chinese led lights

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I got a taotronics (basically a d120) over my tank, my corals seem to be loving it, I think the colors are great, Mine is basic 30Blue 25White, color is a lot nicer than my 2 10k 2 atinic t5 combo.
 
hockey00 said:
I purchased two nova a4 for a 4 foot long 75 gallon. I have 90 degree optics. I like the lights but I wish the coverage was better. Is there anyway to take optics out so they are 120 degree? I have them 8 inches off the water. I could modify my canopy to raise them up a few more inches. Any help thanks
Click to expand...

If you open up the light, the optics are being held in place by a plastic shield with 5 screws in it. Unscrew the shield and all the optics will come right off. They aren't glued, but are being held in place by the shield. Smart design, as you can change/remove optics at will.
 
OrrG said:
So would be correct in saying that the D120 or a Nova A6 will be twice as bright as an Aqua Illuminations fixture? These fixtures seem almost too good to be true.

I have a 200 DD 48" x 36" x 27". I'm looking to replace my 2 metal halides - 250 W radiums, in lumanmax elites on a galaxy select a watt. I'm still going to run my 48" T5's, 2 ATI blue plus on an icecap 430 which are 3 inches off the front and back of the tank. These alone are great for dawn/dusk, light up the whole tank. I love the look of my tank with the radiums and blue pluses but figure I can recreate this look with the right leds and controling the blues and whites.

I thought about going the Vega route but I keep thinking, is 20 leds per fixture really going to be enough to light my tank? I mean the D120 has 55 and the A6 has 72! Seems like it will blow away a vega and day. I was really drawn to all the customization of the aqua illumination but I'm probably not even going to notice the dimming and ramping up due to the T5s I will be running which are on from 1200 to 2230.

So what are the main differences between the D120 and A6 and which will provide the best coverage/spread? I'm not keeping sps but do have 7 large rbta and a few clams on the sand, the rest are softies,lps, zoas.
Click to expand...

It takes about 2 asian bridgelux leds to equal 1 Cree in output. They won't be twice as bright as an AI... but a little bit brighter, yes. The A6 would definitely be brighter.

The AI Vegas are going to have a ton of features and color customization ability, but you have to spend a fortune to light up a bigger tank with them.

Optics penetrate deeper and provide stronger light in a more focused area. No optics is spread out more, but not as strong. If the lights are in a canopy, you don't really need optics as much.

Either light would work well. You just have to decide which one you like better. I personally prefer the Nova with optics compared to the d120 with no optics over my tank. It just looks so much brighter, and more focused. If a d120 with optics looks like how the Nova does, its a killer deal for the price. Not having to buy 2 250w bulbs a year almost pays for 1 d120 itself... nevermind the electricity bill, and not having as much heat in the tank from the halides.

You could basically buy 2-3 d120's with optics for the cost of 1 AI Vega, and cover your tank completely. You just lose all the bells and whistles the Vega has. Are 3-4 Vega's and their extra features worth the extra $1,000 to you? If not, these perform similar at 1/4 of the price... which is why I love these lights. Using T5's with them would be an even better combo.

The other great part... no one has reported getting a bad light yet (knock on wood). They're made surprisingly well. I know because I've torn mine completely apart a few times now and took pictures :) Some of us have even soldered in different bridgelux leds, which isn't too difficult. I even added in 0-10v VDM light dimming for my Apex, which worked pretty well with the right drivers. Best LED value in the market outside of a DIY fixture by far right now.
 
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Looking at the dimable D120 and not being able to digest over 100 pages of information :crazy1:
What would be a good bulb combination for my 6' 125 gallon tank. Its going to be just soft corals with lots of liverock. I have plans to redo the whole tank. I have a new 125 sitting here but its my BUSY season and was going to put off light purchase but one of my PC's just died and i hate to spend money to fix it.
Im thinking 3 dimmable 120's and it looks like there on sale through the 7th so.....might as well do it now.
Should I just go 50/50 blue and white? Optics. I really am a lighting novice. Just give me a part number! :facepalm:
 
cmantis said:
How does this look? I used the following criteria:
- 2:1 b/w
--- 2:1 rb/b
--- 2:1 cw/nw
- ~10% violet/uv
- ~10% cyan/red

2 uv
2 violet
2 turquoise
2 red
2 cyan
10 cw
5 nw
20 rb
10 b

:uzi:
Click to expand...

Ok, redesign, after doing some more research. I took a look at the following:

spectrum-corals.jpg


This is what I came up with (please critique):

4 violet (420nm)
4 turquoise (500nm)
2 red orange (610nm)
10 cool white (10000k)
5 neutral white (5000k)
20 royal blue (450nm)
10 blue (470nm)
___________________

Dimmer 1=30
- 15 royal blue
- 5 blue
- 4 violet
- 4 turquoise
- 2 red orange

Dimmer 2=25
- 10 cool white
- 5 neutral white
- 5 royal blue
- 5 blue

:fish1:
 
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I just orded 2 AquariumLEDS 120w 14k I will post some pics when I get setup but i read about the first 20 pages and about the last 10 and for me and my budget we r going to give her a try. I have 135 with 2 250w MH with 4T5 2 white 2 blue. but i am learning just like everyone else Have a maxima clam and a some softies. I am going to leave 1 MH hooked up but not run it until I see how the clam does if it does good I will order 1 more led from aquariumleds.com if not so much I am going to put the MH in the middle and the leds on the end will see.:rollface:
 
cmantis said:
This is what I came up with (please critique):

4 violet (420nm)
4 turquoise (500nm)
2 red orange (610nm)
10 cool white (10000k)
6 neutral white (5000k)
20 royal blue (450nm)
9 blue (470nm)
___________________

Dimmer 1=30
- 15 royal blue
- 5 blue
- 4 violet
- 4 turquoise
- 2 red orange

Dimmer 2=25
- 10 cool white
- 6 neutral white
- 5 royal blue
- 4 blue

:fish1:
Click to expand...

Made a slight change adding one neutral white and eliminating one blue. This is a layout plan I came up with:

mantisled.png


Any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated!
 
Bhazard, thanks for all the info, I didn't know that about the bridgelux to cree output ratio.

Seems like the new fixture from Reef Breeders wouldn't be a bad way to go either. $300 for 40 cree leds with optics, full spectrum and dimmable.

I have an Apex and though about getting the dimming option too. So for $800 you essentially have 4 Vegas, compared to spending $1100 for Vegas with a controller with theoretically half the light output.

I may be able to ditch the T5s altogether and use the apex to ramp up and down for dawn/dusk.
 
Bhazzard.
1. Can simply replace the green or red at a later date if no good
2. ThToughts on using warm white rather than green
3. Think 2 uv and 2 violet better than 4 violet

Thanks
 
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