LED Options?

[victornator333]

I have the good ole Illuminata tank from Oceanic. 57gal, 36x18x21 I believe.

I currently run a 250W DE 14k Phoenix and a pair of 24w ATI bulbs.

Considering new fixture in the LED category... what do I want and how many of them do I want over my SPS tank?

Thanks!

 

[rimless75g]

I would say one Kessil LED light fixutre should do it, but two probably be good. Otherwise go with the reefbreeder light fixture.

 

[victornator333]

I would say one Kessil LED light fixutre should do it, but two probably be good. Otherwise go with the reefbreeder light fixture.

I was thinking the 360W, but would 2 of the narrow lenses be better?

Do you use a controller on yours?

 

[Perth_reefer]

Just be aware that with LED you usually need more than what the manufacturer recommends, especially for SPS. Having said that, I have no experience with Kessils so they may be up for the job with just one.

 

[mcgyvr]

360W of LED for that tank is WAY..WAY too much..
More like 120W is plenty..And start at 50% or less and work your way up over a few weeks..

Now do you want storms/clouds/wifi connectivity,etc..
OR just on/off
Budget?

 

[TangingOut]

360W of LED for that tank is WAY..WAY too much..
More like 120W is plenty..And start at 50% or less and work your way up over a few weeks..

Now do you want storms/clouds/wifi connectivity,etc..
OR just on/off
Budget?

I think that's just the model name. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Kessil A360W actually put out 360W.

 

[Perth_reefer]

360W of LED for that tank is WAY..WAY too much..
More like 120W is plenty..And start at 50% or less and work your way up over a few weeks..

Now do you want storms/clouds/wifi connectivity,etc..
OR just on/off
Budget?

The OP is currently running 300W of MH/T5, taking that out and putting 120W of LED, then running it at 50%, so effectively 60W of LED is going to see SPS suffer.

 

[TangingOut]

Isn't a lot of that MH wattage given off in the form of heat though? I think 120W of LEDs is enough for that size tank. Or maybe I'm way off and someone with more knowledge will chime in.

 

[Perth_reefer]

Isn't a lot of that MH wattage given off in the form of heat though? I think 120W of LEDs is enough for that size tank. Or maybe I'm way off and someone with more knowledge will chime in.

Well the general consensus is that you need a lot more LED power v MH power, that is why successful LED tanks tend to have a lot of fixtures. By putting a 120W LED on you're cutting the output down to about 40%. It's true some power will be lost in heat but check out successful 3ft LED lit SPS tanks, I guarantee they'll be running more than 120W of LED. I ran 3 Hydra52s (400W) on my 5ft tank for a while and that wasn't enough. For a really successful SPS tank I reckon you need almost 1 fixture per ft, for Hydra52s and Radions anyway.

 

[Saltwaterwill]

I currently have a kessil 360we on my 30 gallon breeder, I'm getting coral growth and color but I noticed they are stronger than they appear so be careful with the the intensity at first , Acclimate them to the lights and I'd say you will be good with two 360w's on your tank. Hth

 

[Ron Reefman]

Well the general consensus is that you need a lot more LED power v MH power, that is why successful LED tanks tend to have a lot of fixtures.

Respecfully I'll disagree with that 'general consensus'. I had 4 250W MH and 4 20w t5 over my 180g tank with a mix of sps and lps. I switched to led and have 198 3w leds powered by 4 120w drivers and I run them at WELL less than 100% even at mid day full sun (actually at 90% blue and 40% white). So I went from 1000w of MH and more if you add in the t5's, to 480w of led. However, I run them at about 65% of full power, or under 300w. And after a 30-60 day acclimation period my corals were as good or better than with the MH. They are healthy, growing well and very colorful. And I've been under leds for 30 months now. Oh, and with 4 tanks (180g, 75g, 65g and 25g) my total electric bill has gone down over $400/yr and I save $300/yr in bulbs! I only paid $1300 for all the leds!

 

[Perth_reefer]

Respecfully I'll disagree with that 'general consensus'. I had 4 250W MH and 4 20w t5 over my 180g tank with a mix of sps and lps. I switched to led and have 198 3w leds powered by 4 120w drivers and I run them at WELL less than 100% even at mid day full sun (actually at 90% blue and 40% white). So I went from 1000w of MH and more if you add in the t5's, to 480w of led. However, I run them at about 65% of full power, or under 300w. And after a 30-60 day acclimation period my corals were as good or better than with the MH. They are healthy, growing well and very colorful. And I've been under leds for 30 months now. Oh, and with 4 tanks (180g, 75g, 65g and 25g) my total electric bill has gone down over $400/yr and I save $300/yr in bulbs! I only paid $1300 for all the leds!

