How many LED's will I need!

[revhtree]

How many LED's and at what watts will I need to light my 250g??

I have decided to make the switch this time. I want to keep mostly lps with sps at the top. Tank is 34" wide x 24" tall x 72" long.

I have around 13" from the water to the top of the canopy.

I want to be able to dim it from more white, to more blue. Would also like to be able to dim the front rows that would cover the sand area separate from the rows near the back that would cover the sps mostly.

So help me! :)

 

[Troylee]

a whole bunch lol!!!!!
i would recommend some t5 supplementation in there to get the correct spectrum as most all led users are finding out..... figure out what and how many t5s you wanna run then figure your led's.... led's should be ran at 2" centers......

 

[Speg]

I think it'll depend on how cheap you want to go too...

I was thinking of lighting my 150 with reefkoi's lights. I figured that I would need 4 of his setups....now your tank is a little taller and maybe wider than the one I have..but it's the same length.

I would agree with the supplimental lighting...I haven't seen a lot of successful LED-only tanks since they all have another type of lighting with them (halide, T-5, etc)

 

[revhtree]

Well I was pondering going T-5 and I do have an icecap 660 ballast I can use. What would you suggest?

I am totally stupid when it comes to T-5 and LED. Basically can someone hold my hand and make my tank look like SunnyX's tank? LOL!

 

[clowns101]

I like these:

IceCap Reef Illuminations T5/LED fixture - English

 

[uchin]

led and t5

I'd do 120 leds mainly blue on dimmable ballast and run three to four t5s. Do you have a controller like a apex?

 

[Murfman]

Rev, I have 3 of the Reefkoi Evolution units over my 8' x 24" wide x 30" deep tank. I think you could get away with 3 of those units. I have a mixed reef and my SPS up high. I have par readings;

left side 9" off water; center 9" off water; righ side 5 1/2" off water

 

[Tajjo]

What's the desired reading for lps on sandbed?

 

[Troylee]

It's gonna take more than lights to get a sonny x tank.... Look into ulns. And leave your lighting alone...;)
Radiums are amongst the best... Look at polettis tank... Btw sonny runs all t5s...

 

[butts182]

Remember not all LEDs are equal too.

 

[swannyson7]

I'm running 3 of Luke's fixtures on my 180 and you'd probably need the same on your tank. Lukes fixtures are brighter than reefkois, but they're also a little bit pricier. They're definitely bright enough to support SPS on the sandbed with a 24" deep tank. He has par numbers in the "LED preorder" thread, but it's probably the best investment I've made for my tank in 10 years of reefing. I have them running along with 468w of T5 which is definitely overkill, but it let me adjust the color a bit. Luke's fixtures look like a 16-18k look, but I wanted a bit more blue so I added some fiji purples and blue+ bulbs in my T5.

 

[kevinpratt823]

I'm in the same boat, Rev. Just getting my feet wet with LED's. I have a couple threads out there looking for input also. I think I am buying a couple of Lukes lights for my 72 bow(mainly LPS), and keeping at least one T5 with them. I think they will be overkill for that tank, so after some experimenting, I may go DIY with a setup from Reef LED Lights, prob a total of (72) 3 watt LED's, then I'll start trying Luke's fixtures on some of my SPS tanks.
Somebody did bring up a good point about a lack of warranty with DIY. Luke's have a 3 yr warranty, and it goes directly through him. The main difference is that the Reef LED Light DIY kit would be dimmable, therefore easy to control the spectrum, and they also use Cree LED's, which sound like they are (supposedly) a better product(also more expensive). Luke's use Bridgelux LED's, but I'm sure they are still good quality. Also, with the DIY kit, you can choose which optics, which cahange the spread of the light, for different hieghts off the water, you can also customize the ratio of blues to whites.

 

[gar732]

I've seen swannyson's tank and it looks awesome, the colors really come out in everything. After seeing it I want to go led. You could maybe do 3 of luke's fixtures across the back and do a diy setup across the front so that you can dim it. The only bad thing about luke's fixtures is that you cant dim them. If you go with a higher end fixture like the aquaillumination fixtures I believe you'd have a lot more control but its also a lot more money. Good luck!

