DIY led setup vs Buying a led fixture.

[greg0385]

im interested in jumping onboard with the new trend to have led lights. but wonder if its better to do diy or buy fixture. the tank is 48"x24"x30" and not set on have sps on sand bed but do want to be able to keep alot of sps if i choose too. has anybody who has led wish they have had done anything different? does anybody think waiting would pay? And what kind of price should be looking at with this type of setup for sps on bottom vs 3/4 of tank capable of having sps?
thanks
greg

 

[poolkeeper1]

I'm in the process of doing just what your asking, That said if you are handy and realize that LED's are not cheap then i would say DIY. You can go by a standard rule of thumb of 96 LED's over a 48 x 24" area and buy your frame material, LED's, Optics, Drivers, Misc parts and a Good Soldering Iron and have at it. In reality you can expect to spend at least 1,000.00 on a DIY this size Depends on lots of variables you need to choose. Like Dimmable Drivers, If you have a controller to work them (Apex) and how you decide to mount the LED's and what ones you buy Etc, Etc.
This should give you a rough idea of what your looking at, If you buy a fixture lots of those out there are only 1W fixtures and are virtually useless for SPS as they just are not powerful enough and they still cost quite a good bit of money.
Do lots of research and learn what you will need to know B4 you jump in that I can tell you for sure, As i bought a used DIY that i thought was Plug and play and I'm still spending money to get it up to speed but it will be top shelf when completed
Bill

 

[NeveSSL]

Personally, there aren't too many units I would consider. Aquailluminations are some of the best, and I think they're around $500 without a controller (that is, you can control them from an Apex or RKE/RKL). You could probably get away with just using two to begin with, but you'd probably want to add a third later on if you got more serious about SPS.

DIYing is great because you can completely customize the LEDs. Having said that, its also quite a bit of work.

Just my $0.02.

Brandon

 

[gflat65]

I figure you can DIY for about half the cost of an OEM fixture. For example, a 24 bulb AI is over $500 without controller, as Brandon mentioned. You can DIY a 24" 'fixture' (heatsink is the carriage) with 48 bulbs for less than $600 (with dimmable drivers).

 

[tkimmons85]

Im like you I want to make the switch but I think im gonna give it another year to see how peoples tanks do semi-long term and also to see how current fixtures change.

 

[NeveSSL]

FWIW, there are several semi-long term (1 to 3 years) tanks other than what people in MTRC are doing. Give it a Google.

Brandon

 

[greg0385]

i have RKL so the dimmable controller wont work?

 

[NeveSSL]

I don't follow what you're asking, Greg.

The RKL will dim LEDs and will also control AquaIlluminations units, but in order to do either you would need the ALC (Advanced Lighting Control) module.

Brandon

 

[greg0385]

sorry for the mis-word question. i was trying to ask if by having the RKL i couldn't control the dimmable drivers for the leds to simulate the full light cycle.

 

[tkimmons85]

Im still on the fence cause I have read and heard both sides of the story. LEDS work or they don't. Id also prefer to see something in person from someone who I know than trust someones opinion that I don't know. Especially since it would take at least a grand (prob more) to light my tank. That's alot of dough to blow on something if it doesn't perform exactlly the way I want it to.

 

[tkimmons85]

Also I had a diy cree fixture on a pico tank for over a year and all the softies lost alot of color so needless to say im sceptical when it comes to sps

 

[greg0385]

my first and only saltwater tank was a 55, i went to a lfs(wont mention the name) but told them i wanted to keep whatever i want in this tank(mostly clams) at that time. the helper pointed out this 48" PC 4 bulb setup with two daylights and two atintic.MORAL OF THE STORY is i spent nearly 200 dollars on a light(plus the clam that died), that i couldn't do what he said after talking to the owner of the lfs a few weeks later. i was so mad that i had been duked. now im gun-shy when it comes to buying anything now thinking it will take me down that same path.

 

[GT_Jacket]

now im gun-shy when it comes to buying anything now

Not a bad thing and will cause you to research heavily before buying in the future. It will also curtail the evil that we all have - impulse buying.

 

[mapn4reef]

Well...here's a related technology experience, I've been using game scouting cameras (for hunting for those that don't know about them) for years, about 4 years ago manufactures who produced a good camera wanted big bucks for it, so DIY homebrew camera guys started making parts/boards/cases etc to hack name brand digital cameras, so for half the price you could have a way better performing product with 10x better picture quality... Well, manufactures paid attention to what consumers wanted in these cams, technology advanced, and before you knew it...manufacturers started making better performing cameras than DIY homebrews for 30-50% less cost. Only people left doing homebrew cameras are those who like to tinker, and who want framing quality photos.

Moral of the story, in a year or two, high performance, feature rich, highly customizable, way lower cost LED units will be on the market to the consumer, making DIY fixtures more of tinkering hobby rather than economic/product performance motivation. Of course, the highend next best thing will always be dangling out there...

 

[tkimmons85]

Well said John, you took the words out of my mouth

 

[greg0385]

to be on the cutting edge of technology is expensive and litterally a fine line to stay on

 

[poolkeeper1]

Well that's true, But maybe five years ago it was cutting edge. These day's they are getting pretty common and most DIYer's do it because the affordable ones are still 1W units that are virtually useless for SPS. I do think that they will come down in price and go up in quality as far as type of bulbs used and features avaiable. But IMO you will alway's see DIY in this area just like you did with Metal Halides and T5HO's There is no difference just the bulbs have changed.
Bill