Silent Lights Poll

[thedon986]

The new AI-cotech Hydra Edge

???????

 

[Freenow54]

I'm interested in getting opinions on which types of silent lights are best. To me, that means a fanless light. I know some folks think some lights with fans are very quite, but so often, someone else either hears better, has lower tolerances for irritation by noises, has a quieter environment, or just has a more noisy unit of the same light.

So I'm only interested in fanless LED lights (not mh, had those for decades).

Love my Aquanest has lots of options schedules and a phone app to recover easily when the power is turned off

 

[buruskeee]

It comes down to efficient heat dissipation. Heat is the enemy of LEDs, and shortens their useful lifespan far below the advertised 50,000 hours. Fans blowing air across heat sinks help remove a lot of heat, but they're more often used when manufacturers space LEDs too closely and/or drive them too hard, resulting in a concentration of heat that needs to be removed more quickly. The new trend seems to have migrated to a wider spread of emitters, reducing the spot heat load.

This is why I like the Stratons. 5W CREE LEDs driven at 1.5W max resulting in much less heat and longer lifespan, they're spaced out so that there is huge spread coverage like T5, and zero fans, resulting in iPad like sleekness (just with poor mounting options).

 

[amarti2038]

I don’t know them, but they are fanless and seem pretty good, and you can tweak the channels. Maybe someone here knows about them and can drop an opinion.

GNC BluRay X – LED Aquarium

www.gncleditalia.com

There’s a post on the forum:

GNC BluRay led - first impressions

Hi all! Here is my first thoughts and initial impression of my recently purchased GNC BluRay led and SilverMoon Actinic 590 led bars (these bars come in different lengths). My new nano tank is yet to be filled with water, so cannot yet give more in-depth review. Perhaps I do that later this...

www.reef2reef.com

plafoniera-gnc-bluray-spettro-luminoso by Niko Sandbacka, on Flickr

 

[Hooz]

???????

I had a post here about the upcoming Hydra Edge release last week, but it was removed.

 

[spsick]

Thanks!


How did you find the setup and software, such as spectrum and timing controls?

Complicated, like anything German. But once you do, it’s done.

 

[AKReefing]

This is why I like the Stratons. 5W CREE LEDs driven at 1.5W max resulting in much less heat and longer lifespan, they're spaced out so that there is huge spread coverage like T5, and zero fans, resulting in iPad like sleekness (just with poor mounting options).

Funny, but so many Chinese LEDs boast high wattage, but when I ran them through a Kill-a-Watt meter they were only running at about 1/3 of the advertised wattage.

 

[buruskeee]

Funny, but so many Chinese LEDs boast high wattage, but when I ran them through a Kill-a-Watt meter they were only running at about 1/3 of the advertised wattage.

Probably a reason not to buy Chinese electronics.

 

[AKReefing]

Probably a reason not to buy Chinese electronics.

True, but they seem to be very popular on R2R and in the hobby in general. Even so, they tend to run hot.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Complicated, like anything German. But once you do, it’s done.

Thanks. :)

 

[oreo54]

Funny, but so many Chinese LEDs boast high wattage, but when I ran them through a Kill-a-Watt meter they were only running at about 1/3 of the advertised wattage.

Yea it's a bit annoying.
Between " theoretical" power ..55 LEDs x 3W
= 165w. Then they run them at 550 mA with constant current drivers and a v(f) of like 3.6 average. So really 3.6 x .550 x 55 = 108.9w

And sometimes. comparing lights to incandescents it gets exhausting.

 

[PeterErc]

The sun lol

I like the warm look, and intend to keep shallow water creatures, such as magnifica/gigantea/crispa anemones, yellow Fiji leathers, etc.

Sunlight,
install one over the tank

Solatube Tubular Skylights - Add Natural Light To Your Home

Bring natural lighting into your home with Solatube High-Tech Skylights, the world leader in tubular skylights.

solatube.com

 

[VintageReefer]

@Randy Holmes-Farley is this the spectrum you want ?

This is @JoJosReef new build in progress

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sunlight,
install one over the tank

Solatube Tubular Skylights - Add Natural Light To Your Home

Bring natural lighting into your home with Solatube High-Tech Skylights, the world leader in tubular skylights.

solatube.com

In some situations, that would be nice. In a three story home with the tank on the first floor on the north side of a house with a pitched roof and snow currently covering the ground outside and more expected tonight, I don't think its a great option. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley is this the spectrum you want ?

This is @JoJosReef new build in progress

It's always hard to judge colors in a photo, but it does look warm enough, yes. :)

 

[jonelder68]

My vote for your request would be Quanta for sure. His reef crest spectrum is exactly what you want. Or either his Atlas fixture. Fair pricing and customer service is out standing! Plus support small businesses with people who are actually involved in the hobby.

Otherwise I would suggest Reefi UNO’s but you said no fan….though you truly can’t hear the fan like other lights I have. You can create whatever spectrum you want super easy. Best price and warranty out there!

 

[rtparty]

AI Blade Freshwater and done. 2 of them and add one Grow if you feel compelled.

I ran the Freshwater over my chaeto on the old 250.

Image from a Google search that I feel represents it well. It’s definitely a warm daylight fixture

 

[Nonya]

@Randy Holmes-Farley is this the spectrum you want ?

This is @JoJosReef new build in progress

Aiptasia

 

[Reefering1]

Aiptasia

Lights...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

AI Blade Freshwater and done. 2 of them and add one Grow if you feel compelled.

I ran the Freshwater over my chaeto on the old 250.

Image from a Google search that I feel represents it well. It’s definitely a warm daylight fixture

I agree that's a good spectrum. I'd want to add UV into it, but that could be separate. The comparator I would consider is a combo of GHL LB3, with maybe 2 freshwater sky white, one ocean blue, and one coral pop.

How do you find the setup and software for the AI blade?