I should have made my point clearer, it isn't so much the wattage I meant but the spread. My Hydra52s got best results at 65%. However the light spread wasn't the best because I didn't have enough fixtures. The PAR was awesome directly below the lights but move off the centre point and it dropped rapidly. This is why I don't think one fixture is suitable for a 3 ft tank, unless you mount it high, and that will obviously be at the expense of your PAR levels.

 

[Ron Reefman]

It depends on what lenses you have on the fixture and how deep your tank is. The spread of an led fixture is easy to deal with, and if you have a tank deeper than 24", I agree that you need more fixtures because you'll be using 60 degree lenses.

I have 2 32" fixtures over a 72" tank and it's got good PAR from end to end.

I also have a 32" fixture (different brand) over a 48" tank it it has good PAR end to end as well.

 

[Perth_reefer]

It depends on what lenses you have on the fixture and how deep your tank is. The spread of an led fixture is easy to deal with, and if you have a tank deeper than 24", I agree that you need more fixtures because you'll be using 60 degree lenses.

I have 2 32" fixtures over a 72" tank and it's got good PAR from end to end.

I also have a 32" fixture (different brand) over a 48" tank it it has good PAR end to end as well.

How about front to back? My end to end PAR was fine with 3 Hydra52s on a 60" tank but I had a massive drop off in PAR towards the front and back glass. You're right it depends on lenses but with LEDs you need to get a quantum meter on your tank shortly after installing your lights IMO, you may think you're covering the whole tank in light but you might not be, not adequately anyway.

 

[emedock]

I have one of the kessils 150. I love it over my standard 29 gallon. Only complaint is I can't adjust the output, like you can on their new models

 

[victornator333]

Thanks for the input!

 

[lpsouth1978]

It depends on what lenses you have on the fixture and how deep your tank is. The spread of an led fixture is easy to deal with, and if you have a tank deeper than 24", I agree that you need more fixtures because you'll be using 60 degree lenses.

This is also not entirely true. While lenses will help to penetrate deeper into the tank, they can also reduce the even distribution of light, and create more disco effect and hot spots. I have a 300g, 72"x36"x27", tank and run a custom built LED fixture over it. The LED's have NO lenses except the 120 degree they come with. We are getting PAR of 300 on the sand in ALL locations and 500 6 inches below the surface with the lights at 50%. When we run the light at 100% we get almost 600 PAR on the sand and 1500 PAR at the surface.

I agree that successful SPS tanks using LED's have far more than the manufacturers recommend, not to achieve PAR, but to give the spread needed. My fixture has 456 LED diodes on it roughly equivalent to 9 AI Hydra 52's. There is LITTLE disco effect and the color mix is a good as any MH or T5 I have seen with no color banding or spotlighting.

Bottom line is, I think that lenses are used to make up for a lack in adequate number of diodes to give ideal spread and penetration. Increased number of diodes = reduced need for lenses, even on deeper tanks (within reason).

 

[Ron Reefman]

This is also not entirely true. While lenses will help to penetrate deeper into the tank, they can also reduce the even distribution of light, and create more disco effect and hot spots. I have a 300g, 72"x36"x27", tank and run a custom built LED fixture over it. The LED's have NO lenses except the 120 degree they come with. We are getting PAR of 300 on the sand in ALL locations and 500 6 inches below the surface with the lights at 50%. When we run the light at 100% we get almost 600 PAR on the sand and 1500 PAR at the surface.

I agree that successful SPS tanks using LED's have far more than the manufacturers recommend, not to achieve PAR, but to give the spread needed. My fixture has 456 LED diodes on it roughly equivalent to 9 AI Hydra 52's. There is LITTLE disco effect and the color mix is a good as any MH or T5 I have seen with no color banding or spotlighting.

Bottom line is, I think that lenses are used to make up for a lack in adequate number of diodes to give ideal spread and penetration. Increased number of diodes = reduced need for lenses, even on deeper tanks (within reason).

There is more spot lighting if you use 60 degree lenses in a24" deep tank. Agreed. But not in a 36" deep tank. The light spread is just about the same as 90 degree lenses in a 24" tank. Do the math, it's simple geometry.

And lenses on leds are used for the same reason quality reflectors are used with MH and t5. To get as much light as possible to the tank and not out where it isn't needed. If your MH didn't have a reflector, you'd need more MH bulbs too!