Looking to switch over to LED but who should I choose?

[wld1783]

hey corey if you want all LED and great bang for the buck. The reefkoi led setup is hard to beat.

Mojo~
Jess

+1

Best bang for the buck....

However DIY offers ultimate flexibility just a lot of homework.

You cant go wrong with the Reefkoi Evolution to start. Their colour is awesome. Later on you can always add a fixture to increase light.

I'm mostly high end DIY but these are defiantly good fixtures for the price and have shown good SPS growth in their demo tanks.

Bill

 

[altobelli10]

I'm waiting for some LEDs they will be coming next week way cheaper than any place in here made the same way 120 1 w led chip. I will post here with pictures and will have the numbers also for all of you to check I have seen them at hand and they are amazing, my friend is using a pully system to move up and down to acclimate corals so they will not get shocked.
until then I will keep you posted and if anyone would like to order you can contact me you won't believe the price.

 

[inactive]

I think all these fixtures are coming out of the same machine shop in China.

 

[wld1783]

1 watt LEDs from China "are like a box of chocolates...You never know what your going to get."

I thought of selling these on my website but wanted to know if they were designed for Reef Tanks or for indoor "Tomato" farmers from Arcada Ca. Not a single manufacturer would disclose the LED type and bin or how hard its driven. Not only that they were unable to provide an analysis of the light spectrum.

Luke and ReefKoi both have a good fixtures as they are proven.

Our lighting needs are rather specific and without proper quality control and Binning of the proper LEDs you may or may not get what you want.

Even the Cree XR-E Royal Blue has these issues. The Bin D316 makes the coral colour pop much better than their other bins of Royal Blue.

Bill

 

[inactive]

*rolls eyes*

 

[kingfisherfleshy]

LED's from china may be from the same factory, but they make several different "grades of LED's.

 

[inactive]

*rolls eyes again*

 

[hwntunda]

^getting dizzy? lol!!!!

 

[inactive]

All these "facts" and what not are making my head spin haha.

As a machinist, I know nothing about how things are built.

 

[wld1783]

Don't forget about counterfeit or miss represented LEDs. When someone contracts these fixtures to be built they may not get what they ask for.

A few years back the aviation industry lost millions in hardware as the bolts from China could not be verified to meet FAA/PMA standards as their head stamp would suggest.

This is why I prefer to buy LEDs from a US company.

Bill

 

[juicesay]

The one I've been doing a lot of research is http://www.aquaillumination.com/since it works with the Apex very nicely.
Although there are many other varieties, doing research prior is always your best bet.

 

[SpokaneReef]

My fixture's are 119 3w led's driven at 1.26w a piece for a total of 150w with 60 degree optics. 24" with reefkoi your looking at 100 par and 24" with mine your looking at 400 par. It just depends on what your looking to do. If your looking at keeping softies and chalice reefkoi is a great fixture, if you want sps the 150 watter is going to be much better. If your looking for DIY, talk to bill. If you want power, dimmability and all the bells and whistles, then look at the AI. All the above are nice, just gotta meet your application.

Luke, is there a way to adjust to drive the lights more around the 3w mark? How would these work with a 30" tall tank?
For myself I am on the fence between a DIY and yours. I am just trying to understand why if I go DIY I only need 60 leds and yours has 119 or so.

 

[reefer10]

I was wondering about the # of leds too.

 

[clarky2120]

I was thinking the same thing...

also, with regards to coverage area what would you recommend for a 60"x18"x24-deep

 

[cccharliecc]

This is a great thread, a lot of useful information in it.

I have a question about how Luke's LED lights compare to
Ecoray 60D
Black Python

Which ones give the best PAR and color and coral growth?
Thanks.

 

[Reefer831]

Reef Bright LED!!!!!! Check out my eye candy thread it will show you how they look.

 

[hwntunda]

i like my setup from reefleds, theyre bright as heck and the best part is theyre dimmable so i had to set the whites down to 30 percent since they were browning some of my sps...

 

[Seasonedreefer]

I went Tek T-5 retro and REEF brites! Love them so far! I have 2 all blue reef brites and two t-5's one Ati blue special and Ati purple plus. So far I like it! My corals really seem to like it too! I need a little time to get my tank back to were it needs to be but will post pics after I have it looking good. I cant wait to see if my electric bill goes down too!:bigsmile: I was running 500 watts of halides but now im down to about 180 watts of lighting and still seeing good color and growth. Highly recommend Reefbrites! I wish I could afford to go all LED Reef Brites. I plan on maybe adding one more Reef bright strip to get a little more blue while all the lights are on.

I would highly recommend REEF Brite!1smile11smile11smile11smile11smile1

 

[highpower9979]

evolution led light 200w 20k does this come with two power cords

 

[spscrazy]

well income tax is coming & once again I find myself wanting LED lighting with a passion! I have read all the threads here & still have no idea what to get budget is about $800
I have a 36L x 24H x 24D eurobraced 90 g tank SPS is my main interest but do have a few softies. I currently run a 250 w mh bulb I understand the 1w vs 3 watts but am unclear as to the spread on these fixtures I guess I am too used to the thought of getting a 36" fixture for a 36" tank Also I do not like the BLUE BLUE tank I have seen on some of the pictures so how does one decide on what mix of b/w bulbs to use I am using a hexarc blue 14K right now it has been the nicest color of all the MH bulbs I have used but would like just a bit more blue/purple look I have read that the dimmable doesn't really do anything for the tank so I don't need that or thunderstorms either any help to get me in the right direction would be great thanks!