LEDs in a deep tank

Murfman

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I have a 30" deep 300 and am thinking of going from 400 W MH to LEDs. I have been looking at the photon cannon from Ecoxotic (and Chinese built ones that are similar).

One of our local sponsors sells LED units that are just under 16" long by 8.5" wide and under 3" tall overall. They come with 6' power cord, long cable hanging kit and a switch to shutoff the whites so you can see the colors pop beyond neon!

They are built inside a black metal housing (looks sleek) and they contain 85 Blue 1 watt leds and 34 White 1 watt leds, 3 tiny quiet fans keep it all extrememly cool.

I have seen the unit on a 250, that is only 24" deep and it looks real nice. I have a mixed reef tank and wanted to get peoples opinion, from their actual experience with LEDs on tank this size. My main concern is enough PAR for my clams and SPS.
 

luke33

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SPS and clams should be fine in the top half of your tank if you hang the fixture 3" from the water surface. I had one of these 6mths ago as a test. The led's are 1w led's driven to .78w so there actually only pulling 94w overall. The par at 24" through water was very low (less than 60) and i would worry about lps at 24". For shallower they do work pretty good though. That was also a 50/50 to white on blue ratio which would be a higher par than mostly blue. The white led's are the high par led's. From what i've gathered at a 50/50 split the 120w fixture's with no optics are like a nice 150w mh, the 120w fixture's with more focused optics are like a decent 250w mh, the 150w fixture with no optics is like a strong 250w mh and the 150w fixture with more focused optics are like a nice 400w mh. HTH And those scenario's are all from test units i've brought in and thrown a par meter on through 30" water.
 

luke33

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Also forgot to mention there are some great diy cree options out there as well as the AI fixture that would work for a 30" tall tank nicely.
 

Emoney

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tagging along as i would like to do this in the future..

are there any fixtures that will give you 125-150 par in sand bed but with the nice blue look still
 

luke33

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Sure, the AI will give you that # fairly easy. The diy cree's should give you 150+ as well. The 150w led's i carry are over 200 at 30" as well. There are quite a few ways to get there now a days which is great. And yes all with a nice blue tint.
 

wld1783

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Murfman

I have a 30" deep bare bottom SPS and have sps growth on the bottom.

DSC_0572.jpg


This pic is about 6 months old and the spread has quintupled since then.

Just posted theses numbers on another thread but here is what you can expect using 3watt LEDs. Some 1 watt fixtures like Lukes work well and have heard of good results using them. Also its a more finished product than our DIY retros.

When changing any lights, T5, MH or LED its always best to borrow a PAR meter and do a before and after reading at a consistent distance.


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​

 

luke33

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Bill, all my fixture's are 3w's : ) At 24" they pull 392 par and at 30" 210 at 150w
 

engineeronh2o

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Impressive numbers, but what is the cost of the 24" fixture with 48 LED Crees? And how many of these 24" fixtures would he need to run over a 300 gallon setup?

I know when I bought the XR-E's they cost me $5-6 maybe more a piece, that is $300 in LED alone for one fixture.

Luke, are the 3 watt LED in your fixture Crees and if so what type. I really do like your system, it is a nice compact fixture. Can you adjust the LED to dim? If so where are those adjust nobs? How many 16" fixtures would he need over a 300 gallon system.
 
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Murfman

Murfman

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Engineer, I am going to be looking at two different LED fixtures, tomorrow. Both are sold by local vendors and put out different numbers. Each unit sells for $299 and the housing is just under 16" long by 8.5" wide and under 3" tall overall. I have 3 openings in my 8' tank and currently run 3, 400 W MH. I am also interested in the Ecoxotic Photon Cannon but another thread talks about them. They sell for $500.
 

engineeronh2o

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that's awesome, Luke really answered all my questions and very quickly. Seems like a great guy to deal with.

good luck with the build, can't wait to see some pictures......be sure to get some before and afters....
 

HomeSlizzice

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I have seen the Ecoxotic Cannon LEDs in person and they are BRIGHT, I don't have PAR numbers, but I'm sure they would be more than enough. Plus have only heard good things about them. They are finally up on Ecoxotic's website. Check them out.
 
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