Another LED question

zachts said:
They are just another option that is in between the ridiculously priced radions and the budget Reefbreaders type. the OP didn't say they were only looking for the cheapest option that would work. Quality should be a consideration also.

advantages are that they are passively cooled and use the highly efficient and durable Luxeon LEDs, and can be dimmed either manually or using a controller. they provide very even coverage due to using one emiter per inch along the strips.
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That's all very true. But when you said "affordable price range" after all the talk of Reefbreeders and Evergrow, I was like "whaaat?"
 
I really don't see passive cooling as an advantage, to me that just means 'no fans'. And I haven't seen any evidence that Luxeon leds are any better than Bridgelux leds. Besides, I can't run any of my bridgelux led fixtures (5 of them over 3 tanks) at 100% power anyway. So how much better can they be? It's like everybody says Crees are the best. Well back when leds were expensive and everybody was trying to cut corners it was a big issue. But now leds are at least reasonably priced compared to MH and t5, and they are certainly bright enough that Cree leds aren't the only good choice.
 
Ron Reefman said:
I really don't see passive cooling as an advantage, to me that just means 'no fans'. And I haven't seen any evidence that Luxeon leds are any better than Bridgelux leds. Besides, I can't run any of my bridgelux led fixtures (5 of them over 3 tanks) at 100% power anyway. So how much better can they be? It's like everybody says Crees are the best. Well back when leds were expensive and everybody was trying to cut corners it was a big issue. But now leds are at least reasonably priced compared to MH and t5, and they are certainly bright enough that Cree leds aren't the only good choice.
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I also find it interesting that people are so choosy about having the most powerful LEDs, when next to no one turns them up to 100% regardless. As for cooling, my AI has a fan that kick on when heat rises. It has yet to kick on in over a year.
 
Thanks guys! I was in contact with RSC and they said if I chose to go with 2 D120's and I found it wasn't enough, they would make me a deal on the 3rd. So I will likely go this route. I like that the blues and the whites can be controlled seperately! I just wish I hadn't just bought new bulbs for myT5 fixtures!!!!
 
Ron Reefman said:
I really don't see passive cooling as an advantage, to me that just means 'no fans'. And I haven't seen any evidence that Luxeon leds are any better than Bridgelux leds. Besides, I can't run any of my bridgelux led fixtures (5 of them over 3 tanks) at 100% power anyway. So how much better can they be? It's like everybody says Crees are the best. Well back when leds were expensive and everybody was trying to cut corners it was a big issue. But now leds are at least reasonably priced compared to MH and t5, and they are certainly bright enough that Cree leds aren't the only good choice.
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Ron, I must strongly dissagree with you and point out that the bridglux Button style LEds can only tolerate a heatsink temp of around 125 Farenhight and thus must be fan cooled in almost all applications we use them in for reef keeping. that is due to all the material between the chip and the heatsink. Luxeons can run with heatsink temps over 200 degrees all day long. this is due to a better thermal bond with the heatsink. if you are only comparing the LED die, even then the luxeons will be more efficient and run cooler (luxeon puts out more light at lower voltage and less heat and that is clearly evident on the data sheet)

sorry, this is getting dangerously close to arguing the which LED is better point, they all have their uses and strong points for different applications. and you've been a part of many of those discussions so no need to revisit.

RB fixtures have the advantage of being able to hand soder new chips in to replace burn ones or tweak the color, this comes at the cost of requireing fans to keep them cool.

Passively cooled is only a very, very good thing in the long run, some day your fans will wear out and fail, far before your leds, 50,000 hour life span, and once the fan fails the Leds will cook and you will notice fan failure by your lights not working or getting rapidly dimmer each day.

I don't mean to suggest that one fixture is "better" than the other, that is up to the end user to determine based on what they want for their setup. both are good fixtures cappable of growing any coral you want.
 
Ok, I'm looking at this again and was looking at the Artic s026 that Ron said was great before. Would I need 2 of these fixtures? Are they better than the evergrow lights? I can get the evergrow's here in canada and they have a better warranty, but if the so26 is the way to go, then I'll do that.
 
