LED question

sowellj · Mar 12, 2011

Right now I am running 3-400w halides, 20K on the sides and a 10K in the middle. I have an old oceanic 180 that uses a large pane of glass over the center of the tank for bracing, hence the 10K in the middle for the extra par. I tried using t5s for some actinic supplementation, but this did not work. I have a floating canopy so whatever supplemental lighting I go with is going to sit 14 inches or so off the surface of the water. I was thinking of going w/something like this:
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-...plement/Detail
as I way to add some blue to the middle of the tank. So .. for the LED guys, do you think these will have enough punch to offset the 10K? Thanks.

butts182 · Mar 12, 2011

that should work well, but at 14" above the tank, you might want to look into some adding optics to the kit

sowellj · Mar 12, 2011

I was thinking the same thing. That site sells a few different lenses w/various angles of dispersion. My other option is to use T12 VHOs, but I think I might run into the same problem w/the T5s, i.e., they just can't punch through well enough to offset the 10K.

wld1783 · Mar 12, 2011

Rapid is a quality vendor and should provide the Bin of the Royal Blue. Ensure its Bin D316 for the best colour pop.

Generally I dont recommend LEDs with MH due to the heat inside the canopy issue unless you're good with them lasting a lot less than 50,000 hours. Their heatsink is a similar extrusion and should have some airflow to keep it cool.

I really like the idea of replacing MH with LEDs and tweaking the colour with T5.

Bill

sowellj · Mar 13, 2011

Heat should not be too much of an issue. Its a bit hard to describe, but I have a floating canopy suspended by chains, so there is a lot of area for air exchange. My concern is the ability of the LEDs to penetrate the glass bracing, but it sounds like they should be able to do this.

wld1783 · Mar 14, 2011

Good optics will help

I have my LEDs over a Low E pane of glass which was supposed to isolate MH Heat. No More MH for me the LEDs penetrate this an acrylic top and still give me 150 PAR at the bottom of the tank.

The Carclo optics offer the best penetration/efficiency from my measurements.

Bill