LED lighting question
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ScrubberOTanky
New member
Yes yes yes and yes!
I have them on my 29g check the "Got Bonsai" thread for more info.... I actually have an Acropora and a poccilipora(sp?) under mine, and they are about to release lens and reflector kits for them that focus the light more for deeper tanks and higher light loving corals.
No PAR reading yet as noone has a meter, but as soon as I know I will let you all know.
FWIW I was extremely skeptical of these things prior to touching, molesting, and massaging them into my DIY T5/LED hybrid retro spaceship light. I have since come around completely, but I am yet to draw a complete conclusion as I have only been running them for a few weeks.
HTH
I have them on my 29g check the "Got Bonsai" thread for more info.... I actually have an Acropora and a poccilipora(sp?) under mine, and they are about to release lens and reflector kits for them that focus the light more for deeper tanks and higher light loving corals.
No PAR reading yet as noone has a meter, but as soon as I know I will let you all know.
FWIW I was extremely skeptical of these things prior to touching, molesting, and massaging them into my DIY T5/LED hybrid retro spaceship light. I have since come around completely, but I am yet to draw a complete conclusion as I have only been running them for a few weeks.
HTH
Garage1217
GET OFF MY LAWN
What wattage are the fixtures? What type of leds are they running? I have a light meter scrubber in case you need to borrow one. I did thorough tests on the LED fixtures I run and they were in fact comparable to my 250W halide setups. Lots of info in my giga to nanowatts post and a crapton of info in the maxspect thread. Basically I have 320W worth of led over my 90G right now.
I have found that in general, you need around 90-110W of led light to compare to a 150W 20K halide & around 160W to compare to a 250W 20K halide. This is a broad generalization but it is close enough.
Personally I do not like lenses on leds as they CAN create spotlighting depending on how the leds are arranged. Most 1 & 3W leds used currently have decent built in lenses already that produce light 90 degrees. Gives the tank an even, well lit look & the light penetrates the water very well without a lot of reflection.
I have found that in general, you need around 90-110W of led light to compare to a 150W 20K halide & around 160W to compare to a 250W 20K halide. This is a broad generalization but it is close enough.
Personally I do not like lenses on leds as they CAN create spotlighting depending on how the leds are arranged. Most 1 & 3W leds used currently have decent built in lenses already that produce light 90 degrees. Gives the tank an even, well lit look & the light penetrates the water very well without a lot of reflection.
ScrubberOTanky
New member
There are two fixtures, 17.5" and 24" the 24" fixture has 6 modules and 2 stunners. The modules in the fixtures have 12 3w Crees underdriven at 1w each for longer life with reflectors to focus the light better. The individual modules which can be purchased separately do not use Cree, they use Edison optic LEDs that are modeled after the Crees. 12 3watters driven at 1w each. Each module draws 13 watts because of the transformer. The Modules do not have reflectors, but the company is working on releasing lens kits and reflectors in the next couple months. I currently have some prototype lenses from the owner that make a HUGE differnce in light output. They light my 29" deep tank with no problem, and focus the light much more similar to a halide than an LED with even spread.
The coolest thing about the fixtures is the modules each have separate power sources, so if one bank of LEDs goes out, your whole fixture isnt off, only part of it is. They really are the future ladies and gentlemen.
The retro I made uses 2 of the 50/50 modules and an all blue actinic module flanked by 2 24w T5 Geissmann actinics. It gives a ton of shimmer, some would even say it is too busy on the eyes on the bottom of the tank. To the best of my knowledge they are not dimmable as that is what infringes on the Orbitech patent.
Those willing to accept new technology will welcome these and other LEDs with open arms, others will scoff and point and talk smack, but I know I am more than happy with the power savings alone!
Edit: I will also disclaim that I was a HUGE skeptic prior to my own personal observations.
The coolest thing about the fixtures is the modules each have separate power sources, so if one bank of LEDs goes out, your whole fixture isnt off, only part of it is. They really are the future ladies and gentlemen.
The retro I made uses 2 of the 50/50 modules and an all blue actinic module flanked by 2 24w T5 Geissmann actinics. It gives a ton of shimmer, some would even say it is too busy on the eyes on the bottom of the tank. To the best of my knowledge they are not dimmable as that is what infringes on the Orbitech patent.
Those willing to accept new technology will welcome these and other LEDs with open arms, others will scoff and point and talk smack, but I know I am more than happy with the power savings alone!
Edit: I will also disclaim that I was a HUGE skeptic prior to my own personal observations.
Pyrrhus
New member
We have tested the Ecoxotic LED fixtures on a PAR meter and compared the results to established systems that we have run under T5 and MH.
Depending on the configuration of the Panorama's (modules or fixture, lensed or not, different color mixtures) we are seeing anywhere from 30-150 par at a 12" depth of water and through around 6-14" of air, driven at the standard current of 350 ma. The systems that we maintain under MH or T5 systems range from as low as 20 par over our LPS to as high as ~220 par over the SPS system (250w Radium 10" water depth 16" from lamp to tank)
Based on the PAR comparisons we are very confident that they are capable of sustaining corals and have seen definite growth on some SPS corals that have been maintained under these systems for around 6 weeks.
Depending on the configuration of the Panorama's (modules or fixture, lensed or not, different color mixtures) we are seeing anywhere from 30-150 par at a 12" depth of water and through around 6-14" of air, driven at the standard current of 350 ma. The systems that we maintain under MH or T5 systems range from as low as 20 par over our LPS to as high as ~220 par over the SPS system (250w Radium 10" water depth 16" from lamp to tank)
Based on the PAR comparisons we are very confident that they are capable of sustaining corals and have seen definite growth on some SPS corals that have been maintained under these systems for around 6 weeks.
