Chinese LED Lights

Hi all. I just picked up a used "D120" style fixture. Dimmable blue & white + separate moons. Cheapo timer on the front that seems to work ok, controls blue, white & moon schedules separately. Love all these features, love the light it puts in the tank, but the fan noise is killer. The three fans (I'm guessing 80mm) seem to be going full speed at all times (except when both blue & white channels are off). Really really loud.
It doesn't seem to me that there is enough heat to warrant so much fan power. Honestly I don't see why they use 3 small fans. A couple of 120MM fans would be sooo much quieter.
I've read in this thread that some people think the fans are loud and some don't. So are some fixtures equipped with temp regulated fan speed control? Has anyone tried a 56 ohm resistor to slow them down? (PC case modder trick).

- D
 
Now to my sump/refugium! ;-)

Now to my sump/refugium! ;-)

Another question guys! I am putting in a 20 gallon sump/refug for my DT. The refug will be approx 9x12x9 (give or take a little as I haven't built it yet). What do you suggest for a light over the refug? Have looked at PAR38 in a clip on metal reflector and a couple other 10-20watt whites on ebay. Suggestions please!! Thanks in advance!!!
:spin1:
 
Ron Reefman said:
Are you saying that the intensity of the light changes by the same amount and that the medium (air or water) doesn't make a difference?
Click to expand...

No, but distance is a big factor. Every time you double your distance, you drop the intensity to 1/4th.
But water does absorb light rapidly, especially the longer wavelengths (reds go first). If you look at that link I posted they have the following:

only 73% of the surface light reaches a depth of 1 centimeter (less than a half inch)
only 44.5% of the surface light reaches a depth of 1 meter (3.3 feet)
22.2% of the surface light reaches a depth of 10 meters (33 feet)
0.53% of the surface light reaches a depth of 100 meters (330 feet)
0.0062% of the surface light reaches a depth of 200 meters
Click to expand...
 
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Ron Reefman said:
If I get a chance I'll check it out for you. It shouldn't be much at all. Air/distance has only a very small affect. Water/distance is probably 10 times the affect.
Click to expand...

This is what i thought too back then but my 6 bulb ati sunpower had a huge difference between hanging 8" and 6". enough so that my par right under the surface was only 128 for a good while. I couldnt figure why my sps were struggling since I had hung my light the same height as others.

I'm just curious since I wanted to get a bright color in my tank but I cant ramp it up just yet. While my anemone still has great coloration, I feel the colors could be deeper. The same with my monti that still has color but looks pale. It may have to do with my biopellets, just quite not sure. The zoas and palys are popping heads left and right and holding great color. My only lps, an original mummy eye, lost most of its green and went gold/orange.
 
Ron Reefman said:
Are you saying that the intensity of the light changes by the same amount and that the medium (air or water) doesn't make a difference?
Click to expand...

air/water very little difference unless your talking about feet, my par meter cant tell the difference, you also get some reflection from the glass back into the tank, at tank depths of less than 36" there is very little difference air vs water, unless you have some major algae or water clarity issues, inverse square law is a btch
 
Man at 100 blue and 30 percent white I feel I get the 20k look I want ... I'm having Logan send me 8 royal blues with my driver... I have 14 total whites 10 of which are 65k so ill prob take out 4 of those and replace them with the blues cause its just not even close lol .... would like to get to at least up to 50 percent whites and have the look I like lol
 
What a great read this thread has been! In fact, it inspired me to buy 2 of the Chinese led fixtures.

Ive had my 70G Bowfront Corner tank for about 6 months now. I started off with the 24in Panorama Pro Fixture that you will see below, which wasnt strong enough to grow half my LPS and definitely not any of my SPS.. Plus it cost $500.. Luckily for me both the ballasts went out and Ecoxotic kindly sent me the replacements that were under warranty. I then promptly sold the fixture on Ebay. :)

In the mean time, a buddy of mine loaned me a spare 250w MH (Thanks TEK!) to keep my tank alive while I decided how to recover in an inexpensive yet long term solution. So here I am!

I bought 2 of the 120w full spectrum LEDs and couldnt be happier. The pic with the LEDs just doesnt do justice to how good they look in person! I would say the depth they give the corals and the way they bring out all the corals just doesnt compare!

I thought I would share my progression - Keep in mind, All I have is an iPad for pictures, so please excuse the quality.

Here is my tank with the 120W Full Spectrum LEDs from China
DT_D120.jpg


Here is my tank with the 250W MH
DT_250MH.jpg


Here is my tank with the Panorama Pro 24in Fixture
DT_PanoramaPro.jpg


I went with the DIY with blues - whites - greens - reds and violets depicted in the layout below.
D120_Layout.jpg


I used 4X4 post hardware to mount under the canopy for the LEDs to rest on.
D120_Mount.jpg

D120_RSide.jpg

D120_RSide_Under.jpg

D120_LSide.jpg
 
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That is a great canopy mount and tank Jeff. Love the comparison pics as well.

The more people and long term experiences we can get being shared, the better. I've always loved MH/T5 and they are proven, but I also feel that leds can provide an as good or better experience. It isn't as proven, still has a lot of room for improvements, and may need some tweaking here and there until it can't get any better... but the potential and cost savings are huge having these lights available.

One of the new things I'll be trying soon, is adding 430nm and 405nm violets mixed in with the 420nm ones being offered. I don't think they offer this kind to purchase in the layout yet, but they can be soldered in. If it provides better growth or color, anyone else will be able to add them too with some soldering.
 
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hey all. well i was off this thread for about 2 months or so. was following it closely and about to pull the trigger. Had some family issues that prevented me from following this and getting my order in. rather than read 45 pages or so. can i get a quick reply. are there any changes as to who we are looking at as the top producer. what would work best for a 96" x 31" x 31". bhazzard i believe you gave me some great advice. i will go back and search my posts.. in mean time are there larger units available now that would work well with this depth and length ect.. thanks
 
by the way bhazzard..just read your posts back on the pages of 80 or so.. thanks for the comparison. how many of those needed for a tank my size.. thanks for all your help..
 
I just replaced my 250 mh with a 120 watt led unit.It doesn't look as bright as the 250,but what I am hearing from others that this is decieving.This unit is on a 28 jbj nano,about 6'' from water surface.Right now the blues are about 80%,and the whites are 60%.
 
SNAKEMANVET said:
I just replaced my 250 mh with a 120 watt led unit.It doesn't look as bright as the 250,but what I am hearing from others that this is decieving.This unit is on a 28 jbj nano,about 6'' from water surface.Right now the blues are about 80%,and the whites are 60%.
Click to expand...

That is a pretty common issue. People feel that they must look at bright at the MH.

Having just swapped mine out less than a week ago. I can agree my tank doesnt seem as bright. But the light output is great.

You have to think that a MH puts out a large area of photo-metrics. Then you add in a good Reflector and they helps. LEDs have a MUCH smaller foot print. thats the reason for options with optics. To control the Photo-metrics.
 
SNAKEMANVET said:
I just replaced my 250 mh with a 120 watt led unit.It doesn't look as bright as the 250,but what I am hearing from others that this is decieving.This unit is on a 28 jbj nano,about 6'' from water surface.Right now the blues are about 80%,and the whites are 60%.
Click to expand...

The only way to tell is by taking a PAR meter to it. The 120 watt easily matched my 250w MH + 24x4w T5 PAR over my cube.
 
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