Ideas for LED supplementation

[Delphinus]

Glad I'm not the only one who finds the colour separation a bit of an issue. Every LED tank I have seen has had this and once I notice it, no matter how nice everything else may be, I get a little disappointed feeling. It's sort of like being in a Star Trek holodeck and thinking everything is nice and perfect in my little fake imaginary world then noticing one of the holo-emitters is on the fritz and you see these little staticy spark things zapping around and in behind you see the black wall of the holodeck itself and you realize "Oh yeah, right. This is not real. Kind of a bummer." With a well done reef tank when you really focus in on it there is this "suspension of disbelief" (it's not just for fiction apparently) where all of the cool technology in the world that is supporting the main cast, is just a supporting player and basically irrelevant so long as it's doing its job - it's what's in the tanks that is the draw for me to this hobby - the rest are just tools to get a job done.

I wonder how the multichip pendents compare though. These still intrigue me. I still would like to try a few and replace one of my Radiums at a time and then run in parallel to see how they stack up. I'm saving my pennies for this at this time, although it probably means I'm pre-empting a possibly more-better investment of a controller (yeah I run everything old skool still) in the meantime.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Glad I'm not the only one who finds the colour separation a bit of an issue. Every LED tank I have seen has had this and once I notice it, no matter how nice everything else may be, I get a little disappointed feeling.

I wonder how the multichip pendents compare though. These still intrigue me. I still would like to try a few and replace one of my Radiums at a time and then run in parallel to see how they stack up. I'm saving my pennies for this at this time, although it probably means I'm pre-empting a possibly more-better investment of a controller (yeah I run everything old skool still) in the meantime.

My DIY build uses 3 rows (9 per row) of 10 watt multi chip LEDs spaced about 4 & 1/2 inches apart. Mixture of cool white, white, blue & royal blue. I use no optics & the LEDs are just over 6 inches above the water. I see no disco effect or colour separation with this configuration. Fixture has been up & running since beginning of April this year. I only have a few SPS & they're doing fine, although they're not exactly prize colonies. Switching from MH/T5HO combo doesn't appear to have affected the growth rate or look of my SPS pieces. LPS, softies & other livestock are doing great. No way I would consider going back to the MH/T5 fixture.

If I had it to do again, I might go with fewer, larger multi chip LEDs with optics, hung higher above the tank. Mainly due to simplicity and less wiring etc. I'm certain that the single chip 3 watt LEDs on stars will eventually be phased out & eclipsed by fixtures with the larger multi chips such as those on some Orphek & Kessil models. Multi colour, multi chip LEDs are already available & development is underway on chips that are more specific to reef aquarium needs with the colour mix. Since the different colour LEDs are closely packed together on a single chip, colour separation is virtually eliminated. The biggest drawback at the moment is that a single 100 watt or larger multi chip is pretty costly & if you cook it, you'll be out a few $$$s.

A certain Mr. Wilson who owns a reefing shop in Ontario & posts regularly on RC is at the forefront of this type of development having had a multi chip custom designed for some pendants he built. A tank in his shop is lit with these pendants running large multi colour, multichip LEDs. Says it's a bit too blue for something he'd hang over his tank at home, but apparently it's a look folks are attracted to when they walk into a shop? Below is the photo from his photobucket album.



So yeah, for the patient folks out there, won't be long & more choices for custom colour multi chip high power LED pendants should be hitting the shelves. As mentioned, Orphek, Kessil & several other manufacturers already offer fixtures of this type. Haven't checked the prices lately, but probably in line with the other high end players like EcoTech, AI, et al. Or if you want to tackle a DIY, many of the multi chips are readily avaible on fleabay & other online vendors. That's where I scored all my 10 watters.