LED Lighting

[reefinnewb]

Hi all,

Been out of the game for a few years and would like to get back into it again. However when I was set up, LED was only in experimental / DIY stages. Now it's a full blown market. I'm currently looking at the OCREEF DIY kits and not sure what I'll need. It will be 120g tank. I was thinking 2 of the 24w kits. I'm looking to keep a mixed reef of SPS, LPS, and softies. Would that be a good set up or will I need more power?

Thanks!!

EDIT: Sorry its a 72 watt kit. 24 x 3w. I'd have one of those on each end of the tank. Totaling 144w of LED.

 

[Donkeykong]

These kits use the Bridgelux leds, they are not bad but not nearly as efficient as the CREE line. Also the 60 degree optics included are kinda narrow for a tank that isnt going to be over 24". Look at rapidled.com kits, they have more options for optics and leds. The biggest current debate on Leds is what colors are needed and at what ratio. There are tons of very long threads about building these kits out so I would start searching and be prepared for a long read.

 

[reefinnewb]

http://www.ocreef.com/diy_cree_led_aquarium_light_kit?category_id=5061

This is the one. It is a CREE fixture.

 

[Donkeykong]

ok, I looked at the first one that came up when I googled OCREEF DIY. This does have the CREE which is nice but you do not want a 1:1 of white and royal blue. Most all major companies have discovered that that mixture just simply doesnt work. You want blue and royal blue, cool and warm white, and a few red. There is debate whether UV is needed or even useful. If you can modify the LED's instead of what is listed may be a decent kit. But you dont want the 1:1 split they have listed, I have seen several tanks and read about tons more that failed using just that and then later on had to go back and either switch out or add some other colors to complete the spectrum.

 

[reefinnewb]

Hmm.. Maybe what I'll do then is get a Tek light 6*54w and supplement with LED. I had the Tek on my 65 and loved it. Just missed the shimmer of MH. If I supplement with LED to add shimmer then I won't have to worry about color spectrum. Plus I only have to change the t5ho once a year or so.

 

[Donkeykong]

That is an option, but you will have to get a good amount of LED's or the T5's just wash them out and you have very little shimmer. A buddy of mine had 4x54w ATI fixture and 2 48" Ecoxotic Stunner strips and had decent shimmer, not sure how many you would need with a 6 bulb fixture. Good thing about LED's is that they are very small and alot can be added after the fact if you want more. The stunner strips actually only use a single power supply for up to 6 strips. Like I said if you are still interested in a DIY LED kit look at rapid LEDs. They have very similiar kits as you just posted but you can customize the optic leds drivers, pretty much everything. They have good customer support so you can call them up and tell them what you want to do and they will point you in the right direction. Or just go T5's since they are tried and true.

 

[Andrew johns]

I went with rapid LED kit for my tank saved a lot of money ,it cost me £500 to light my tank if I went with radion led it would of cost me £2000 . So DIY all the way for me.

 

[reefinnewb]

Ok, just for reference, is there a calculation for deciding how many LEDs you would need? I'm going to do a 120g tank. Not sure how many LEDs would be required.