He's a hobbyiest doing some CRAZY custom stuff with LEDs that he's trying to bring into the mainstream market.

http://nano-box-reef.com/blog/?categ...me=nanoboxnews

the NANO Pulsar looks pretty awesome and might be something you big tank folk may want to consider vs. a $5000 fixture. He's got a pretty sweet controller (Ryujin)designed for the system as well.