BigCountry74
New member
ummm sure they are. Any chinese LED black box is about this thread, and the debate on whether or not to try/buy them. Least that is what I have been reading and posting about over the last few pages. did I miss something?
chinese led lights
- Thread starter stevercleeze
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Detroit_306
New member
No idea but do keep up.. I have those exact lights
TropTrea
New member
With LED's you can simply build a system to corespond to your needs. With using several drivers you can switch lighting effects to go gradualy from pre dawn to mid day in several steps, rather than having an instant on off effect.
They generaly say LED lighting uses 1/3 the power of MH.s but but I would not go by as a hard rule of thumb. In your case I would go with a starting point of about 24 Royal Blue LED's and 12 Nuetral White LEDs running at 700 ma. Not knowing your tank size I'm just estimating this as the equivelent to the 250 watt mh as a rough starting point.
Remember different people have different color taste in there aquariums that is why they sell 10,000K MH's bulbs as well as 20,000K metal hide bulbs. So once you get the basic system up and running you can then judge by your personal taste if you want it bluer, whiter, dimmer or simply brighter.
They do have some new 5 watt CRI 95 LED's that sound great for whites but I would wait on these till the prices drop. Something new is always premium priced until they build up sales and cover there research costs.
TropTrea
New member
Now the question is what did you pay for them?
What is there wattage? As there are 40 LED's for each module I would hope they are 100 to 136 Watts per unit?
What is the color combination 1 White to 1 Royal Blue? or as I prefer 1 White to 3 Royal Blues?
BigCountry74
New member
40 3w leds, 20 white, 20 blue, 120w per box.
I would have preferred 1 white to 3 royals as well. But $479 shipped for 3 boxes, I ran with it versus going down the DIY path.
my budget was 500. it was this or a cheap *** 72" MH/T5 odyssea which I did not want to do...
I have DIY everything outside of lighting. I was just not ready (comfortable) for that at the current price points.
I would have preferred 1 white to 3 royals as well. But $479 shipped for 3 boxes, I ran with it versus going down the DIY path.
my budget was 500. it was this or a cheap *** 72" MH/T5 odyssea which I did not want to do...
I have DIY everything outside of lighting. I was just not ready (comfortable) for that at the current price points.
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donald altman
New member
My point...
I was....
Be careful alot of your stage lighting is RGB (I'm sure you probably know this) the RGB's can make alot of colors that us humans can see without shifting the actual spectrum of light so your making the tank look pretty nice but not doing anything for the corals.
BigCountry74
New member
wish this tech was around 13 years ago Don.
I would have built something NASTY for my senior project at UNCC....browser based controlled.....and funded!....something....lol could of walked away with a bad *** light and a years worth of college credit! haha
I would have built something NASTY for my senior project at UNCC....browser based controlled.....and funded!....something....lol could of walked away with a bad *** light and a years worth of college credit! haha
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gmate
MASC Member
My corner 55g tank has a small footprint (32x32) and I'm thinking that with one closely-placed light I can greatly supplement my 36" t5 fixture, if not replace it entirely. Under the price range of 200 dollars, I'm still skeptical about these fixtures despite the reviews here.
Should I take the plunge? I definitely want dimmable, 2w or 3w fixtures with blue/white and possibly w/violet.
Should I take the plunge? I definitely want dimmable, 2w or 3w fixtures with blue/white and possibly w/violet.
Check these out.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Dimmabl...566?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7103e40e
New guy on ebay but company has been around awhile. These are 3w running at 2w. Seems legit but you never know. Heres their website http://www.ledbell.com/ for the price of dimmable thats a scream. There bulbs are made by epileds.
Anyway something to look at.
gmate
MASC Member
Eh, not wow-ed. The feedback on the seller is pretty much nil and the website looks like something I threw together in high-school. I'd prefer reputable if possible. Aquarium LED looks like I'm going for a 14k 3w fixture possibly...
Funny you should say the web site looks cheap. I agree but Ive dealt with 500million dollar companies in China and there site looks worse. I will probably go with Aquariumleds also if I dont go DIY. Dont be fooled though AquariumLED is only a middleman(not that Im knocking that) He just orders a pallet and turns it on to check it before he sends it to you and pockets 25 bucks.
solareclisped
Member
Where is the best place to get DIY parts?
submersible
Member
Anyone with the aquariumleds have a killawatt meter?
