Par 38 LED spotlights

[Anemonebuff]

How many people in here are using the RAPID LED PAR bulbs. Either the PAR30 or PAR38.

I am about to purchase the PAR30 bulbs from them through the group buy and just want to make sure which model to get.

I have a 40 gallon breeder and will be using an Aquactinics TX5 and then a couple of these bulbs to spot light my islands. I don't really need a ton of PAR but still want to get the shimmer from the LED's.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

I am using the RapidLED PAR38's over my 125 and they are growing Monti Caps 1" off the sandbed. They appear to be very strong so far. I have burned some Palys and shroom as well. I would use one for every 12" of tank to minimize the spotlighting effect. The BoostLED PAR30's are a little bluer in color(14Kish) and the Rapid LEDs are whiter(12Kish).

 

[Anemonebuff]

Hi all. Sorry but I haven't read all 27 page sof this thread. However, I am interested in using the PAR38 lights which I found on Dr foster & Smiths website unless there is a better place to purchase them.

But here's where my questions come in. Current tank is a 400g, 7' long by 2.5' wide by 3' deep tank. I am currently lighting it with 2 400W DE Mh bulbs on a movable track. The current tank design has two large islands on each end with a low outcroping in the center.

So I am trying to figure out if these lights will work for me and what arraingment would work best. The tank has support bars that run from front to back and basically give me 4 equal size openings in the top area.

I have two thoughts on this:

1. One lighter per opening placed in the center. This would put the main light on the rocks/corals and leave the back opensection darker.

2. two lights over each opening, one near the back and one near the front. This would I beleive almost completely flood the tank with lights.

I like the idea of "spotlights" above each island. I'm growing mainly Monti Cap corals and Zoa's in the tank with a few Chalice and LPS.

So any input's? Here's pic's of the tank.

Rights side island.

Left side island. There is now a large orange monti cap groing on the top.

Center. The toadstool is no longer in the tank. It died.

Here is an old picture of the tank before I lost all my pumps and my fish suffocaited.

PAR bulbs would not be practical on a tank that large. AI units with 40* optics would be best for your application. Both for cost and coverage reasons.

 

[Jacwil]

I just received my 2 Evil 38's. One works fine but the other seems to have tweaked threads on the socket end. It wont screw in and seat properly, making contact.

Any1 have this problem?

 

[Jacwil]

Disregard..I got impatient and kept torquing it. It may have cut a cpl new threads but it seated, made contact and lit.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I've looked into the AI units before as someone else had told me about them.

At 1600 bucks a piece, and I'll need 4 of them, that's 6400 bucks. Now by changing lights, lets say I can save a max of 50 bucks a month, but that's a strech.

At 50 bucks a month, and the lights run for a max of 7 years, thats 4200 bucks I can save over the life of the lights. So even at the end of the LED life cycle, I'm still 2200 bucks in the hole. Even with changing my MH lights once a year, I'd still be over 1500 bucks in the hole.

Dosen't sound like a wise decission to me.

That's why I was looking into the PAR lights. If I'm only trying to light/grow corals in the upper half of the tank, will they be sufficent?

I found these at 17W. 7 LED's w/ 60 or 80 degree lenses.
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-101/7-LED-PAR38-Bulb/Detail

Or these at 21W. 5 LEDs
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+22279&pcatid=22279

Both use CREE LED's.

 

[beeker]

i have 20 PAR38's over my 200g DD, pics can be found in the large tank forum or on nano-reef, my sn is the same on both sites

i like them although if i was to do it again i'd have all the bulbs made custom

2 Royal blue, 1 cool blue, 1 neutral white and 1 cool white LED per bulb, IMO this would allow for every spectrum to be offered by 1 bulb, if i had my setup this way i'd really only be running about 15 bulbs

my tank is 27 inches tall so i opted for the 40 optic bulbs although they are 33 inches away from the bottom of the tank, 6 inches off the water surface, works great for sps and lps this way

if your tank is shorter you can do 60 optics just fine, these bulbs with 40 optics are 3 times more powerful than a 150w MH in terms of PAR

 

[Anemonebuff]

I've looked into the AI units before as someone else had told me about them.

At 1600 bucks a piece, and I'll need 4 of them, that's 6400 bucks. Now by changing lights, lets say I can save a max of 50 bucks a month, but that's a strech.

At 50 bucks a month, and the lights run for a max of 7 years, thats 4200 bucks I can save over the life of the lights. So even at the end of the LED life cycle, I'm still 2200 bucks in the hole. Even with changing my MH lights once a year, I'd still be over 1500 bucks in the hole.

Dosen't sound like a wise decission to me.

That's why I was looking into the PAR lights. If I'm only trying to light/grow corals in the upper half of the tank, will they be sufficent?

I found these at 17W. 7 LED's w/ 60 or 80 degree lenses.
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-101/7-LED-PAR38-Bulb/Detail

Or these at 21W. 5 LEDs
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+22279&pcatid=22279

Both use CREE LED's.

