Aquastyle.com LED kits??

Thats the perfect deal I'm looking for. What is the intensity of these lights like? Does anyone know if they're comparable to any Cree models?
 
They use Bridgelux LED's. Not sure how much of an issue that is for you. It's why they're so cheap - Bridgelux LED's cost about half as much as CREE (for their best 3W emitters).
 
Does this make a big difference? Will the corals know the difference?

I'm planning on adding only blues to my current fixture.
 
Corals don't like just blue. So if you are adding just blue, it will be for your viewing pleasure only. Like actinics.
 
I have an Odyssea 250W MH fixture with 2 T5 actinics already.

I'm going to be making a post in this forum soon about modding my fixture, see what people have done. I basically want to leave my fixture as is, but add onto it.
 
Cool deal. But no, the corals won't know the difference regardless of the brand/type LED if you're just doing blues. Blues only add color. But your MH is plenty for any kind of coral growth by itself. :)
 
DSpate said:
Does this make a big difference? Will the corals know the difference?
Click to expand...

I can't really comment until I know the exact model # and bin # of the emitters. You can't just say an LED is "3 watt" and call it a day. CREE is the industry leader in terms of efficiency, so their emitters are going to be brighter than the competition's (all things considered equal). Of course if you compare an old CREE emitter to a new Bridgelux emitter, the Bridgelux may be better. Additionally (if that wasn't confusing enough) there are differences within a production run so that some emitters are not as good as others. They are tested and split into different quality groups by bin #. For example CREE XR-E bin Q2 is guaranteed to deliver minimum 87.4 lumens/watt, while bin Q5 is guaranteed to deliver minimum 108 lumens/watt. You obviously want the latter.

So like in all things you get what you pay for. You need to understand the LED's EXACTLY because that is what is driving your high (or low) cost.
 
I bought one of their DIY 12 - 3w LEDs for my fuge. I was using a CFL spiral bulb and I only had to trim my chaeto every year or so. When I installed this LED kit, I have to trim my chaeto every 3 weeks. It only uses 24w according to my Kill-O-Watt. For the price, I'm very happy.
 
My 36 LED kit for my 40 breeder should be here this week. If it goes well, I plan to get the 90 LED for my 120 gal. You can't beat the price. Good customer service given you are dealing with someone in Hong Kong. They shipped in two days.
 
I ordered and received a kit from them and no complaints so far. I haven't put together the kit yet, mainly because i over-complicate the simple parts and strive for perfection, so it will take a bit of time to do everything. They included 1 10k white and blue than the kit actually said to have, which is nice. I don't plan to use their brick power supplies, but they included a simple instruction sheet of how to build/wire it all up too, and its readable...

They added a whole bunch of colors since i ordered too, which would have given some nice choices... And now they offer MeanWell drivers too.

And i just noticed now you can buy lenses separately, which you couldn't do before.

My one complaint is basically a function of timezones. I wanted a custom kit instead of a standard one, so i exchanged many emails with them. But it would pretty much always be a full day between every email and reply we sent between each other. Not their fault for that though.
 
The company is great to deal with as previously stated, i had a custom order done for my brother's tank a few weeks ago, nothing but good reviews so far!
 
I got mine a few weeks ago and put it together. I chose not to buy the drivers he supplies and used Inventronics so that I can dim them automatically with my Reefkeeper Lite ALC. I asked for extra LEDs and the large heatsinks because I wanted more spread. In total my setup runs 56 LEDs 14 per string up to 700 ma. I have 1 red and one UV on each heatsink. The UV ones are useless IMO. You need like 10 of them to see a difference. I am using the Reefekeeper moonlights that you see in the picture. The tank shot is not color accurate obviously as I took it using 6500K custom WB setting. The 40mm fans that you see are the ones the AS sent me that were too small for the heatsinks, so I used some thermally controlled 80 mm computer fans. The LED's run very cool though, not even sure that the fans are required. I found that the drivers get too hot inside the project box and decided to use the fans they sent me to cool the power supply. As you can see I don't have much corals so I cannot comment on how they respond. I am waiting to find someone in NYC area with PAR meter I can borrow. Subjectively this is much brighter than my old 150W MH + 2 x 65W PC Coralife Aqualight Pro. Its also much brighter than the 24" Acan fixture I saw at LFS. I do feel that the whites are too white. I like to see more reds/yellows in my tank so I will probably replace some with warm/neutral white.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4177.jpg
    IMG_4177.jpg
    28.1 KB · Views: 17
  • IMG_4174.jpg
    IMG_4174.jpg
    32.7 KB · Views: 14
  • IMG_4178.jpg
    IMG_4178.jpg
    25.3 KB · Views: 18
  • IMG_4168.jpg
    IMG_4168.jpg
    60.3 KB · Views: 15
I have the 24 led kit above my 40b. It is plenty bright. I actually have it turned down. I just ordered a custom kit for my 180. Very happy with them so far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

newsalt
Aqua Illumination SOL Blue problem
Replies
2
Views
180
oreo57
oreo57
sickman
Juwel Lido 200 - really reef tank ready all in one? Really Really?
2
Replies
39
Views
1K
Reefing102
Reefing102
S
Novice Aquarist - Sump & Equipment Questions
Replies
9
Views
378
wvned
wvned
B
Looking for Lightbulb Mount
Replies
5
Views
557
btreyes
B
S
Help with Overflow Design Issue
Replies
0
Views
185
SFMAquariums
S
Back
Top