Par 38 LED spotlights

Finally got some new pics

please excuse the quality, some turned out really well and some turned out ok, and believe me the coral colors do look better in person, but some sps have browned out some and i'm working on getting color to be better as well as getting 4 custom bulbs made so that in the next month i can try a different color spectrum and see if that helps

here they are

Updated pics, the first red planet frag i put in the tank(It's above the 2 bottom sps) it browned out but new growth is forming around the base, color still needs to be worked on but it is growing

cuts009.jpg


cuts008.jpg


cuts007.jpg


cuts005.jpg


cuts004.jpg


cuts002.jpg


orange setosa has done amazing under the Led's
cuts010.jpg


i will upload the second set asap give me a second ;)
 
That is over $800 of lighting and most of the tank is dark.
For under $300 you could have this:

METAL HALIDE 1000 WATT ASSEMBLED BALLAST

Includes one 1000 watt metal halide M47 ballast inside an extruded aluminum enclosure with quick disconnect plug, solid mount feet, 6 foot grounded power cord and handle with key slots. Use with 1000 watt Metal Halide bulb. Dimensions: L14" x W8" x H9"

Price: $169.95




HAMILTON METAL HALIDE 1000 WATT 14K BULB

1000 Watt 14K Metal Halide bulb. Crisp ice blue color.

Price: $129.95




And you would need sunglasses to look at your tank.
I know that LED's are where we are all headed but to me it looks like we have a while to wait before MH's become a thing of the past.
 
YES but all these 8 bulbs don't even come close to consuming as much power as a 1000w MH or generating all the heat a 1000w mh puts off

i'll always be a fan of MH just moving in a different direction now

i spent what i wanted to spend on my light, plus i still have another 8-12 bulbs to get or decide on, so that would be why my tank is dark on the left half

I'm only lighting what is needing light, i'm not flooding the tank with 100% of unusable light like a typical MH setup does

This is a different method of lighting a tank, and some just may not understand it or what i'm going for just yet

give me another year or two to get the colors worked out 100% and the tank 100% mature and i promise you'll be impressed ;)
 
I did not mean to be negative. You have obviously worked hard on your set up and are proud of it and rightly so.
It is just for me money has become a huge object and I will not in the foreseeable future even be able to afford to replace my existing bulbs much less pay what they are asking for LED's.
I am sure when you are finished you will have a stunning tank and I applaud you for being a pioneer of sorts in the hobby.
I just feel that LED's need a decade or so of R & D before they will rival MH's.
 
Uncle Salty 05 said:
...money has become a huge object and I will not in the foreseeable future even be able to afford to replace my existing bulbs much less pay what they are asking for LED's.
Click to expand...

That is the biggest attraction for me with LED's. Not only does MH/T5 bulb replacement every 8-12 mos. get expensive, it is extremely wasteful. If LED's can live up to even half of the expected 50,000hrs of running life (with minimal spectral/output loss); that alone makes them well worth "experimenting" with, in my opinion. I agree though, I will be doing it on a much smaller scale and would be apprehensive to attempt what beeker has going.
 
Last edited:
BennyFrank said:
That is the biggest attraction for me with LED's. Not only does MH/T5 bulb replacement every 8-12 mos. get expensive, it is extremely wasteful. If LED's can live up to even half of the expected 50,000hrs of running life (with minimal spectral/output loss); that alone makes them well worth "experimenting" with, in my opinion. I agree though, I will be doing it on a much smaller scale and would be apprehensive to attempt what beeker has going.
Click to expand...

Not to mention the heat with halides. Chillers are the opposite of cheap, if LED's can keep you from buying one you're that much closer to breaking even and saving that much more electricity.
 
i do agree the leds need a little more R&D but i myself am trying to personally help with that

I've noticed while a few sps brpwn or lose color the majority stay colorful, i am running 12k PAR38's IMO i need a little more blue into he mix the 3 cool whites with 2 royal blues look good and perform but don't cover 100% of the spectrum that is needed IMO, thats the main reason why i only got 8 bulbs to start

i ordered 4 more bulbs a few days ago they are 4 cool blue 470nm and 1 neutral white these bulbs will have 60 degree optics and act as color filler/inhancer IMO, i'll have a better idea of what the sps are missing after i have these for a month or so, so just wait until then to see, i might solve the problem or i might have to go back to the drawing board

with that said my 200g dd is only 3 months old...so it's still really new and even though i did all i could to seed it with LR and water from my 29g it still needs a few more months to mature as well

i love T5 and MH i've used them for over 2 years on my BC29g

i just wanted a dream tank and fell in love with the long led life and their PAR output and i'll work with what i've got until i get it right, so far i'm 95% happy with the results, when i get the 4 custom bulbs i'm sure that will change, this system is flexable and thats what i like about it i can aways adapt

everything in this hobby is trial and error and nothing will stop me from trying ;)
 
Beeker, if you order five or more bulbs, they're $100 each no matter how many you order, but you have to pay full price at first and then they credit you after the order is placed? Is that how the group-buy pricing works?
 
