Best led fixture or DIY for 24" x 24" x 24" 60 gallon cube?

jdoenumber2

New member
Im gonna also post in lighting forum. Just wanted to get some local input. I know there are a few of out there that have experience. Thank you in advance for any input.

Im thinking about switching from 250 watt phoenix 14k.
 
Last edited:
Theyy look decent in you tank. Thank you for the input. However, they don't shoot par in a deeptank and I would need 4. I want dimmable leds to control look for when I'm home and par for when I'm not.

I'm thinking they would not be a good fit for me.
 
Also at $120 per fixture their cheap

Cheap compared to commercial LEDs but around twice what it should cost to DIY something with similar specs. And as much of a fan of LEDs as I am, I think it's a hair unrealistic to expect two of those to replace a 250w MH.

Jdoe, you said "fixture or DIY." If you're interested in DIY, you should check out some of the LED builds in the DIY forum, or the "mother thread:"

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1678127

Some others:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1662682

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1751598

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1672708

On a 60g tank, you might want to start in the neighborhood of 30 - 40 HP LEDs depending on which LEDs you picked, drive current, optics, etc. My approach is to choose LEDs, drive current, and LED count to get the intensity you want, then choose optics based on mounting and height decisions (i.e. will the LEDs be 3" above a 12" tall tank, or 24" above a 24" tall tank?)

Most builds use a mix of cool white and royal blue LEDs. The current "best" cool white LED is the Cree XP-G R5 bin. The current "best" royal blue LEDs are the XR-E or XP-E royal blues, depending on which package you want.

If you want to match a typical 14kk MH lamp, you might use 20-22 royal blue XP-E and 14-16 cool white XP-G R5. That'll be more light overall than your 250w MH, but it'll give you a lot of wiggle room with placement, optics, etc. If you wanted to go "budget" and keep the LED count lower, and were going to use optics and/or light only part of the tank (for instance if you had live rock stacked in one island and didn't need to light the rest), you could probably drop down to 16 - 18 royal blues and 12 - 14 cool whites.

You'll also need heatsinks and drivers. The most common DIY choice for heatsinks is to get a massive extruded heatsink from heatsinkusa.com but that's arguably overkill. If you have good ventilation in your hood, you can use extruded aluminum channel as long as it's cooled well via fans.

For drivers, there are really two popular choices. First is meanwell products, i.e. meanwell ELN-60-48's (12 - 13 LEDs each, up to 1.3A, dimmable) or LPC-700-35's (12 or 13 LEDs, fixed 700mA, non-dimmable). These drivers can be plugged right in, no DC power supply required. The dimmable ELNs are nice but require a signal on the dimming circuit, which you can make via a wall wart and a few components.

The other popular option is buckpuck drivers, which come with fixed (but dimmable) output currents, and require a separate DC power supply. Driver choice is really a matter of personal preference, they all have roughly the same functionality and cost.
 
Thank you for all of the awesome information and taking the time to respond in so much depth. With all that in mind i dont know if i can make a decision easily. I was considering a Maxspect. I would like a finished look to my fixture. Let the reading begin. Any other information is still greatly appreciated.

Cheap compared to commercial LEDs but around twice what it should cost to DIY something with similar specs. And as much of a fan of LEDs as I am, I think it's a hair unrealistic to expect two of those to replace a 250w MH.

Jdoe, you said "fixture or DIY." If you're interested in DIY, you should check out some of the LED builds in the DIY forum, or the "mother thread:"

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1678127

Some others:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1662682

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1751598

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1672708

On a 60g tank, you might want to start in the neighborhood of 30 - 40 HP LEDs depending on which LEDs you picked, drive current, optics, etc. My approach is to choose LEDs, drive current, and LED count to get the intensity you want, then choose optics based on mounting and height decisions (i.e. will the LEDs be 3" above a 12" tall tank, or 24" above a 24" tall tank?)

Most builds use a mix of cool white and royal blue LEDs. The current "best" cool white LED is the Cree XP-G R5 bin. The current "best" royal blue LEDs are the XR-E or XP-E royal blues, depending on which package you want.

If you want to match a typical 14kk MH lamp, you might use 20-22 royal blue XP-E and 14-16 cool white XP-G R5. That'll be more light overall than your 250w MH, but it'll give you a lot of wiggle room with placement, optics, etc. If you wanted to go "budget" and keep the LED count lower, and were going to use optics and/or light only part of the tank (for instance if you had live rock stacked in one island and didn't need to light the rest), you could probably drop down to 16 - 18 royal blues and 12 - 14 cool whites.

You'll also need heatsinks and drivers. The most common DIY choice for heatsinks is to get a massive extruded heatsink from heatsinkusa.com but that's arguably overkill. If you have good ventilation in your hood, you can use extruded aluminum channel as long as it's cooled well via fans.

For drivers, there are really two popular choices. First is meanwell products, i.e. meanwell ELN-60-48's (12 - 13 LEDs each, up to 1.3A, dimmable) or LPC-700-35's (12 or 13 LEDs, fixed 700mA, non-dimmable). These drivers can be plugged right in, no DC power supply required. The dimmable ELNs are nice but require a signal on the dimming circuit, which you can make via a wall wart and a few components.

The other popular option is buckpuck drivers, which come with fixed (but dimmable) output currents, and require a separate DC power supply. Driver choice is really a matter of personal preference, they all have roughly the same functionality and cost.
 
I'll put a disclaimer here that I'm fiercely DIY and probably have higher standards for LED technology than many people, but the Maxspect units strike me as poorly designed ripoffs. If you decide to go the commercial off the shelf route for anything bigger than a nano, really I only see a few viable options right now:

1) AI, which are really nice, but very expensive
3) Wait a year and see what happens - my guess is that LED lighting is going to explode. Next year this time, you'll probably have at least half a dozen really solid options.
 
I'll put a disclaimer here that I'm fiercely DIY and probably have higher standards for LED technology than many people, but the Maxspect units strike me as poorly designed ripoffs. If you decide to go the commercial off the shelf route for anything bigger than a nano, really I only see a few viable options right now:

1) AI, which are really nice, but very expensive
3) Wait a year and see what happens - my guess is that LED lighting is going to explode. Next year this time, you'll probably have at least half a dozen really solid options.

Whats number 2. J/K

I agree with number 3. I have played with MH for a few months now and im concerned about temps. I was considering getting a chiller but, if thats the case i will just go led. Im gonna get all OCD reading up on all of the DIY information you gave to me.
 
Back
Top