Shellyfish, since you basically have LPS and Softies, I would go with 2 AI Hydras. The coverage would be sufficient and under $800. Down the road, if you decided to take a stab at SPS you would be able to do so if you added one more Hydra. AI was one of two companies that brought Leds into the Aquarium hobby and is still around. Good luck, Neil
 
Shellyfish said:
Ok, I'm looking at this again and was looking at the Artic s026 that Ron said was great before. Would I need 2 of these fixtures? Are they better than the evergrow lights? I can get the evergrow's here in canada and they have a better warranty, but if the so26 is the way to go, then I'll do that.
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They are about equal. One has a few small advantages over the other, but if you can get one in Canada and with a better warranty, I'd probably go that way.:beer:
 
The AI's are a bit pricey. If I do LEDs I will stick with the evergrows. I've attached a really horrible sketch of my tank to give you an idea of the layout as it is an odd shape. Currently I have a 4 foot 4 bulb t5 fixture and a 3 foot 4 bulb T5 fixture running on it. I have only LPS and softies, no plans for SPS. What do you think would be the way to go ; 1 it2080 or 2 or 3 D120s? I would like to keep the set up simple but effective.

What is the major difference between the fixtures? Just the controlability? I pretty much want to be able to have the blue lights go on before and off after the white lights.

2 other things I'm concerned about: is the fact that leds don't produce UV a problem? And like Halides and T5s do they lose their strenght after a while?

Thanks!
 
For a 5 ft tank, 2 Reef Breeders Value would be good. 90* optics should work fine.
Leds generally output 70% of the light at day one after 50,000 hours, and that's when you replace them. At 8 hours/day, that's about 17 years.
 
Equidistant from the sides of the tank and from each other. Height is just whatever you feel comfortable with. Tighter lenses mean high hang height though.
 
asid61 said:
Equidistant from the sides of the tank and from each other. Height is just whatever you feel comfortable with. Tighter lenses mean high hang height though.
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asid is right about the height. It almost doesn't matter now that you have a fixture with dimmers.

I'll disagree slightly about placement over the tank. Think about it. Divide the tank in half and then hang the lights in the middle of each half. That will put them closer to the ends than they are from each other. Example: lets say the lights are 16" long. Your tank is 60" long. Divide the tank in half, which is 30" each. Subtract the 16" for the fixture and you have 14" left. Split the extra 14" and hang them 7" off the ends. Now you'll have 14" between them. Doing what asid suggests means they overlap a lot of light in the center of the tank and it can make it too strong (it almost doubles up the PAR). That can cause trouble for some corals. Even doing it my way you should be careful about the corals in the middle, between the 2 fixtures. If you test it with a PAR meter you may find you still have overlap and some high PAR values.
 
I think I would aggree with Ron on placement, but someone should confirm with a PAR meeter if possible if you need equally bright light in the center of the tank. this would definately be the case with no optics...

However, optics like those used on the RB fixtures do not evenly distribute light across their rated angle of spread. They creat a hot spot with most of it aimed down within the first 15-30 degrees depending on agle of the optic. So with that consideration asid61's advise might actually provide more even distribution thoughout the center of the tank. (cheak out the LEDiL website for some good representative distribution patterns for these type of optic.
 
Ok, so 2 questions, do you guys for sure think 2 units is enough? I want enough lighting for what I have without melting/bleaching anything and I have no intention of doing SPS. I would love to be able to get away with 2 if possible but will go with 3 if needed.

Second (sorry if this is a dumb question!) What exactly do you guys mean by optics?

Thanks!
 
two fixtures should be plenty, probably even to grow SPS someday..........
you can dim them down to whatever lower level your coral requires in the mean time and save energy (they will last longer as well)

Optics is the term that genericly reffers to prety much all of the different types of focusing "lenses" that go on over the LEDs, i.e. 40, 60, or 80 degree.......
 
Ron Reefman said:
asid is right about the height. It almost doesn't matter now that you have a fixture with dimmers.

I'll disagree slightly about placement over the tank. Think about it. Divide the tank in half and then hang the lights in the middle of each half. That will put them closer to the ends than they are from each other. Example: lets say the lights are 16" long. Your tank is 60" long. Divide the tank in half, which is 30" each. Subtract the 16" for the fixture and you have 14" left. Split the extra 14" and hang them 7" off the ends. Now you'll have 14" between them. Doing what asid suggests means they overlap a lot of light in the center of the tank and it can make it too strong (it almost doubles up the PAR). That can cause trouble for some corals. Even doing it my way you should be careful about the corals in the middle, between the 2 fixtures. If you test it with a PAR meter you may find you still have overlap and some high PAR values.
Click to expand...

You are totally right, Ron, I erred. If x is the distance from the sides of the tank, then 2x is the distance between the fixtures.
 
Sorry, thought of one more question, how loud are the fans on these units? I'm really bad for wanting things to be quiet.
 
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