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

[Reef Breeders]

Right now I am looking for some new "no-so-expensive" LED fixtures for both of my mixed SPS-SPS-Softies tanks: one 36g (31" long) and one 75g (48" long). You wrote about the bridgelux fixtures, I search the Internet and found them. Are they ok for the job?

Here are the specifications:

HY-A03-SD series intelligent LED aquarium light can be manually controlled by remote controller,and also automatically simulate the sunrise,sunset,lunar cycle in 28days.
1.Customers can be set up own User-defined Programming Function on Brightness/Time by SD-card "hy.txt" file.
2.Five Time Mode Inner Programming Choice as Factory Setting. On the build-in functional system in 5-MODE (Normal,Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter).
3.Without fans, no noisy. Passive cooling system
4.External Power Supply. Comply to UL,ROHS, CE, FCC certification
5 .Aluminum housing case with good heat sink

1 unit 24" HY-A03-24X3W for my 36gallon tank. Unit price is $205USD. available color ratio 4pcsx3w White 10000k
4pcsx3w White 14000k
4pcsx3w White 18000k
5pcsx3w blue 460nm
5pcsx3w moon bule 453nm
1pcsx3w purple 427nm
1pcsx3w green

1 unit 48" HY-A03-48X3W for my 75gallon tank. Unit price is $315USD. available color ratio
8pcsx3w White 10000k
8pcsx3w White 14000k
8pcsx3w White 18000k
12pcsx3w blue 460nm
8pcsx3w moon bule 453nm
2pcsx3w purple 427nm
2pcsx3w green

Both of those fixtures are about half of what you need. I would do a DIY cree fixture for both tanks.

 

[Reef Breeders]

What is the best retro fit LED hook-up for a 28g JBJ Nano cube? I'm not really looking to put in a bunch of time into a DIY but if a kit goes together easily then I may consider it. If possible, looking for a plug and play. Just doing this tank with mostly LPS. Thx.

I believe rapid LED has a retrofit kit.

 

[zemuss]

anemonekeeper,

what do you think about the 50 Cluster LED's that are sold on Ebay which have 25 CW 10k and 25 RB Leds?

Are they worth it?

I want to replace a 250 watt MH with LEDs.

If i need T5 to supplement let me know.

"Z"

 

[Young Frankenstein]

Do you have any clever ideas on how to build a protective circuit for parallel stings of LEDs? If one LED in a string goes down, extra current will flow through the other strings and can burn them out. Are fuses enough to protect each string?

I generally don't wire my LEDs in parallel, but I notice a lot of people do. Just wondering what safeguards could be used with this approach.

LED driving is controlled by voltage not current, anyway to fuse leds calculate maximu amperage ex .2+.2+.2+.2=.8 you need a 1A fuse.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

For a reef tank SPS could we get the percentage of color LED's recommended ex. 20% blue actinic 10% white 7.5k etc and the LED wattage required for SPS again (Best ultimate level) for a 10g, 20g and 75 g Thanks in advance, this is a great thread.

 

[zemuss]

I believe it is a RB 2:1 CW Ratio

 

[Reef Breeders]

LED driving is controlled by voltage not current, anyway to fuse leds calculate maximu amperage ex .2+.2+.2+.2=.8 you need a 1A fuse.

The drivers have a wide range, and automatically adjusts to the load at a certain amperage, since cree XT-Es are 1.5amps max, you will want a 1.2-1.5 amp fuse, depending on how high you drive them at max power.

 

[Reef Breeders]

For a reef tank SPS could we get the percentage of color LED's recommended ex. 20% blue actinic 10% white 7.5k etc and the LED wattage required for SPS again (Best ultimate level) for a 10g, 20g and 75 g Thanks in advance, this is a great thread.

Give me a specific tank to work out for you, it will take a lot of time to type that up, LOL. I usually start at 1:1 RB:CW, and add colors to make it 3:2 colors:CW

 

[Reef Breeders]

I believe it is a RB 2:1 CW Ratio

That is for more of a 20k look, and always fine tuned by the user.

