e.Shine 4G LED's worth keeping?

[Sarcazian]

So, back in 2012 before H. Sandy wiped out my tanks (and a lot of my house) I had purchased two e.Shine 4G LED fixtures.

Before making the jump back in, I got pulled into watching a lot of BRS videos and some of those were around lighting and the progression of the LED technology. Some were specifically on how bad the early LED lights were for the health of the corals and how newer fixtures have evolved and the health of our corals is nearing that of what we saw in T5 and Halides.

My question is, should I consider using these e.Shine 4G lights or should I just jump into a new AI Prime 16 HD or a use XR15? Obviously, I do not want to waste money, but I also don't want to deal with algae / coral issues if the configuration I chose was wrong.

So, to the custom lights that I purchased. These are pretty much identical except for the LED configuration.

First e.Shine 4G Bar with 24x3w with two dimmers:

16 blue
3 x Violet (400nm~420nm)
9 x RB (455nm)
4 X B (470nm)

8 whites:
4 x cool white (10000K)
2 x neutral white (4500k)
2 x cool white (6500K)


Second e.Shine 4G Bar with 24x3w dimmable Bridge with:
>>>>
13 blue
2 x Violet (400nm~420nm)
8 x RB (455nm)
3 x B (470nm)
11 whites:
5 x cool white (10000K)
3 x neutral white (4500k)
3 x cool white (6500K)

Both lights are Square array with 90 degree optics. I cannot remember if I went with Cree's or Bridgelux&Epistar LEDs.

Now, I ran through a few quick tests with a seneye placed at the bottom of a ~3/4 full 2010 era reef crystal bucket (5G) and the light placed on-top spanning the bucket. Some of the PAR values are attached for one of the lights - the one with more blues I believe.

Thank you for reading and I appreciate any guidance.

 

[Ron Reefman]

If you are getting PAR levels that are more than 100 to 150 at the bottom of your tank you should be OK.

And if you bought new, I wouldn't be buying AI Prime 16 HD or a use XR15 anyway.

Just how much control do you want in a light fixture? Obviously you want at least 2 channels and the ability to dim them separately. But do you want sunrise/sunset ability? BWT, your fish and corals could hardly care less about sunrise and sunset. Do you want control of each color of led in the fixture? It's a nice feature, especially if you are picky about the color in your tank.

 

[Sarcazian]

If you are getting PAR levels that are more than 100 to 150 at the bottom of your tank you should be OK.

And if you bought new, I wouldn't be buying AI Prime 16 HD or a use XR15 anyway.

Just how much control do you want in a light fixture? Obviously you want at least 2 channels and the ability to dim them separately. But do you want sunrise/sunset ability? BWT, your fish and corals could hardly care less about sunrise and sunset. Do you want control of each color of led in the fixture? It's a nice feature, especially if you are picky about the color in your tank.

Thank you for your response Ron.

I did buy them new and I should have mentioned that I only plan on using one of these for now since my current build is a small Evo 13.5. It seems like folks are having success with the AI and XR15 in this same tank.

That said, I am getting pretty good par with the default evo light and it only uses 6 watts vs (11 watts per channel or 71 watts combined (1/2 or full)). According to the same Seneye the readings are: Bottom 135 par, middle 195, top of rockwork 235 par.

Control wise, it only supports analog knob control of two channels (12 leds) and even that is pretty limited. I would estimated 50% on and then 10% increase after.

Sunrise/sunset and moonlight is not an issue for me, but control is interesting only if the spectrum the light is putting out is too intense for the corals. I started the hobby with T5's with ATI blue+ and 10K bulbs, so it is definitely less blue than I was used to, but my current lighting is 14K and I am finding way less algae growth.

Actually, the apparent lack of algae, either due to husbandry or lighting, is the biggest reason why I am questioning not using the fixture.