Pre-planning for upgrading the 8'er, some input on LEDs needed

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by Milad

The first one isn't "bad". It using 3w xr-e which is about 3 years old. It also doesnt say what bins they are so you probably going to end up with the less powerful bins. Also doesn't say what the blue is.

The second one is bad. 1w LEDs arent for sw tanks and they especially arent for deeper tanks as they will have a harder time penetrating water even with optics compared to a 3w with optics.

I haven't seen anything good on 1w LEDs on sw.


You want xm-l whites. Xp-e royal blues. These are 3w latest LEDs that are the most efficient.

Milad,

I have also been thinking about the Eshine 60W Cree fixture to try on a nano to see if I actually like LED lighting over my tank or not. The "blue" light on the fixtures are Cree 455nm Royal Blues. They are also the same fixtures that are being sold by SWC on their web site. Does this help you with being able to recommend or not? Thanks!

[Milad]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

Milad,

I have also been thinking about the Eshine 60W Cree fixture to try on a nano to see if I actually like LED lighting over my tank or not. The "blue" light on the fixtures are Cree 455nm Royal Blues. They are also the same fixtures that are being sold by SWC on their web site. Does this help you with being able to recommend or not? Thanks!

Well its using XREWHT-L1-Q5-0000-00D01 3W White.... XREROY-L1-D3-0000-00703 3W Blue

10 of each, with 60 degree optics which is good.

The only issues I see with it is its using some older models. The XRE are much less efficient than the XP-G and XM-L

Also the XP-E royal blue bin its using is very low end. For instance, the one they are using is 250mW flux and the one that we carry and most of the DIY sites are starting to carry is basically two models higher which runs at 350mW flux.

Its better than most of the ones Ive seen. And your corals should do good under it (SPS, etc).

[intarsiabox]

Thanks for getting back to me. I think I'll try one out (it's only $275 including shipping directly from Eshine) and maybe contact you in the future about DIY for a new 6' tank I'm planning as soon as my house is finished being built. I really just want to feel the waters before I invest further into something I don't care for. A LFS had a cheap unit on display in the store last year and it gave me a headache to look at the tank for more than a minute or two, scared me off LED's a bit.