Aquastyleonline.com LED questions.

[RotaryGeek]

I have read the big thread on nano reef and have a couple of questions about these LED's. I understand they aren't the CREE LED's that everybody loves, but since cree's tend to be too strong for most peoples tank anyways and are run at lower power, would these LED's at full power equal CREE's at a lower power? Like if the average CREE user is running them at 60-70%, would brightwell LED's at 100% put out about the same amount of light? If they do, then why aren't these kits more popular? They are dirt cheap compared to everybody else's LED's. And how well do these work? Has anybody had problems with them yet? I understand they ship from hong kong and take a while to get here, but I'm more worried about quality and craftsmanship.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

There are lots of factors that go in to LED selection and it can be difficult to understand subtle differences in peoples' criteria or LEDs' specifications.

One important factor is the difference between outright intensity and operational efficiency.

Imagine one LED produces "enough" light at 2w, and another produces the same amount at 4w. The difference in efficiency is clear - the first LED is twice as efficient. Now, imagine the less efficient LED only costs $1 and the better LED costs $4.

The lower-efficiency LED might seem like the best choice because it is dirt cheap and still capable of producing enough light. However, depending on the cost of your eletricity and how long you plan on keeping the fixture, the "cheaper" LED may quickly become much more expensive. Not to mention the fct that it is effectively going to be producing twice as much heat per unit of light. When you consider that many people switch to LEDs specifically for lower electrical consumption and less heat on their tank, the higher operating cost and higher heat production of the cheaper LEDs seems especially unattractive.

Again though this is somewhat personal preference and will be heavily influenced by a given person's own goals and criteria. Those LEDs basically perform similarly to the Cree products that started this whole craze a few years ago. They are not terrible and will light a tank just fine, but if you value efficiency, low operating costs, and low heat production, they are certainly far from the best choice.

 

[RotaryGeek]

Well I currently have 3 150w MH's in a canopy, so I believe switching to LED's would be more efficient and cooler in the long run no matter what brand they are.

 

[Gorgok]

You also might want to think about the time you plan to keep them. LEDs seem to be ramping up in power/efficiency pretty fast, and in a year or two a LED much better than even the Cree XM-L will most likely cost less than a XP-E does now. If you wait another year for those to drop in price again and then upgrade then you could plan to only keep your lights maybe 3 years. If in those 3 years the energy savings make the more expensive option cheaper, then its really a no brainer. If you plan to keep the lights until they burn out, then too you have a timeline for the efficiency calculations. For me, i have no current plans to keep my LEDs for 5 years or anything of the sort, so going cheaper was the better choice.

As for their shipping, i didn't find it to be that long. They shipped via Fedex and it took 5 days to arrive. Shipped on Wednesday and arrived on Monday, so it could have been faster had it left on a Monday.

 

[RotaryGeek]

So you have one of these kits? I'm not worried about how long they last, and upgrading is just fun for me, so no real deadlines. What's your overall opinion of these?

 

[Gorgok]

I have a 72 kit, though i don't plan to use the drivers as i made my own. But its still in parts form. I did test a few of the bulbs though and they are impressively bright, but then again so are LED flashlights =D. In a few days i should get my lights on the heat sink and wired up though, then i see if i still can see...

 

[jwoyshnar]

I have two fixtures from there and love them.

 

[nemosworld]

i just built my 72 led fixture from them and i have it on a 29inch high tank and i get good par reading on the bottom. the drivers are only 680ma, so you are not running the leds at 3w. i have them installed on c-channels and with a fan blowing accross the channels they run cool.

just did a par reading to get an accurate reading and i got 283 from 30 inchs away.

 

[RotaryGeek]

How are the blue bulbs? Do they make the corals pop like the CREE bulbs do? And do they have a kit with a 60" heatsink?

 

[nemosworld]

not sure how they look on corals, as i do not have water in the tank yet.
tghey are not blues though, they are royal blues, big diff. i have a 2 to 1 setup with mine.
2 royal blues to 1 white 10k, love the color and so does my wife.

 

[RotaryGeek]

So is it an actinic though?

 

[nemosworld]

i guess you can say that.

 

[RotaryGeek]

Ok so bottom line, are they worth it? I'm thinking more towards supplemental lighting rather than main.

 

[briand7878]

I have them and love them. I have the 72 on a 72" tank. IT could probably use another 15 or so but i am very happy. There is a killer shimmer in the water that just looks better than halides.

 

[RotaryGeek]

What size heatsink did you go with? I'm really wanting to do like 20 on a 60" c-channel rail just for actinics, but I don't see heatsinks that large. And my canopy is already stuffed full of lights as it is.

 

[nemosworld]

well worth it to me.

18 leds on one c-channel:

I like my color mix way better than what i got from my AI's.
not that ai's are bad, i just like my color mix better.

 

[pwreef]

just did a par reading to get an accurate reading and i got 283 from 30 inchs away.

This is with no water in the tank?

 

[milkman55]

I am just finishing up the Aquastyle 36 LED kit using U channel to light my 40b LPS, soft coral tank. I am going to use the dimmable drivers they sent. They look well made to me. For $127 delivered to my door for a complete kit w/ LED, drivers, lenses, and build supplies, it's hard to beat.

If I was lighting an SPS tank, I might go with Cree for efficiency and intensity.

 

[MADtanks]

I made a 140 LED setup from those Bridgelux and I was deffinitely impressed... although my build is at a halt right now i have the fixture built. I will post a picture later if you guys want. The setup is going to be for an eventual 210G SPS.... It will not be the only source of light though, and will be using 4 60" T5s for some additional par and color. Yea I know its not effecient but it will still save me tons of dough over my 3 400W MH + T5s.....

I would like to know how much par you get at 24" with water in the tank Nemo

 

[vbsaltydog]

What brand LEDs are you all referring to? Where did you buy them?