 

[Troylee]

I'm in the same boat, Rev. Just getting my feet wet with LED's. I have a couple threads out there looking for input also. I think I am buying a couple of Lukes lights for my 72 bow(mainly LPS), and keeping at least one T5 with them. I think they will be overkill for that tank, so after some experimenting, I may go DIY with a setup from Reef LED Lights, prob a total of (72) 3 watt LED's, then I'll start trying Luke's fixtures on some of my SPS tanks.
Somebody did bring up a good point about a lack of warranty with DIY. Luke's have a 3 yr warranty, and it goes directly through him. The main difference is that the Reef LED Light DIY kit would be dimmable, therefore easy to control the spectrum, and they also use Cree LED's, which sound like they are (supposedly) a better product(also more expensive). Luke's use Bridgelux LED's, but I'm sure they are still good quality. Also, with the DIY kit, you can choose which optics, which cahange the spread of the light, for different hieghts off the water, you can also customize the ratio of blues to whites.

there is a huge difference in bills "cree led's vs. any others" look at the lumen output!!!!! cree is the most efficiant and best led's on the market....cree's put out way more light and save alot of electricity per lumen..... and not all cree's are the same different prices for different bin numbers.... you get what you pay for.....;)

 

[Mr E Wrasse]

i'm with Murfman on using Reefkoi's LED units.... I've had one for a few weeks and absolutely love it, ordered another that should be here soon. It has a beautiful 20-22k color with all lights on and with just the blues on it's like turning a black light on over a velvet poster... colors really pop! 3 units for $900 (or less with you being the godfather and all). and you would not need any T5's with these units. just my 2 cents

 

[luke33]

Rev, the main thing for your tank imo is to go with a 3w led for penetration. Bill's retro's or mine would work great for you, i'm sure you'd be happy either way. I would also suggest 60-70 degree optics as well. The AI and maxspects would work as well.

Troy, your right with the 3w cree vs a 3w bridgelux as the bridgelux doesn't have the same lux, but when you are comparing a 24 led cree system vs a 119 3w bridgelux fixture that doesnt apply. If you had 119 cree's in that small of an area it would be crazy! But i don't think thats even possible. There is a big diff between the bridgelux, phillips and cree's, they are completely diff animals. But all work well set up correctly.

 

[revhtree]

Hmm still debating on my to do... :(

 

[wld1783]

How many LED's and at what watts will I need to light my 250g??

I have decided to make the switch this time. I want to keep mostly lps with sps at the top. Tank is 34" wide x 24" tall x 72" long.

I have around 13" from the water to the top of the canopy.

I want to be able to dim it from more white, to more blue. Would also like to be able to dim the front rows that would cover the sand area separate from the rows near the back that would cover the sps mostly.

So help me! :)

If you want two 400 watt MH or three 250 watt MH then 120 3 watt Cree XR-E LEDs driven at 700mA using 80 degree optics will work....Maybe 2 Royal Blue for every one Q5 Cool White...Lots of options and lots of one watt Chinese lights...Some are good and will grow coral...Most will not. Luke33 has a good light.

The Mean Well ELN 60-48D driver allows for a controller to simulate sunrise and sunset along with storms and clouds.

Bill

 

[TANKSALOT]

Hi Rev,

I am also very interested in going LED on my 180 build.
That was one of the things that I spent the most time on at MACNA.

But honestly, I left there even more confused with what I was told at each of the different LED vendors that were there.

That being said, I also believe that Luke33 has a very quality product with the feed back that I have seen from members that have gotten that fixture.
Reef LED Lights would be a DIY. That is what I enjoy the most about this hobby and will more than likely go that route just for the adventure of building my own :)

I am also considering a motorized light bar to reduce the number of LEDs that I will need.

As far as controlling the front to back areas...... well that has DIY written all over it :)

Steve

 

[marinelife]

I run only 96 3watt Cree LEDs over my 375 Gallon. I have no other lights over the tank. I have great growth and color.
The only change I plan to make is to add some red LEDs and possible another color.

I am running a 50/50 mix of Blues and whites!