LED HELP Please

Neon Reef · Apr 7, 2011

Can't decide on what light fixture to go with. Am looking for the color and shimer of 20k radiums, the no heat and no fan sound of t5's and the growth of mh. What do you guys suggest?

FiReBReTHa · Apr 7, 2011

do you want a prebuilt one or one you build?

If you make it yourself you get more bang for your buck and save a good chunk. check out my 29g build :) trying finding one that quality premade.

Neon Reef · Apr 7, 2011

not good with diy so was looking to buy a premade one that offers all of the qualities that i'm looking for..i would prefer all led but i found this fixture but there are no reviews on it.

Lumen Bright/T5/LED Aquarium Lighting Fixture | CoralVue

JackoChang · Apr 7, 2011

I agree that it is possible to DIY for cheaper than it is to buy, however, I took into account the prices dropping on LED's and the prebuilt units and my lack of knowledge on electrical know-how....I went with the Evo's. You can find cheap units on aliexpress though. If you want to DIY, this website would also be your best bet for cheap components. My .02

FiReBReTHa · Apr 7, 2011

Neon Reef said:
not good with diy so was looking to buy a premade one that offers all of the qualities that i'm looking for..i would prefer all led but i found this fixture but there are no reviews on it.

Lumen Bright/T5/LED Aquarium Lighting Fixture | CoralVue

one of the joys of LEDs is getting RID of metal halides.

If a teen can do it, you can do it!

[video=youtube;IOQBIlwBiic]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOQBIlwBiic[/video]

Electrobes · Apr 7, 2011

+1 on the Evos, or you could ask Luke about it at reeffiltration.com (he is a member and a sponsor here).

If you are considering diy talk to snoopie here at R2R or Troylee. Both are very helpful and just may convince you to go diy. ;)

Neon Reef · Apr 7, 2011

great info guys..thanks a lot..might go diy after all or just get one of those night luke fixtures.

Troylee · Apr 7, 2011

let me say this..... i just made the switch from metal halides to leds, all leds and a diy fixture to meet my needs..... the heat is still there" in the fixture it's self" and you still need fans they run hot really hot!!!!! don't be fooled by that.....

Troylee · Apr 7, 2011

also the shimmer is nothing like a radium and you won't get that with leds...:( a radium is one big light source that throws a awesome shimmer the leds give you millions of small ones it's a totally different look honestly.... i would try to find a lfs or local friend with led's to look at before making the switch...

FiReBReTHa · Apr 7, 2011

Troylee said:
let me say this..... i just made the switch from metal halides to leds, all leds and a diy fixture to meet my needs..... the heat is still there" in the fixture it's self" and you still need fans they run hot really hot!!!!! don't be fooled by that.....

troy are your fans pushing or pulling??
at full intensity on any of my fixtures when the fans are running my fingers will heat up the fixture before the LEDs themselves. I keep the big fixture around 82degrees

Neon Reef · Apr 7, 2011

That's the kind of info I was looking for...all the "unsaids" of leds..thanks Troylee and Firebretha.

Troylee · Apr 7, 2011

right now i have a fan blowing on them... i haven't even cranked it to full intensity yet... im running a 150 leds on a 10"x60" heat sink... the leds dont get to hot but the heat sink will burn ya if i dont have a fan on it....."not good" im at 75 percent intensity.....

FiReBReTHa said:
troy are your fans pushing or pulling??
at full intensity on any of my fixtures when the fans are running my fingers will heat up the fixture before the LEDs themselves. I keep the big fixture around 82degrees

aalvarado87 · Apr 7, 2011

Troylee said:
also the shimmer is nothing like a radium and you won't get that with leds...:( a radium is one big light source that throws a awesome shimmer the leds give you millions of small ones it's a totally different look honestly.... i would try to find a lfs or local friend with led's to look at before making the switch...

yeah my fans are pushing on the fixture and are cool as can be... the fixture is supposed to be cool enough to touch.

FiReBReTHa · Apr 7, 2011

Troylee said:
right now i have a fan blowing on them... i haven't even cranked it to full intensity yet... im running a 150 leds on a 10"x60" heat sink... the leds dont get to hot but the heat sink will burn ya if i dont have a fan on it....."not good" im at 75 percent intensity.....

Yea, thats strange, what fans do you have? wheres your thread so we can go chit chat in that one about it.

I like the shimmer from LEDs more! its crazy.

snoopie · Apr 7, 2011

Lee are you using fans on the fixture now? I know before you were not? Mine gets hot but I can still leave my fingers on it for long time.... So I guess I would say warm not hot.

Troylee · Apr 7, 2011

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/57235-troylees-eco-friendly-build.html

FiReBReTHa said:
Yea, thats strange, what fans do you have? wheres your thread so we can go chit chat in that one about it.

I like the shimmer from LEDs more! its crazy.

Troylee · Apr 7, 2011

ya i got a clip on fan for right now blowing across it and the ceiling fan when i think about it lol....

snoopie said:
Lee are you using fans on the fixture now? I know before you were not? Mine gets hot but I can still leave my fingers on it for long time.... So I guess I would say warm not hot.