Who likes their LED Lights?

[j.p. harrington]

love my maxspects switch to them from a 5 bulb t5 fixture and growth and color are amazing compared to what they were

[mcarroll]

Has anyone looked into these LED's? New! Dimmable 1x120w LED Aquarium/Tank Light Marine Coral Reef Fish Grow Light | eBay

There have been so many clones of this light it's funny.

Blueline Aquatics and a host of others (including hydroponics lighting companies) have imported more or less this same light since LED's first appeared on the commercial scene. Blueline's version (they have 120w and larger units too) goes for $300-$340, just for reference. You might consider doing some research on these kinds of lights from other sellers like Blueline just to see what this format is like in deployment, what others' experiences have been with those. FWIW I think people who are accustomed to florescent lighting probably have a tough time adapting their preferences to this sort of light due to the shading inherent to point-source lighting....former halide users (like me) probably will have nicer initial experiences since they are already accustomed.

Someone mentioned worrying over efficiency on Chinese LED's and they didn't specify what they meant - I'm not sure there are any worthy concerns here. Lack of power factor correction is all I'm aware of and this is not a significant issue IMO. However, caveat emptor is always the rule concerning quality and a new product or manufacturer - that would surely apply as much here as it does everywhere else.

Good luck with the choice - let us know what you decide to do!

-Matt

P.S. Check out that Tunze Turbelle Classic pump on that tank in the product pic!! Whoever is showing off/selling these on eBay at least has a good budget - would be interesting to see if they're building lights of commensurate quality. (And holy-moly did anyone look at that sellers other items for sale? Wow.)

[seafansar]

I love my LED's! lol. I have AI sol whites. Love, love, love that they are so easily dimmable and you can increase the white and blues separately. I think the tank has been set up with corals in it for about 5 months now and the corals look great. We just have to pay close attention to the corals and dim the lights when need be and move the corals if need be. So far so good in our mixed reef. Even some really browned out SPS are finally starting to color back up after being added to the tank.

[3Twinklets]

I remember when I first turned on my AI SOLS stepping back and thinking "Oh wow I love that"! I have white, blue and royal blue.

[Scoly]

I'm with u ace! I love my LEDs. Been running sunbright LEDs for about 5 yrs now. Have 2 kessil's over my frag tank, and a radion over my 60g cube. Love all of them. Must say, I've had the best luck with my sunbrights. Glad to see a tread that isn't ruined by people trying to bash on LEDs! Thanks for this thread ACE!

[larrynews]

love mine, i got the marine solutions brand...for the price they rock

[Tank2379]

There have been so many clones of this light it's funny.

Blueline Aquatics and a host of others (including hydroponics lighting companies) have imported more or less this same light since LED's first appeared on the commercial scene. Blueline's version (they have 120w and larger units too) goes for $300-$340, just for reference. You might consider doing some research on these kinds of lights from other sellers like Blueline just to see what this format is like in deployment, what others' experiences have been with those. FWIW I think people who are accustomed to florescent lighting probably have a tough time adapting their preferences to this sort of light due to the shading inherent to point-source lighting....former halide users (like me) probably will have nicer initial experiences since they are already accustomed.

Someone mentioned worrying over efficiency on Chinese LED's and they didn't specify what they meant - I'm not sure there are any worthy concerns here. Lack of power factor correction is all I'm aware of and this is not a significant issue IMO. However, caveat emptor is always the rule concerning quality and a new product or manufacturer - that would surely apply as much here as it does everywhere else.

Good luck with the choice - let us know what you decide to do!

-Matt

P.S. Check out that Tunze Turbelle Classic pump on that tank in the product pic!! Whoever is showing off/selling these on eBay at least has a good budget - would be interesting to see if they're building lights of commensurate quality. (And holy-moly did anyone look at that sellers other items for sale? Wow.)

I actually did not go with these lights.... I went with a well know LED company that is a sponsor on this site- I only posted this just to get some feedback on it. But I got a sweet deal on a Lighting unit for $379.99 all dimmable and controllable. Oh and I am switching from and ATI T-5 unit to LED. I am jumping ship.

[Reefer4Life]

I'm a total newby to the LEDs: I love both of mine, and so do my corals! First ones are the DIY that are on my 20 gal. anemone, leather, zoa, 1 lps tank. Second one are 4 units "Cree Brick LEDs" by Aqua Pro Builders on my 155 Gal. Bow Front mixed reef. The Cree Bricks were very affordable for someone on a single retirement income, and come with GREAT customer service (I know the creator personally).hehehe
I started in the hobby with VHO, then MH with VHO, then MH with PC. The electrical bill, and bulb replacements were driving me to the poor house..