Am I missing something... At aquariumleds.com, the specs say the leds are driven at 300-350mA at 3-3.5 volts. Doesn't that equal .9-1.22 watts per led? AmpsxVolts=Watts?
The taotronics are driven at 630mA but don't specify voltage. Anyone have a taotronics fixture and a killawatt?
Am I missing something... At aquariumleds.com, the specs say the leds are driven at 300-350mA at 3-3.5 volts. Doesn't that equal .9-1.22 watts per led? AmpsxVolts=Watts?
The taotronics are driven at 630mA but don't specify voltage. Anyone have a taotronics fixture and a killawatt?
TropTrea
New member
For 120 LED's if they are true Cree LED's that is very comparable to what a DIY would cost. I do like the fact they are using both Blues and Royal Blues but I will agree with you that the 3 to 1 ration would look better if they are using neutral whites. But if they are using cool whites then the 2 to 1 ration should look okay.
Do you have the ability to put at least a Timer on each color? If so you can run the Royals pre-dawn to post dusl, ad the Blues for dawn to dusk, and then add the whites for mid day.
BigCountry74
New member
DropT, I can run timers on blue and white (each box has a seperate power cord/switch), but not the 2 shades of blue. I have moonlight LEDs left over from my CF fixture that fried, and I am going to mount those in the canopy once I get it built. So I will be able to somewhat mimic what your describing.
I got the boxes mounted will post a pic later once I upload them from the camera. The light is very clean, does not look like a bottle of Windex like I was afraid of. Glad I went with 14k. My tank has been in the dark for the most part for 2 weeks, the fish dunno what to do...
It's pretty bright.
I got the boxes mounted will post a pic later once I upload them from the camera. The light is very clean, does not look like a bottle of Windex like I was afraid of. Glad I went with 14k. My tank has been in the dark for the most part for 2 weeks, the fish dunno what to do...
It's pretty bright.
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Juggernaut63
New member
I have the 30 blue, 25 white variant of the is LED fixture that I picked up for about $160 shipped about 6 weeks ago.
I use the light for my 30 gallon Deep Blue frag tank that is only about 12" deep. I keep my frags on about a 5" rack so there is only about 5" of water above them.
I think the light is a "good bang for the buck" unit. But, the par is pretty low and I don't really think it's enough for SPS.
A friend came over and measured the par and it only puts out about 120 par near the surface with the light about 12" above the water. I dropped the fixture down to about 7" above the water now but I have not remeasured the par.
I'm sure its enough light for most stuff but SPS will want for more.
I use the light for my 30 gallon Deep Blue frag tank that is only about 12" deep. I keep my frags on about a 5" rack so there is only about 5" of water above them.
I think the light is a "good bang for the buck" unit. But, the par is pretty low and I don't really think it's enough for SPS.
A friend came over and measured the par and it only puts out about 120 par near the surface with the light about 12" above the water. I dropped the fixture down to about 7" above the water now but I have not remeasured the par.
I'm sure its enough light for most stuff but SPS will want for more.
BigCountry74
New member
Here are the lights mounted, some pics of the white + blue, then just the blue:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19933114#post19933114
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19933114#post19933114
TropTrea
New member
The low Par seems to be an issue with most of the LED fixtures I see sold at local pet stores as well. 55 LED's if they were Cree XP-e running a 3 Watts each would be way too powerful for 30 gallon Breeder tank. On my home made fixture for a 40 gallon breeder whish is just a couple inches taller than yours I'm running only 30 LED's and it way brighter than it was with 6 39 watt T-5's.
With your moving the lights and the description of your set up my guess is your close to that 120 PAR at your corals right now, since they are 12" from the LED's.
I have picked up two different Cree LED's Bridgelux LED's, and an off brand Import all claiming to be 3 Watt LED''s. I powered them all up at 700 ma and you could tell there was definatly difference between them. The CREE XP-E were the Brightest , followed by the Cree XT-E, and the no name were the dimmest of them all. But the CREE XT-E was drawing 2.9 Volt at 700ma which means it was running at 2.0 Watts while the XP-E was drawing 3.4 volts or wunning at 2.4 Watts. If you ran both of these up to 3 Watts I'd bet the XR-E would have been the brightest. No no name imprort was pulling 4 volts at 700 ma so it was pulling 2.8 Watts and was the dimmest of the all.
BigCountry74
New member
The 30 + 25w Ebay units are 2w LEDs. That's prob why the pars were so low.
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