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

[The Grizz]

I have just about got the layout planned, just need to draw it up. I am going to put a small bar fridge in one end, redneck chiller and food storage. If I stay with my MH / T5 the ballasts will be in the top of the side towers with cooling fans but I would really like to got LED's for less heat & power consumption. Both towers are going to have an open spot where I can see the sides of the tank, Profilux controller will sit on one of the open side tops.

[Milad]

Originally Posted by The Grizz

Well I don't know if I am going to build my own LED panels or not now. I have see several companies coming out with some really nice looking units at a decent price.

But the tank size has been determined and the glass should be ready for pickup mid Aug. Tank will be 96"L x 24"w x 30"T, front will also be starphire.

Link them and I can give you some feedback on if they are good or not.

So far the only ones that are good are the AI panels.

[The Grizz]

This is one I was thinking of trying out on one of my smaller tanks.

http://eshinegrow.com/aquariumlight/...rium-light.htm

And these for the 8'er

http://eshinegrow.com/aquariumlight/...rium-light.htm

There are some other options but they are out on my office desktop.

[Milad]

Originally Posted by The Grizz

This is one I was thinking of trying out on one of my smaller tanks.

http://eshinegrow.com/aquariumlight/...rium-light.htm

And these for the 8'er

http://eshinegrow.com/aquariumlight/...rium-light.htm

There are some other options but they are out on my office desktop.

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.

[Edmonton newbie]

greg did you get a price on those leds? i might be interested in getting a couple of the grow light ones to try a turf scrubber on my new tank. just a thought tho

[mike31154]

It's not necessarily all about power, i.e. 3 watt Crees. Here's a link to a blog by a guy who seems quite focused on the Orphek brand of LED & their fixtures. Many interesting reads here and although it's a personal blog he provides plenty of data in the form of spectographs in order to support his argument that the colour spectrum output of an LED can be just as, or more important than simply the power output.

Many options out there these days & more on the way. Personally I'm liking the MR16 and PAR38 bulb form factor. Pretty much plug & play as the PAR38 bulbs simply screw into any standard household fixture and the MR16 bulbs are designed as accent lighting running on straight 12 volts DC. This would make them perfect for a smaller nano or pico tank which you could run off a 12 VDC power source such as a deep cycle battery charged by solar panel. No soldering or special LED drivers required. In addition, if one of the bulbs goes, you're not looking at trying to repair an entire fixture or module. Simply pop out the old bulb & put in a new one, just like current lighting systems we use. I'd also venture to guess, if you used a bunch of them, this concept can easily be applied to larger tanks.

http://blog.captive-aquatics.com/cap.../led-lighting/

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by Edmonton newbie

greg did you get a price on those leds? i might be interested in getting a couple of the grow light ones to try a turf scrubber on my new tank. just a thought tho

Yes I did get a price list on the aquarium fixtures from eshine, pm me you e-mail and I will forward you the info I have received thus far.

[Milad]

Originally Posted by mike31154

It's not necessarily all about power, i.e. 3 watt Crees. Here's a link to a blog by a guy who seems quite focused on the Orphek brand of LED & their fixtures. Many interesting reads here and although it's a personal blog he provides plenty of data in the form of spectographs in order to support his argument that the colour spectrum output of an LED can be just as, or more important than simply the power output.

Many options out there these days & more on the way. Personally I'm liking the MR16 and PAR38 bulb form factor. Pretty much plug & play as the PAR38 bulbs simply screw into any standard household fixture and the MR16 bulbs are designed as accent lighting running on straight 12 volts DC. This would make them perfect for a smaller nano or pico tank which you could run off a 12 VDC power source such as a deep cycle battery charged by solar panel. No soldering or special LED drivers required. In addition, if one of the bulbs goes, you're not looking at trying to repair an entire fixture or module. Simply pop out the old bulb & put in a new one, just like current lighting systems we use. I'd also venture to guess, if you used a bunch of them, this concept can easily be applied to larger tanks.

http://blog.captive-aquatics.com/cap.../led-lighting/

The PAR 38 and MR16 are nice, but ive seen them over a tank and they just look bulky to me. If you have a large canopy to hide them, then it isnt a problem.

what makes LEDs so amazing is how small they are. As long as you plan well, you can make a fixture no more than maybe 2 inches thick. The bulbs can be about 7 inches tall before you even get to the socket/wiring behind it.

Currently the design im working on over my 180 is going to be a bit more than 1in thick in most areas and 2inches thick in just a couple areas so its going to be a slim piece of art hanging over my display.

As far as the replacing a dead emitter, yes that is the pitfall if you have a prefab fixture. If its on a board with all the rest, you cant easily change it. If its a single star, its just easily done by bypassing the star with a piece of new wire or replacing the star. The AI fixtures lets you replace modules, which is nice but you end up replacing 3 LEDs instead of just one.

[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).