[mcarroll]

I actually did not go with these lights.... I went with a well know LED company that is a sponsor on this site- I only posted this just to get some feedback on it. But I got a sweet deal on a Lighting unit for $379.99 all dimmable and controllable. Oh and I am switching from and ATI T-5 unit to LED. I am jumping ship.

Sweet! Keep us posted on how it goes! :-)

-Matt

[jeffberg]

Excellent thread; I am in the process of hanging a rapidled diy soderless kit 14 royal blue/10 white over my 34 gallon sps frag tank; if I can be successful there I will make the jump to my 300 gallon sps main tank. Rapidled is excellent to work with but had to borrow a lot of skills from local reefer to do project; so I'm not sure I'll go the diy route if I expand to the main tank; I have found once your over the age of 50; time seems to be a valuable commodity.

[dirtysumpguy]

I'm warming up to my LEDs. I wish I had bought one of the PAR meters prior to switching to get an idea of what my MH were putting out to help the transition. I assumed as I had 500 watts prior that switching to the Radion at 100% I would be good. I immediately bleached/killed so many of my SPS and that was frustrating. I ordered the meter and turned the Radion down to 45% but I'm thinking it may need to go down a bit further.

Once I get the LED configured properly I will definitely love it - it really makes the colors pop, runs the tank so much cooler, and it's no longer a horror to open the electric bill.

[jedimasterben]

I just finished my newest LED build, using all 3up Luxeon Rebel ES (Epistar for the violets) from Steve's LEDs. Tank is 48"x24"x16", LEDs will have no optics, and hung ~12" above the water line, and are driven using 5x Meanwell ELN-60-48P drivers. Should pull less than 175w from the wall at full power, which I will probably never run. Will also be controlled via a BoostLED Typhon controller.

12x 5000k NW @ 1A
24x 440-445nm RB @ 1A
6x 660nm deep red, 470nm cool blue, 490-520nm cyan all on a 3up star @ 700ma
9x 410-420nm violet on 3up star @ 700ma

I'm expecting pretty big numbers with the PAR meter that will be here soon, on my old array using a similar setup I could bleach SPS on my sandbed with everything at 100%. Unfortunately, it won't really measure the light the violet LEDs are putting out, their PAR rating alone would be absolutely incredible because of how significant the violet range is to photosynthesis. I will update with pics soon.

[Dog Boy Dave]

I just removed 6 400 watt MH lamps off my tank. I built three fixtures 6 inch by 20, each with 50 Cree LED s 50/50 blue white. Building one more to complete. Removed 2400 watts and replacing with aprox 600 watts. Been running about a month now. I love it!!!! My colors were good before. Different now but better in many ways. Heat Heat Heat ...there isnt any to be spoken of. Temp used to start at 77 and be 84 by the times the lights went out at night. Chiller ran 23 hours a day and my ac ran 24 /7 and the room still got hot., None of that with Leds. Temp stays stable never goes above 79. Chiller runs about 6 hours a day. Here is some video....

[E.intheC]

I still like my AI Nano. Right now my 60 cube isnt filled up all the way and the Nano is doing OK.. I have all LPS/Zoas so my light demands aren't great... And it won't do as well when the water level is at the top. But it's holding me over until I decide on my next light fixture.

[btldreef]

2.5 years of my DIY leds. I love them. I run 120 cree leds, cool whites and royal blues. The color is great and the growth is phenomenal. I have had t5 and halides but, LEDS are by far my best addition to my tank.

[bige]

Ive had leds since 2008. No complaints at all. Run cool, coral love them.

[Fishinbob]

Hey everyone, Here to agree Love my DiY LEDS!!!! I have 84 Cree LEDS over my 90 split on 2 heatsinks.
32 rb, 6 blue, 32 cw, 4 nw, 2 reds, 2 green, 4 uv... I plan on moving the blues onto the white stings and adding 4 cyan and replacing the blues with 6 more 420uv. I love the colors but I think I can tweak it a bit more and get a "wider spectrum" or color atleast! Have only used LEDs and have seen some awesome mh/t5 tanks but gotta say I prefer LEDS!!