Cant decide what LEDs to use with my halides.

[Enderg60]

So I just did a bunch of reading and watching of BRS and kessil videos. I love that the A160 has 0-10v control but I dont think 8 of them would cover the tank evenly with enough power.

The A360x though would have the punch and spread (to my surprise). They also have nice color tuning options and can be controlled by the apex using the wifi adapter. Plus they will fit the gap between reflectors perfectly. On paper these are looking like the perfect choice.

 

[A. grandis]

Im going a bit nuts here with this.

My available clear space above the tank to put lights is only 20"x74". This is due to piping, canopy bits and other stuff above the tank. Since Im planning a light lift mechanism it all has to clear.

My current reflectors are 20" wide octagonal. So I was planning to run 4 strips under the halide reflectors. But that eats up 4"-6" on each side and basically cuts the reflectors useful area in half.

I then looked at just ditching these reflectors for the reefbrite halides, so I could fit the LED bars. But those reflectors are simple batwing style and have crap spread. And if I were to use those halides Id end up getting LED's that are not bars.

So I have rounded back to keeping my current reflectors and doing the array of radion xr15's or the Blaze x mini's or something similar that can kind of fit in the open "corner" space between the reflectors. Here is what I have mocked up. The small squares are 7"x7" (the size of the XR15, the Blaze x mini is smaller)

This layout only has a small corner of the LED's blocking the reflectors. I can mount the LED's on Loc line so I can aim them a little.

I was looking at a AI Prime 16, but I dont think it has enough power. I also checked out the kessil's which would fit the best, but I dont think they have enough spread since they are more cannon like. The kessils are also on par with the radions in cost.

So close yet so far.....

You can use those reflectors and put one 48" and one 24" ATI Blue Plus on each side (front and back) and call it a day. Don't spend money on LEDs cause you actually don't need them for the application and you will damage those LEDs if you put them under the halides! Keep it simple and focus on your corals! Grow some Acros for me, would you?

 

[A. grandis]

So I just did a bunch of reading and watching of BRS and kessil videos. I love that the A160 has 0-10v control but I dont think 8 of them would cover the tank evenly with enough power.

The A360x though would have the punch and spread (to my surprise). They also have nice color tuning options and can be controlled by the apex using the wifi adapter. Plus they will fit the gap between reflectors perfectly. On paper these are looking like the perfect choice.

On paper only. I hope you can see that the money you want to invest on those LEDs are unnecessary for your project. I would get some T5s to fill up those gaps and give you some diffused supplementation.

 

[rtparty]

Couple things to point out and clear up:

The ReefBrite halide reflectors cover 32x24 without issue. I run 3 of them over my 6x3 peninsula. Tank is found in my build thread.

Heat is an absolute killer of LEDs. If you are that tight on space, any LEDs you add in there are toast in a very short time. Either skip the LEDs or change reflectors to clear up some space for the LEDs.

 

[Enderg60]

I said before I'm not a fan of t5s. When it comes to actinic supplements nothing beats leds.

As for the heat, the canopy will be actively ventilated so Im not really worried about that.

https://reefbreeders.com/shop/lumenbar-v2-48/

Full control comes with them..

Putting bars under the reflectors may be an issue.
You may want to consider short bars between the reflectors.
Bunches of 24" "sideways" bars.

Oops you said you only have 20" front/back.
Sort of gets you back to the reefbrites or these.
https://21ledusa.com/products/20-ultra-actinic-reefbar-pro-3w-bridgelux-leds ..

You should consider diy to meet your criteria though.
Even quality LEDs are cheaper than waaaay back then.


Sooo you really only have 76-60 x 20" "free space" not occupied by the reflectors?
So 4"x20" spaces?
4 3.5x 18" heat sinks costs $122

3.500" Wide Extruded Aluminum Heatsink

We provide businesses and individuals with high-quality aluminum heatsinks extruded and shipped in the USA. Visit HeatsinkUSA and shop our heatsinks today.

www.heatsinkusa.com

Throwing together 160 real watts of asst blues from Steve's $197

Seoul Z5 Royal Blue 3W-8794102500

www.stevesleds.com

Seoul semi rb, luxeon blue, viosys hyper violets.

