LED Intensity

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

for one they don't say what kind of LEDs there using, if they are using Cree (or another good brand) then no difference, if they are using some of the cheep ones that use a coating to get the color then the coating will break down eventually and these ones will give you a spectrum shift. there has even been reports of the coating pealing off in places. so it basically comes down to how the LED is made. you get the expensive high quality that use the actually metal of the diode to give off the color you want and you get the cheep and sometimes expensive ones that use a cheep metal to give a blueish color and then coat the dome with colored phosphorus to tune the color to what they want.

Also you want to check into the power supply and if it can be controlled. there are cheaper power supplies that are not regulated as much so this can lead to early failure, and controllability adds cost (although not much)

and finally what is there heat sink and how is the temp managed, you can get systems that use a aluminum heat sink that is enough on there own then add fans as a back up, and you can get systems that if the fans fail your system will be cooked. allot of the companies now are using a heat sink material as the circuit board and mounting the bare LEDs directly to it. nothing wrong with this as long as it is rated for proper thermal dissipation, some companies will do this but use the cheapest material they can find then over size fans. So you really have to looking to the construction and parts used in the system.

Steve

dude, get this out of my thread!!

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

dude, get this out of my thread!!

what your against informational posts now .

simple answer. yes you can do it but you will never be able to increase the intensity unless you drop the lights. but you have several options. the higher you lift your lights the tighter of a vewing angle you can use which gives you more par/intensity as a specific distance and better blending as your farther away. if this is the way you are leaning I would sugest going with something like the 50 watt LED cannons you could have a blue and white right against each other for perfect blending and you could probably recess them into cealing fixtures using optice to controld how big the spread is. I think that would be the coolest setup. no visable lights, just pots mounted into the celing and yet a tank that is still customizable in light color and intensity. you could use electronic dimmers/controlers that mount into a light switch housing and are controled by your computer. now quite trying to drag out of me what I have been working on

Steve

[Delphinus]

What you should do is try placing them in various different spots and seeing what you like best.

[wickedfrags]

I have an illumina 260 and run the whites at about 45% and both blue at 100%. I prefer the colour at this intensity, and the light is ridiculously bright once you get much higher, even at blue at 100%. Once the UV add ons become available I may add some, and add more that at that time so the spectrum stays pleasing to the eye.

[Nano]

sorry Brad

[burgerchow]

I was on the fence about the AI's and Radions as well. What's the point of ordering 3 or 4 of them for a tank when it seems like everybody is only running them at less than 50 %. Also, they don't seem to have a very aesthetically pleasing hanging system, so I just ordered a pair of these from Jeff at J& L. Should be the first one in Canada to get them.

http://www.kessil.com/products/a350_led_aqua_light.php

I'm also very lazy and don't like playing around with programs. Set it and Forget it !

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by burgerchow

I was on the fence about the AI's and Radions as well. What's the point of ordering 3 or 4 of them for a tank when it seems like everybody is only running them at less than 50 %. !

Pretty much my point exactly...

[Sunee]

I run my AIs at 32% both white and blue (two on a 30x27x18" cubish). I cannot suspend them so if I ran at a higher % would blast everything as the tank is shallow. If you can suspend them up higher your idea of getting fewer should work and you should be able to maintain the colour of your corals. I don't have many SPS but the colour is pretty good on the frags that I have.

[Nano]

I know a lot of people were doubtful about leds when they first came into the hobby, so I hear, but after buying sps that had been under metal halides and putting them in my tank, they have 100% more color to them, and the rest of the corals seem to flourish under them as well.

What size tank are you thinking of for this Brad? for a 4' I cant see why you couldnt get away with 2 AI's as they cover a 24x24x24ish area with stock optics, with the wider ones I would imagine if hung at a respective height you could probably get close to 30x30x30 spread with a higher intensity. same thing for radions (aside from the optics part, I dont believe they have any)

[Cal_stir]

I have a DIY LED , it's a 72 led unit, 36 XPG white, 36 XPE blue and royal blue, spread out on a 4' x 1' heatsink 3 inches above the water on my 90 gal 48x18x24, no optics, my white drivers are set at 1.3 amp and my blue drivers are set at 1 amp, I run my whites at 85% and my blues at 100% it looks about 50% brighter than my 4 bulb t5 ho, I am LPS Zoa dominate and all growing well.
I think part of the problem with the AI and Radion units is the concentration of the LEDs