LED experience

[engineeronh2o]

Well this is my experince with a LED diy build on a 54 corner tank.

I had a 250 Watt HQI sunpod with a T5 supplement along the front of tank. The T5 were 2x24 watt 24" fixture. The fixture was a bit bulky so I replaced it with a LED diy build.

The LED build:
8 (3 watt) Crees (4 Blue and 4 White) and I have them set up so I can turn on just blue or just white or both. The just blue is great to get the actinic look, but that is it. The 8 leds do nothing for my tank and have next to nothing for PAR value. The cost of equipment, leds, heatsinks and shipping run me $175+. Plus I got wires and other equipment everywhere and it gets extremely bulky to store it somewhere. The LED is about a 1/4 of the lighting compared to the T5 and double the price. There is still enough heat that a fan is needed. My T5 did not need a fan and had little to no heat.

LED also cause really unnatural shadows and lighting around the shadows. There are places in my tank on the sand that is blue, because no white light reaches that spot, and visa versa. I also have the ability to adjust the lights brightness, but see little difference between all the way down to all the way up.

I was told by many people that 8 LED 3 watt crees would produce so much light that I would have to cut them down, and I am convinced that I need at least 16 LED to compete with the T5 fixture.

So if you are considering a LED build. Just remember, T5 fixtures need just one plug. LED need many (at least 3-4). T5 fixtures are clean and a actual fixture (all in 1, and no wires), and a diy LED is everywhere and wires going every direction. The LED fixtures that are available and affordable are only 1 watts lights and if 3 watt lights do nothing, I hate to see what 1 watts do. Just because it can make your coral pop, doesn't mean it is helping them grow.

My light is less than 4" from the surface of the water.

 

[Troylee]

makes sense..... you need alot more led's for a 54 gallon tank... a34 gal solana or rsm requires 18 to 24 leds to light it properly....i think your biggest problem is to much space between led's... the recommended spacing is 2" centers when building a fixture.....btw. the biggest factor is power consumtion your lighting tank right now at 20watts or so depending how hard your driving the led's... **thats nothing** how many watts of t5s did you have? on top of a 250watt mh....

 

[engineeronh2o]

I have them at 2" spacing along the front. They cover the middle 20" of the front of the tank. There is a 3" gap on each end where there is no lighting, but I have no coral in the corner.

The 250 watt is directly in the middle of the tank and the 8 led are in front of it providing light to the bow area, about 4 inch from the front glass.

The T5 was 48 watts, and they were in the same exact spot as my led are now. Remember I removed the T5 fixture which was a 2x24 watt and 24" fixture and replaced in with 8 LED lights.

What I am saying is the T5 fixture cost me $100 and provided good lighting and has one power cord. The LED cost me $175+ wires everywhere, less lighting and now I need to spend another $175 to get back what I had for $100. Positives of LED, being able to turn the lights to just blue and alot smaller and less weight. The housing of the T5 was too big to safely fit in my canopy, but the LEDs do fit right now. If I double the amount, they would not fit.

 

[persim]

Not sure who told you that you could get away with 8 total leds for a 54g tank but they are way off. I have more leds on my DIY for a JBJ pictope. I have built 2 fixtures over the past year and could be happier with them.

My 20g long build has 26 leds lighting it and I easily could have added another row of 13 but decided the way my rocks were setup I only needed the front part of the tank heavily lighted.

The upfront cost is a little much, $150 for my picotope and $350 for my 20g but in another year I'll pretty much break even with bulb replacement costs. Both builds were done with cree 3w leds.

Not sure what your DIY skills are but its quite easy to make everything look clean and use single plugs.

 

[jtl2]

Curious...what current are you driving the LEDs? and which CREEs (xr-e, xp-g or other)?

 

[wld1783]

Thought this might help. Here are the numbers with our 48 Cree XR-E fixture. Your are right 8 3 watt LEDs will do nothing other than act as a moonlight. The readings below include all 48 LEDs driven by 1-4 drivers. Each driver is one plug unless you wire them together.

PAR LUX and Watt Readings

Here is some hard info on LED output.

Our test fixture is 24" with 48 XR-E LEDs 1 Royal Blue for every 1 Cool White with 80 degree optics. PAR was measured with an Apogee Quantum Flux Meter at 24" in air. We chose not to measure under water due to the variations of shimmer and water clarity.

The results are as follows.

4 LPC 35-700
296 PAR
142 LUX
122 Watts

2 LPC 35-700
157 PAR
76 LUX
61 Watts

2 ELN 60-1050
210 PAR
101 LUX
94 Watts

1 PLN 100-48
215 PAR
115 LUX
84 Watts

1 CLG 150-48A
323 PAR
153 LUX
146 Watts​

This is our test fixture we use at frag swaps to sell our Chalices. The cost of this fixture is around $550 all said and done and compared to a 400watt MH will pay for itself in 3-5 years.



Bill








​

 

[waxy]

I'm definitely leaning towards the LED mainstream, but I still have some doubts about it.

1. LED's being ahead of it's time for aquarium usage
2. Price of the equipment
3. Maintainence of the equipment and bulbs

I guess there's a few pro's and cons in each.