Add a bunch of meanwell ldd's @$7
each (. 12-15 diodes per ldd @ 48v) and a bluefish mini @ $100...
Hurricane or storm ect
Can
even get some boards at like $10 each to interface w Apex and the ldd's
10v analog to 5v pwm converters
Or the big ac/dc meanwell drivers
Costs between ac/dc drivers or switching power supply and meanwell ldd's is pretty equal.
Deciding factor is sort of if you have an apex.

$50 power supply if ldd's used

Pretty much done.
Really rough estimate.
50w each on those heatsinks may be a limit. Could add small computer fan to each for about$10

You have been there done that.

My DIY setup was two 72"x4"x1" heat sinks with 3w Cree's. I had them directly under my DIY wide halide reflectors for about 5 years. I had no active cooling, ran them at about 50-70% and over about 6 years had about 20 leds go out and need replacing. Overall they were great. Im just done with the DIY stuff, I want warranties! Here is my old 300g lighting.

The kessils also fit between the halide reflectors so they would not be under them but beside them. With the exhaust fan they shouldnt overheat at all. My only real concern with going with the kessils is the shimmer. I love the halides for the shimmer, but im wondering if 3 halides and 8 kessils would increase the shimmer effect too much.

 

[Enderg60]

Couple things to point out and clear up:

The ReefBrite halide reflectors cover 32x24 without issue. I run 3 of them over my 6x3 peninsula. Tank is found in my build thread.

Heat is an absolute killer of LEDs. If you are that tight on space, any LEDs you add in there are toast in a very short time. Either skip the LEDs or change reflectors to clear up some space for the LEDs.

The only reason I decided against those pendents was I dont like the spread of that type of reflector. They are more of a street light type focused beam. The Lumen Bright reflectors spread the light out more and bounce it in a lot more directions for an overall softer light with less shading. These things were the cream of the crop back in the day lol.

The canopy is not actually cramped, its huge actually. If the light rack didnt move I would have more options. But it will move and there are just pipes here and door hinges there, so the clear space to go up and down is the limiting factor.

Im not buying anything until the holiday sales start anyway so I have time to evaluate options.

 

[oreo54]

Longest warranty is like 3 years.
Self warranty is lifetime... ,

Kessil Warranty and Return Material Authorization (RMA) Terms
Kessil Lighting (“Kessil”) warrants its Kessil Lighting Products to the original purchaser (“Buyer”) only, to be free from defects in both material and workmanship for one (1) year from the date of purchase, with official receipt from an authorized local distributor or local reseller.

 

[Enderg60]

Longest warranty is like 3 years.
Self warranty is lifetime... ,

I have kids now, not doing it myself is much more worth it to me. PLUS its already been engineered and gone through 10+ years of real world testing.

My solder joints and thermal epoxy skills and "guess that will work" sizing of heat sinks can work just fine as my last tank proved. But I dont want to have half a light out because it took me 3 months to get around to swapping a blown LED.

And it looks like kessils and radions just went on sale at BRS so maybe I will be buying soon.

 

[MartinM]

I think the spread would be no problem but I don’t know how much PAR they’d push to the bottom, I’m guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of ~75 (+/- 25%) so I’m thinking they’ll do what you want. I completely forgot, but I actually think Red Sea’s ReefLED light, which is (very) blue, controllable, and comes in multiple sizes could work better. I think 4x or 5x 160w ReefLED’s would do the job better than 8 Kessils (don’t be fooled that they have white, they’re pretty much pure blue). They should push ~150ish PAR to the sand bed and they also spread very well. IMO you should grab/borrow one of each to play around with and see what you think.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

i bought some of those 470 nm bars and am liking what they add to the radion xr30s i have now on a shallow tank 14 inches.


i just got 4 more to try on a 30 inch tall this weekend will see what kind of par they can do at that depth.