LED Q&A (You ask, I'll answer)

[Reef Breeders]

A person in my area is selling a custom LED setup. Here is his for sale post.

Broke down and sold my tank only have the light left.
Asking $200.00 FIRM.
Custom built dimmable 48x18" led light. Contains all CREE LED's, XML whites, XPE blue and royal blue, green and turquoise leds. Split into three channels and can easilly support a 75, 90 or even 120 gallon tank.
Cooled by 3x 80mm fans run on a single power supply.
LEDS powered by Meanwell drivers.

Dimming is done by hand, but can easilly be hooked up to a reefkeeper setup to automatically dim and such.

Fixture is plug and play, ready to go. I have a frame of a canopy built for a 48x18" tank that i can include for free with the light, just throw a couple pieces of wood paneling on the front and sides and you have a beautiful canopy. Otherwise, the light can easily be suspended over a tank or propped up with blocks on each end.


pictures available upon request but here are a few i have now.

I'm interested in this for my 90 gal reef which is mostly SPS down to about midway. And the future for this tank is full SPS. What more do I need to know about this before I commit to buy? Any special questions to ask? Thanks in advance.
John

How many of each led?

 

[jgraz]

How many of each led?

Haha obvious question. I just asked, ill let you know what I can find out.

 

[jgraz]

Ok. He is currently in class. But will get back to me later today. In the meantime he directed me to his build thread. Here
http://www.njreefers.org/showthread.php?75661-DIY-LEDS-save-me

I saw on page three there is a breakdown of LEDs.

 

[reefwatcher]

Cheap but good led lighting for a reef tank.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I'm going to be ordering both an IT2080 and an IT2040 from Evergrow in China.
The IT2080 is 240w, 99 Bridgelux leds, 2.42w/led, 90 degree lenses.
The IT2040 is 120w, 55 Bridgelux leds, 2.18w/led, 90 degree lenses.
My question is about what color in terms of color temp (i.e. 10K, 14K, 20K or something inbetween) will I get with these layouts?
I'll be getting some extra leds as back up in case the color isn't what I want. And I've read that UV and violet leds tend to get 'burnt' looking after a couple of months, so I may end up having to replace them downstream with 460nm or 440nm blue leds.
Does anybody see any other concerns or issues I should think about?

 

[planereefer]

Sorry if this has been answered before, but I notice there are different degrees of optics available (ie. 60, 90 and 120). What is the difference between the 3?

 

[Exterminatank]

Ok. So here is my question. I'm looking to do a cheap 3 single led fixture for growing chaeto in my 20 long fuge. I am thinking like 2 white leds and 1 blue. Small, simple. I can't find anything about building anything that small. I need info like driver to use, watts (3 or 10 watt leds) and i keep hearing people say i would have to tune the driver top a different mah or something but i have no idea what this needs or entails. Could you put together a list of things i would need to build something like this, our how to build something like this? I know heatsink (4" squared?), 3 leds, glue, but after that i have no idea. Please help... Thank you in advance.




Mike

Anyone?


Mike

 

[Reef Breeders]

I'm going to be ordering both an IT2080 and an IT2040 from Evergrow in China.
The IT2080 is 240w, 99 Bridgelux leds, 2.42w/led, 90 degree lenses.
The IT2040 is 120w, 55 Bridgelux leds, 2.18w/led, 90 degree lenses.
My question is about what color in terms of color temp (i.e. 10K, 14K, 20K or something inbetween) will I get with these layouts?
I'll be getting some extra leds as back up in case the color isn't what I want. And I've read that UV and violet leds tend to get 'burnt' looking after a couple of months, so I may end up having to replace them downstream with 460nm or 440nm blue leds.
Does anybody see any other concerns or issues I should think about?

looks good, but I would swap ALL of the royal blues for 450s, 440s and 460s do much less as far as photosynthesis goes.

Sorry if this has been answered before, but I notice there are different degrees of optics available (ie. 60, 90 and 120). What is the difference between the 3?

60s have a lot of penetrations, but very little spread. 90 have some penetration, and some spread. 120s have a lot of spread, but do not penetrate enough for sps beyond about 24".

Anyone?


Mike

I have been really busy, sorry for taking so long . You want at least 6 diodes, 5 660nm reds, and 1 450nm blue. as for drivers, you would be good with an ELN30-48 D, I might add an extra red for a 6:1 ratio to meet the forward voltage minimum of 12v with the 2-2.8v bridgelux diodes. I would set it at 650ma max, and use a 3.5" x 3" heatsink from heatsinks usa, attach the stars with thermal paste. You can get the diodes from LEDgroup buy, or aquastyle.com

 

[planereefer]

60s have a lot of penetrations, but very little spread. 90 have some penetration, and some spread. 120s have a lot of spread, but do not penetrate enough for sps beyond about 24".