Garage1217
GET OFF MY LAWN
Interesting, Surprised they under-drive the cree's, they are rated for a very long life at 3W, many many years in fact. Do they have an active fan cooled heatsink or just passive cooling? What are the stunners?
My fixtures use semi 3w leds which are not the cream of the crop, but have wicked output & are cheap to purchase "you can order them with crees at an additional cost" They are actually driven at 2.5W each x 32 units per fixture. Plus 2 30W leds per fixture.
I do agree 110%, Leds are the future, they are here now and they are awesome
One of the unique advantages of leds is in the fact that you can place them much closer to the water. Mine are 3" from the waters surface! Try that with my halides and I would have cooked tang for lunch. The closest I could get my halides was 5" without to much of a raise in water temp. So to compare the two, one test I ran was at 13" from the test surface on the leds and 15" from the test surface on the halides. This helped me mimic the difference / mounting locations over my own tank.
For data, here is one of my units tested at 13". Raw lux numbers are below. X10 for actual lux value.
Compared to my 250W halide setups at 15" from test surface "to simulate the 2" difference in mounting height over my system"
My fixtures use semi 3w leds which are not the cream of the crop, but have wicked output & are cheap to purchase "you can order them with crees at an additional cost" They are actually driven at 2.5W each x 32 units per fixture. Plus 2 30W leds per fixture.
I do agree 110%, Leds are the future, they are here now and they are awesome
One of the unique advantages of leds is in the fact that you can place them much closer to the water. Mine are 3" from the waters surface! Try that with my halides and I would have cooked tang for lunch. The closest I could get my halides was 5" without to much of a raise in water temp. So to compare the two, one test I ran was at 13" from the test surface on the leds and 15" from the test surface on the halides. This helped me mimic the difference / mounting locations over my own tank.
For data, here is one of my units tested at 13". Raw lux numbers are below. X10 for actual lux value.
Compared to my 250W halide setups at 15" from test surface "to simulate the 2" difference in mounting height over my system"
Last edited:
ScrubberOTanky
New member
Passive heatsink, and it does not get that hot. Stunners are supplemental LED strips that also I believe have 12 LEDs in them but they are not Cree. more for tweaking the colors of the Panoramas, or adding supplemental lighting.
check out the Ecoxotic site for more info on exact products.
check out the Ecoxotic site for more info on exact products.
Garage1217
GET OFF MY LAWN
Reading about them now
On a side note, I have had a cherry milli that has been practically dormant with zero new growth for 6 months now other than it encrusting more. In the 2 weeks I have been running the leds, ALL tips show clear signs of new growth! Maybe this is just a crazy coincidence, but it is happening. Also my other SPS is doing fantastic under the leds. Have not noticed an increase in growth from them yet.
On a side note, I have had a cherry milli that has been practically dormant with zero new growth for 6 months now other than it encrusting more. In the 2 weeks I have been running the leds, ALL tips show clear signs of new growth! Maybe this is just a crazy coincidence, but it is happening. Also my other SPS is doing fantastic under the leds. Have not noticed an increase in growth from them yet.
Saddler
New member
Are these all RGB LEDs? I remember Phil's speech about LEDs a couple of years back. Does anyone know the color rendering index of quality RGB LEDs? Also, at what Hz do the average ballasts/drivers currently run these LEDs?
I was using a portable on-camera LED light at work for the past year. It was really nice and cheap, lightweight, low heat, dimmable, and consumed very little power so I could power it from a small battery attached directly to the back. But, it was an array of white LEDs instead of RGB LEDs. The color of the light had a green hue, so I had to use a minus green filter on it all the time. Then it looked pretty clean, but I'd guess the CRI to be about that of consumer CFL bulbs, ~65.
I was using a portable on-camera LED light at work for the past year. It was really nice and cheap, lightweight, low heat, dimmable, and consumed very little power so I could power it from a small battery attached directly to the back. But, it was an array of white LEDs instead of RGB LEDs. The color of the light had a green hue, so I had to use a minus green filter on it all the time. Then it looked pretty clean, but I'd guess the CRI to be about that of consumer CFL bulbs, ~65.
Garage1217
GET OFF MY LAWN
None of mine are RGB and I do not think any of the others are either.
witchdoctor
New member
Hey Garage (or anyone else),
wondering if you looked different wattage of LED lights much. (I've tried to find the maxspect thread to see if there is any discussion in there, but the reefcentral settings are even tighter now and can't access it.)
I am looking at actinic LEDs to supplement my MHs, either reefbrite, powerbrite, or ecoxotic. Some use 1W LEDs, some use 3W LEDs. I am thinking that with the PAR difference between the 1W and 3Ws, I'd need the 3W LEDs to create any sort of visible actinic difference with my MHs (250W Elos 14k, white with a bit of blue).
wondering if you looked different wattage of LED lights much. (I've tried to find the maxspect thread to see if there is any discussion in there, but the reefcentral settings are even tighter now and can't access it.)
I am looking at actinic LEDs to supplement my MHs, either reefbrite, powerbrite, or ecoxotic. Some use 1W LEDs, some use 3W LEDs. I am thinking that with the PAR difference between the 1W and 3Ws, I'd need the 3W LEDs to create any sort of visible actinic difference with my MHs (250W Elos 14k, white with a bit of blue).
Garage1217
GET OFF MY LAWN
Maxpect thread is now here...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1817995
If you are supplementing halides, then I would recommend a fixture with an active fan / running 3w leds close to the 3w spec. Or plug in the evc 20K bulbs you purchased from me and do not worry about actinic
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1817995
If you are supplementing halides, then I would recommend a fixture with an active fan / running 3w leds close to the 3w spec. Or plug in the evc 20K bulbs you purchased from me and do not worry about actinic
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