Both are quality bulbs. I am using the Rapid LED and I am satisfied.

 

[Logzor]

I've looked into the AI units before as someone else had told me about them.

At 1600 bucks a piece, and I'll need 4 of them, that's 6400 bucks. Now by changing lights, lets say I can save a max of 50 bucks a month, but that's a strech.

At 50 bucks a month, and the lights run for a max of 7 years, thats 4200 bucks I can save over the life of the lights. So even at the end of the LED life cycle, I'm still 2200 bucks in the hole. Even with changing my MH lights once a year, I'd still be over 1500 bucks in the hole.

Dosen't sound like a wise decission to me.

That's why I was looking into the PAR lights. If I'm only trying to light/grow corals in the upper half of the tank, will they be sufficent?

I found these at 17W. 7 LED's w/ 60 or 80 degree lenses.
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-101/7-LED-PAR38-Bulb/Detail

Or these at 21W. 5 LEDs
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+10704+22279&pcatid=22279

Both use CREE LED's.

The 48" AI unit (4 units) costs $2,239, not $6,400.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

The 48" AI unit (4 units) costs $2,239, not $6,400.

OK, after looking at them again, I see that the 4X means there are 4 modules. Didn't catch that the first time I saw them and unless you read ALL of the information, it's a bit confusing.

But if I can do 4 or even 8 of the PAR bulbs, it's still a whole lot cheapier. As I stated, I'm not looking at growing a bunch of high light LPS down low in the tank. The majority of the corals that need a good amount of light will be in the upper 18" of the tank. So I'm basically tring to light 4 - 18" boxes.

 

[beeker]

Check out my tank on nano-reef, under this SN

it's a 200g DD lit only by PAR38 lights

 

[WhoDey64]

250w 14k MH supplimented by 2 Nanocustoms Par38, 20k with 80 degree optics. Each give a great dusk to dawn effect while spot lighting the top of each of the islands. Just running the Par38 give 200 par on the left rock while par on the right is 275.

 

[beeker]

Should take a pic showing only the PAR38's running to show some of their coverage

 

[WhoDey64]

True, I will snap one tonight, been meaning to do it for a few days now actually.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Beeker,
I saw your pics on Nano reef, they look good.

A couple of questions for you.
1. Deminsions of your tank?
2. Does the tank looked whited out as shown in the pics? Or is that just the camera?


While I'm not growing SPS or high light corals on the bottom of my tank, I'm still trying to decide on my best course for lights.

One of my main goals is to lower my electric bill out of the tier 5 and $350 dollar a month range. One way was to replace my 2 X 400W DE MH bulbs with LED's. The other is swaping out my 3 external reeflo pumps with more efficent Hydro Korillia flow pumps.

 

[agsansoo]

Great looking setup WhoDey64. Using PAR38's with 80 deg. optics, as supplemental lights is the way to go !

 

[beeker]

Tank dimensions for the 200g DD are

48x36x27

four feet long, 3 feet deep and a little over 2 feet tall

my bulbs are 33-34 inches off the bottom of the tank, i get a PAR reading of 1500 1 inch under the surface and a PAR of 150-180 in the center of the bulbs 33-34 inches away at the very bottom of my tank

So far i'm happy with them, main thing to look into is getting 20k's over the 12k's

the royal blue is needed more than the cool white is, cool white can lead to browning and will change the color of some corals to unpleasent ones unless compensated

i've since added 4 all Royal blue bulbs with 60 optics to my setup as well as

4 bulbs that have 4 cool blue leds and 1 neutral white in them

the perfect bulb IMO would be 2 royal blue, 1 cool blue, 1 cool white and 1 neutral white this would offer all the spectrums needed for sps

if you are only keeping LPS i suggest you use 20k's, if the tank is 27 inches or taller go with 40 optics, any shorter use 60 optics, if it's shorter than 15 inches use 80 optics

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Thanks for the input.

My tank is 2.5 feet deep and 3 feet tall. But I'm looking at growing mostly Monti cap plating corals and Zoa's. Montis will be in the upper 2 feet of the tank.

I may try some calms later but now sure right now.

 

[Llamaslayer]

does anyone know if a single Evil66 PAR38 will support SPS on a 18x10.6x11.8 10g Do!Aqua? im thinking about possible having it angled on one side of the tank to get more intensity on 1 side if it doesnt get enough coverage centered.

 

[sammy33]

Llamaslayer - I would consider two of 40* 20K lamps. I think you would get much better coverage and good coloration.

My 12g tank has a footprint of 16x12 inches and I am considering adding a second bulb to even out the lighting. I took some PPFD readings of my setup and posted them in this thread if you want more details.

 

[Anemonebuff]

I use 60* on my 125 gallon, 22" tank. I have noticed great growth on my montis and acros, but I burned some palys and zoos.