Thanks for answering me.

I'm looking at either the 60 or 93 gallon cube from Marineland, both of them at 24" tall, I think either 90s or 120s will be the way for me to go. I'd like to have a little bit of everything eventually in the tank once I build the experience up.

 

[BamBam88]

Hey Reff Breeder I have a couple questions. I noticed on the ebay website that I got to via link on reefbreeder webpage that there was an option for expidited shipping for $15. I was wondering what source to order from since I really want to get it before Christmas. Do you think this is possible for the 120w 16" Controllable fixture for $320 plus $15 for expidited shipping?

 

[Reef Breeders]

Hey Reff Breeder I have a couple questions. I noticed on the ebay website that I got to via link on reefbreeder webpage that there was an option for expidited shipping for $15. I was wondering what source to order from since I really want to get it before Christmas. Do you think this is possible for the 120w 16" Controllable fixture for $320 plus $15 for expidited shipping?

Yes, they will ship in time for christmas.

 

[BamBam88]

Awesome thanks for the fast response. One small problem. I just orderd the light off your ebay page but in all the excitement:bigsmile: I dont recall being asked what optic I wanted. Didnt know if you did the ebay sales personally or not so figured I would ask you here first for fast response on getting right optic with unit. regardless of how I have to get order modified would like to know since my tank is 24"longX12.5"wideX14"tall (from sand to water level) I plan on keeping the light a good 8" above the water should I get the 90 or 120 degree optic?

 

[dsagriff]

I just ordered Cree 3w LEDs 39 Xpe royal blue and 20 Xpg cool white. With 2 Meanwell LPF-90D-48 as drivers. This is going over a 75 gal tank on 2 16" heat sinks. Was told I had to wire 3 strings of 13 blue in parallel and 2 strings of 10 whites in parallel. Is this correct? Do I need to tune the drivers? Ho do I connect each string to the drivers if they are not all going to be in parallel to each other? And the best way of protection for these and where do I put the protection?

 

[Siebo]

What is your take on the IT2080 that you sell over a 65gal 36x18x24. Mostly sps. I want to be able to put clams in the sand bed

 

[Ron Reefman]

What is your take on the IT2080 that you sell over a 65gal 36x18x24. Mostly sps. I want to be able to put clams in the sand bed

I just ordered 2 of them from EverGrow in China, along with 3 other guys who ordered 5 more). I have a 6' long 180g and 2 of the other tanks are 220g and 240g. We all think that will be enough. But the guys with the deep tanks are getting some 60 degree lenses just in case the PAR at the bottom isn't enough with the 90 degree lenses. I think the IT2080 will be great for your 65g.

 

[Beach Bum]

how do you know when it is time to switch out your Leds? is it the same as it was with my t5?
i ask because i am having a green hair break out water test are all fine....had light about 2 1/2 years
but everything in my tank is growing great.Could it be the lights? I have 2- 100 watt evloutions.
love them they are great...
thanks
JAson

 

[EpicWin]

Both maxspect and aquaillumination say that it does not shorten the life of the LEDs in their units to run them at 100%. Do u have any thoughts on that statement? Also I've noticed my heat synchs get quite warm ( almost hot) to the touch. What is the temp when u start to worry?
Thanks,
Great thread

 

[mfinn]

how do you know when it is time to switch out your Leds? is it the same as it was with my t5?
i ask because i am having a green hair break out water test are all fine....had light about 2 1/2 years
but everything in my tank is growing great.Could it be the lights? I have 2- 100 watt evloutions.
love them they are great...
thanks
JAson

I thought that leds were suppose to last 10 years?
I remember that seemed to be one of the major arguements for going with expensive leds, was that you didn't have to change bulbs.

 

[EpicWin]

I thought that leds were suppose to last 10 years?
I remember that seemed to be one of the major arguements for going with expensive leds, was that you didn't have to change bulbs.

Also i dont believe LEDs really shift spectrum, they just dim over time.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Also i dont believe LEDs really shift spectrum, they just dim over time.

You may believe that they don't, but that doesn't really mean much to people with older led fixtures. Lets see some science here. If this idea came up on RC there would be all kinds of people quoting all kinds of experts. Can anybody show me an led manufacturer or a scientist who will say leds don't shift color over time. And just what percentage do they dim over 5 years or 10 years? We need science, not "I don't believe..."

And to mfinn, the previous poster didn't say his leds burned out, only that he has some concern that they may have color shifted. t5 bulbs still work after 12, 18, 24 even 36 months, but would you use them over an sps tank? Not likely. If you were trying to be satirical or even funny, you failed. And as somebody who has been in the hobby as long as you, you know better. A disappointing post.