I did the math using my energy rates and the leds pay for themselves after about three years with the money you save on your energy bills! After that the arguement gets pretty silly. I'd rather pay up front then pay and pay and pay...... I'm not an authority on the topic, I'm just sayin'
 
How many will i need for 10 gallon 20''X10''X12", i have mostly zoas and lps. Will 2 be over kill?
 
Uncle Salty 05 said:
That is over $800 of lighting and most of the tank is dark.
For under $300 you could have this:

METAL HALIDE 1000 WATT ASSEMBLED BALLAST

Includes one 1000 watt metal halide M47 ballast inside an extruded aluminum enclosure with quick disconnect plug, solid mount feet, 6 foot grounded power cord and handle with key slots. Use with 1000 watt Metal Halide bulb. Dimensions: L14" x W8" x H9"

Price: $169.95


It has been posted many times that the pictures WAAAY overstate the white spectrum and the brightness. I have 8 of these and I can look at the lamps at any angle except straight on and they don't hurt my eyes. They focus down and do not have nearly the spillover of MH and T5's.



HAMILTON METAL HALIDE 1000 WATT 14K BULB

1000 Watt 14K Metal Halide bulb. Crisp ice blue color.

Price: $129.95




And you would need sunglasses to look at your tank.
I know that LED's are where we are all headed but to me it looks like we have a while to wait before MH's become a thing of the past.
Click to expand...
 
BennyFrank said:
That is the biggest attraction for me with LED's. Not only does MH/T5 bulb replacement every 8-12 mos. get expensive, it is extremely wasteful. If LED's can live up to even half of the expected 50,000hrs of running life (with minimal spectral/output loss); that alone makes them well worth "experimenting" with, in my opinion. I agree though, I will be doing it on a much smaller scale and would be apprehensive to attempt what beeker has going.
Click to expand...

I totally agree that LED's are and will be the future of lighting in the hobby.
I just don't think we are there yet and do not have the money to experiment at this time.
Sorry if I came off as negative, that was not my intent.
And halides do not equal a chiller if you are smart.
 
ura, 2 bulbs with 60 or 80 degree optics would be fine over a 10g and give you enough light to cover everything

yeah the bulbs are 100 bucks a piece after you buy 5, but i'm getting custom ones made and they are a little more work involved, each bulb has to have the stock leds unsodered and new ones sodered in, i'm just hoping it doesen't take longer than 2-3 weeks to get them to me, i'm anxious to see what the results colorwise will be with the custom bulbs mixxed in with the 12k's
 
These bulbs are still cheaper on the initial light set-up for a new tank than t5's or mh's.
I just put 8 over a 210 and it lights it up nicely with zero heat. If I were to use mh's to light this tank, I would have to use 3) 250w's minimum- probably a Current 3x250 w/4) t5's. I think those run about $1000 +/-. I spent $300 on the track lighting system to hang the 8 LED's, so I'm at $1000, plus I don't have any heat issues. Seems like a better than fair trade off to run the PAR38's because in one year I'd have to replace all the bulbs on the Current fixture at a cost of $200. The electric bill to run the Current is 6 times the amount of the LED's.
 
zygote2k: do you have any pics? I also have a 210 and was thinking of doing 9 of the par 38's with 4 39w t5 for color... also what optics are you using?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Radion time help. (Long post)
Replies
2
Views
137
kj swans
K
wvned
This kind of makes me sad
Replies
6
Views
249
Timfish
Timfish
M
Can't find 60"VHO Actinics anymore... LED recommendations
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
ClownBubbaJoe
ClownBubbaJoe
Anemone
PAR!
2
Replies
25
Views
3K
Misled
Misled
Corals.com
***Saturday Spotlight: Zoanthids!*** 25% Off All Corals!
Replies
0
Views
818
Corals.com
Corals.com
Back
Top