Chinese LED Lights

Im going to apologize in advance if I have missed this somewhere but its been a while since ive been on this thread. I have a NOVA A4. I have 4 UV and 4 violet that have burned out and the lenses turned black. Are there new violet LEDS that are being used now? I saw something about 420 nm violets. Mine are like 405-410.

Yes, they are using a newer 420 violet that doesn't burn the optic now. Email them for replacement leds. You'll have to solder them in yourself though.
 
Will 1 d120 or IT2040 be enough to cover 40g breader n support sps? How high would i need to hang it to get good coverage?

It won't be enough to cover the whole thing. I have two 40 breeders and got two d120's and am going to put both on one tank and mh/t5 on the other. Should be a nice experiment.
 
One d120 without optics would cover a 40 breeder but it wouldn't be super intense but I kept sps fine with one over my 65 which is same size as a breeder just taller and mine also didn't have optics
 
I got two of Twilight Group 120w led's, with built-in timers and 90° optics, for Christmas. They had to be mounted in my canopy, gotta keep the wife happy happy happy, but at that height the light spread was horrible. So Saturday I finally got around to removing the lenses and though everyone would like to see how much of a difference lenses make. By the way, with out the lenses the spread is 120°. The height off the water surface is about 3". This is a standard 75g.
 

Attachments

  • before.jpg
    before.jpg
    25 KB · Views: 25
  • after.jpg
    after.jpg
    26.6 KB · Views: 19
  • mounted.jpg
    mounted.jpg
    57.3 KB · Views: 19
I got two of Twilight Group 120w led's, with built-in timers and 90° optics, for Christmas. They had to be mounted in my canopy, gotta keep the wife happy happy happy, but at that height the light spread was horrible. So Saturday I finally got around to removing the lenses and though everyone would like to see how much of a difference lenses make. By the way, with out the lenses the spread is 120°. The height off the water surface is about 3". This is a standard 75g.

In a canopy and only 3" above the water, optics should not be used. Optics are really only needed 6" or more above the water over an open tank.

Tank looks great.
 
Got my IT2080s today. Radion Pro should be here by Wednesday.

What can I say? For the price, it's awesome. One unit covers one whole 36" side of my 72" tank. I slightly tweaked the Reefbreeders layout, and it is looking great.

100% on both channels isn't optimal however. The 2:1 ratio with warm whites included gives a 12-14k look at 100%. Lowering the whites down to 70 or 50% creates a really nice look.

White also doesn't look as sharp as my DIY fixture. For some reason, the DIY with Crees gives a sharper, more crisp white. It uses 6 Cool White, 3 Neutral White, and 3 Warm White XTEs, 24 blue, violet, red, cyan, etc.

Since I used 10 violets, pictures also come up very violet, although you can't see it in person. I also noticed that the unit operates from 1% on the white channel now over my IT2040. 480 blues for the moonlights also look much better, and less purple than 450nm at 1-5%.

There is no other fixture with this amount of coverage, for this price (as part of a group buy). The Razor has that more crisp white look, but its missing that hint of red I like. Either fixture works extremely well. Without a group buy price, the Razor is just as good. Its too bad I couldn't measure PAR on it, as I believe the IT may be a little stronger.

I'll take better pics later. Need to run to the hardware store for more S hooks to hang the other.

photo1_zps40e864fe.jpg


photo2_zps86014aeb.jpg


photo3_zps21ef39c0.jpg


photo4_zpsff99dc50.jpg
 
How high off the top of the aquarium is that hung? I have a 36" L 40 gal. breeder I will be using this light on and wondered what height to use. Logan said 3" but your is obviously higher. Thank you.
 
I moved the light lower to 6" off the water. 36" length per each side easily covered at 3" too.

Forget what I said before about the DIY Cree being sharper. It may have needed a few minutes, but even on "cloudy", the light looks fantastic and very bright. Just as good as the Cree, although not as powerful. Still, my DIY is overkill and needs to be run at 50% anyway.

One remote also controls both fixtures. It is really cool to sit on the couch and play around with it. No other fixture does that.

The reds don't cause much spotlighting, but the greens do. I will have to remove the optics on them, and possibly replace them with 120 degree optics. They will be replaced by my own cyans I have lying around anyway.

I'm very happy with these. The only things that could possibly improve the lights, are some premium Cree XT-Es for the blues and whites. 6 color channels, Touch Screen GUI, and smooth ramping up and down. Cost would go up though.

If I wasn't building my own light with those features, I would keep these over my tank in a heartbeat. They're awesome for the price.

IMG_20130121_170811.jpg


IMG_20130121_165111.jpg


IMG_20130121_164859.jpg


IMG_20130121_165239.jpg


IMG_20130121_165116.jpg


IMG_20130121_165211.jpg


IMG_20130121_165136.jpg


IMG_20130121_165046.jpg
 
OKay if I went with the Evergrow, which would be my best option? I have a standard 125 gallon tank it 6ft 18" wide and 21" tall. How many would I need?
 
OKay if I went with the Evergrow, which would be my best option? I have a standard 125 gallon tank it 6ft 18" wide and 21" tall. How many would I need?

What led color combo do you have bhazard, and what percentages are your channels at in the last pic. looks great?

Reefbreeders is a US seller of Evergrow. They are a RC sponsor, and you'll get a US warranty. They can do group buys too. It's not much more expensive than ordering direct.

Standard Reefbreeders layout will get you that color. Mine has 6 660nm reds and 10 violets. They have 4 reds and 8 violets normally I think. "Cloudy" mode, Whites at 50%, Blues at 60%.

You can see my layout a few pages back. The only thing I'm changing, is instead of 2 reds and greens in the same area, I'm going to mix them as 1 red 1 green instead, and use 120 degrees optics on the reds and greens.
 
Last edited:
Bhazard that looks very nice I can't wait to get my lights in. I ordered mine yesterday and now am just waiting for them to come in. I mixed my reds and greens around so hope they look good..keep us updated on what you change around to better the lights.
 
OKay if I went with the Evergrow, which would be my best option? I have a standard 125 gallon tank it 6ft 18" wide and 21" tall. How many would I need?

With a 6' tank you have several options:
3 or 4 of the D120 or IT2040 (3 or 4 depends on tank braces being in the way)
2 or 3 IT2060 (if you are doing sps this may not be a good choice)
2 IT2080 (by far the best choice) I have 2 over my 6' 180g and I love them.
 
Bhazard that looks very nice
Myself and a friend went to Bhazard's home last night to check out the lights, and were very impressed...looks like we'll be ordering similar set-ups for our 450g and 300DD respectively! The lighting was as good as/better than the other LED units we have looked at, and should be even better with the mods, Bhazard is going to make!
 
Myself and a friend went to Bhazard's home last night to check out the lights, and were very impressed...looks like we'll be ordering similar set-ups for our 450g and 300DD respectively! The lighting was as good as/better than the other LED units we have looked at, and should be even better with the mods, Bhazard is going to make!

One thing I didn't think of last night, was to raise the lights to reduce red/green spotlighting. With the lights raised a bit more, and placing red/green next to each other with 120 degree optics, the effect is reduced significantly.
 
Back
Top