 

[zemuss]

AnemoneKeeper can you answer my other question about the 50w clusters on Ebay?

 

[Reef Breeders]

anemonekeeper,

what do you think about the 50 Cluster LED's that are sold on Ebay which have 25 CW 10k and 25 RB Leds?

Are they worth it?

I want to replace a 250 watt MH with LEDs.

If i need T5 to supplement let me know.

"Z"

You will need about 100-150watts to replace your mh, I would do 150, and dim it. Then, you can add violet, royal blue, red, and green supplement.

 

[zemuss]

So the LED Clusters would work?

If I buy a 10k Cool white 50W cluster and another Royal Blue 50W cluster would that work until I build my new fixture?

 

[keokea]

I have 25 cool whites and 26 royal blues, CREE xp-g and xt-e running off of 4 meanwell eln-60-40d drivers tuned at 900mah controlled by my APEX. I would like to add 32 phillips luxeon es LEDs to the mix. I was looking at this driver MeanWell LPF-90D-48 to possibly run 2 parallel strings of 16 LEDs each. Could I run all 32 LEDs using this driver? Am I pushing it with two strings of 16 LEDs instead of 15?

Thank you so much in advance

 

[ReefLEDLights]

I have 25 cool whites and 26 royal blues, CREE xp-g and xt-e running off of 4 meanwell eln-60-40d drivers tuned at 900mah controlled by my APEX. I would like to add 32 phillips luxeon es LEDs to the mix. I was looking at this driver MeanWell LPF-90D-48 to possibly run 2 parallel strings of 16 LEDs each. Could I run all 32 LEDs using this driver? Am I pushing it with two strings of 16 LEDs instead of 15?

Thank you so much in advance

Assuming these are the Phillips Luxeon ES and not the knock offs from Epistar the Max Vf is 3.5

3.5 x 16 = 56 or 8 volts above the the max rating of the driver. 13 would be the max and most go with 12 as Vf may change over time.

There is nothing wrong with using parallel strings. Just be aware of current imbalance and I would do resistors to monitor current and fuses for protection.

If you want to run two parallel strings of 16 yo need a driver with a max Vf of 56V


Bill

 

[Reef Breeders]

So the LED Clusters would work?

If I buy a 10k Cool white 50W cluster and another Royal Blue 50W cluster would that work until I build my new fixture?

I would do a 14k 150watt cluster, and just dim it. Drivers with that much voltage are available, I will look one up for you.

 

[Reef Breeders]

Assuming these are the Phillips Luxeon ES and not the knock offs from Epistar the Max Vf is 3.5

3.5 x 16 = 56 or 8 volts above the the max rating of the driver. 13 would be the max and most go with 12 as Vf may change over time.

There is nothing wrong with using parallel strings. Just be aware of current imbalance and I would do resistors for protection.

If you want to run two parallel strings of 16 yo need a driver with a max Vf of 56V


Bill

+1, you are better off with 2 drivers, or adding 24 instead of 32 LEDs

 

[keokea]

So I'd be better off just adding 2 more 60-48d's in 2 parallel strings of 8 running around 700mah? I want to add that much more blue because the ratio now looks horrible, my 3:1 ratio fixture looks great.

 

[Reef Breeders]

So I'd be better off just adding 2 more 60-48d's in 2 parallel strings of 8 running around 700mah? I want to add that much more blue because the ratio now looks horrible, my 3:1 ratio fixture looks great.

You are better off going 2:1 for a 14-20k look IME, 3:1 is a little blue.

 

[keokea]

You are better off going 2:1 for a 14-20k look IME, 3:1 is a little blue.

I like a lot of blue

 

[Reef Breeders]

I like a lot of blue

If you are a 20k man, go for it! You can always dim them. I would also add some reds and violets, if you havent already