I'll consider picking one up at a good price though!

 

[Dasani]

I am going to be building basically the same fixture that wld posted. I am using their guide to build it. Gonna use 4 LPC 35-700W like they used. Gonna use the same LED's (24 Cree XR-E q5 cool whites and 24 XR-E royal blues). Sept I am using a 30"x8.5" insteand of the 24" in that pic. Gonna go over my 40B.

 

[kungfujoe]

here is my experience with the leds.. im using the 120 watt illuminarium with 50/50 white and blues.. my tank is a 90 gallon 30 inch tall... i can actually grown monties all the way down to the sand bed about 27 inches... thats my in put..

 

[customcolor]

you need more leds!!!!

i did a 24 led set up for my frag swap tank and i also use it for a frag tank down stairs. this thing is being driven at 700ma and only takes 74watts of juice to run.

here is a few pics of a 24 led set up i did...

testing power in my display against a 250w radium

Radium is on the right...led is on the left

 

[engineeronh2o]

Well the LED build was removed today. The SPS (where the SPS cant get cause of the shadows) are beginning to brown and the T5 fixture is back to the rescue (Remember this is for supplemental lighting). I am not a fan of believing that the cost of LED and MH will balance out in 3-5 years. In 3-5 years there will be a new fad out and the LED will be old news. I am sure that I could clean up the fixture but that is just more and more costs. Why spend $500+ for LED when I can get a 250 or 400 watt MH fixture and ballast for half the cost.

This is for SUPPLEMENTAL LIGHTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quit telling me there is not enough. I bought the LED to replace a little Hagen GLO T5 2x24 watt. The Hagen GLO is $75 and the LED are $200. The T5 is twice as bright!

 

[TopNotchCorals]

I would look into reef brite LED strips,word on the streets is that they put out more par then a ATI Blue+

 

[customcolor]

The Hagen GLO is $75 and the LED are $200. The T5 is twice as bright!

you payed way to much for just 8 leds if you payed $200 for them here is a link for a 12 led diy kit for just $110! 12 Ultra Premium LED Do-It-Yourself Retrofit Kit

and thats with the NEW CREE XP-G R5 Cool White LEDs which put out even more light for less energy

 

[engineeronh2o]

Well there is no heatsink, plus shipping, plus I had 2 drivers so I had the ability to run just blues for a actinic look. Add that all up plus my time and it is pretty close to $200.

 

[customcolor]

heat sink from the same place http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-72/5.9"-x-9"-Aluminum/Detail

but i can see adding the other driver but those are only $16 a piece now at the same site i listed...may be the same price all and all but you would have had 4 more leds to play with for the same amount of cash.

i understand what you where trying to do and im just trying to give you a glimmer of hope yet for leds.

 

[customcolor]

did you ever take a pic of what you had for leds?? it may have explained why they where not so bright.

did you know how many Ma the driver was putting to the leds? 300? 700? 1000?

 

[engineeronh2o]

I bought 8 led (4 RB and 4 whites XR-E), 2 meanwell drivers, wire, two heatsinks 4 LED on each (beside each other but because of the bow front), potentiometer (spelling????) to adjust the wattage of the led, etc. That $110 package doesn't come with everything I need. I had a very small area in my canopy, along the front bow area that I need extra lighting. I built a LED build, I did not cut any corners, went all out, and for the space I had and the T5 is better. I got a 3" x 24" space that needs light at 24" depth and I have SPS coral 4"-6" from the surface and 8 led Crees XR-E could not keep it colored. The T5 is a little more bulky but half the price and alot more easy (1 Plug). I had 3 plugs to run 1 Light.

I HAD 3 PLUGS TO RUN 8 LEDS...........!:squigglemouth:

 

[engineeronh2o]

Meanwell ELN 30-27D Class 2 Power Supply for 4 LED each

 

[TopNotchCorals]

I bought 8 led (4 RB and 4 whites XR-E), 2 meanwell drivers, wire, two heatsinks 4 LED on each (beside each other but because of the bow front), potentiometer (spelling????) to adjust the wattage of the led, etc. That $110 package doesn't come with everything I need. I had a very small area in my canopy, along the front bow area that I need extra lighting. I built a LED build, I did not cut any corners, went all out, and for the space I had and the T5 is better. I got a 3" x 24" space that needs light at 24" depth and I have SPS coral 4"-6" from the surface and 8 led Crees XR-E could not keep it colored. The T5 is a little more bulky but half the price and alot more easy (1 Plug). I had 3 plugs to run 1 Light.

I HAD 3 PLUGS TO RUN 8 LEDS...........!:squigglemouth:

3 cords for 8 LED bulbs???I have one of Luke's LED fixtures that has 119 diodide's and it only has 2 cords.I really think a reef brite LED strip would work great for you with the space you have.

 

[engineeronh2o]

Is your setup dimmable? Can you just turn on the Royal Blues?

How many watts per LED is the reef brite setup and how many lights? Can I adjust the watts and can I just turn on the blues for a actinic look?