Par 38 LED spotlights

[Higgy2010]

I just placed a RapidLED order for a PAR30 and PAR38 bulbs. Both are on sale with a $20 discount from the regular price until noon PST today. The additional bulb will provide more coverage for my 24G cube.
I couldn't upload my photos due their sizes exceeding RC limit. So far, though, even with the shadows here and there, the LED brightness and intensity please my eyes, while the tank temp remains low, and the bulb itself is not very hot. Coral colors pop really well. My lone SPS seems to respond well. I'll pay attention to what Anemonebuff wrote about bleaching to the coral.

 

[stormrider27]

I just placed a RapidLED order for a PAR30 and PAR38 bulbs. Both are on sale with a $20 discount from the regular price until noon PST today. The additional bulb will provide more coverage for my 24G cube.
I couldn't upload my photos due their sizes exceeding RC limit. So far, though, even with the shadows here and there, the LED brightness and intensity please my eyes, while the tank temp remains low, and the bulb itself is not very hot. Coral colors pop really well. My lone SPS seems to respond well. I'll pay attention to what Anemonebuff wrote about bleaching to the coral.

Is $80 the sale price on the PAR 38's or do they take an additional $20 off when you place the order?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Higgy2010]

Is $80 the sale price on the PAR 38's or do they take an additional $20 off when you place the order?

Thanks,
Mark

Mark, $80 is the sale price on the PAR38. Its regulard price is $100. Compared to Evil's PAR38 (5 LEDs) at its sale price of $88, RapidLED's 7-LED PAR38 is a good deal for me.

The site shows the sale will go on until the end of today, not noon as I previously posted.

Enjoy!

Ian

 

[Anemonebuff]

The thing that bugs me is the 40* only on the Evilcc bulbs. I think most of us want to hang our bulbs closer to the water, making 60* optics fine. Santoki did a DIY LED with 40* optics and he has them mounted near his ceiling.

 

[karsco]

I am looking to add one par38 20K bulb to "highlight" a large acro colony (probably a foot across). This coral is real high up in the tank and is partially lit up by a metal halide but most of the light is on the other 3/4 of the tank. What degree lense should I use and how far above the water (coral is only 6" below the water surface) to get good coverage but not burn the coral? Thanks in advance!

 

[beeker]

evils bulbs run within the correct temp specs to make sure the leds in the bulb last, he also use's better drivers and heatsinks and leds than most other companies that make the same style of PAR38 type bulb, that is the main reason i went with his Bulbs and also why the price of other companies cost less than his

in retrospect i could have gone with all 60 optics, i'm just now understanding how Powerful my lighting setup is, i have no problem growing sps at the bottom of my 27 inch tall tank with the lights another 6-8 inches off the water surface using 40 optics, i like this fact though because it means i can keep the higher light demanding stuff down low and i am a bigger fan of sps than any other type of coral

the most important thing i've noticed is that i will eventually be swapping out some of my cool white leds with neutral whites, i feel at this point Neutral whites have proven to be a better White led for keeping coral colors correct, i will still be using 4 spectrums of led light though i acheive all the color in my tank (Cool blue, Royal blue, Neutral white and Cool white)

My Ideal PAR38 bulb would have 2 Royal blue, 1 cool blue, 1 neutral white and 1 cool white, i feel this would be the best all in one bulb to achieve the color everyone is looking for

i have also gone back to dosing Vodka 2 days a week about a week ago as well as adding 2 drops of elo's aminos daily, i will keep up with this method for another 2 months or so and then decide to stop or keep going after i see the results, so far i'm happy with everything and have even moved my lighting up from 6 inches to 8 without noticeable change in the corals or clams they all seem to be getting enough light at the new hieght which is good this is why i haven't had pics in 2 months, lol

i will have new pics up by this friday i promise, i've been messing around with my lighting a lot in the last 2 months and still am giving my corals time to react to it properly before i take my new pics

 

[beeker]

karsco i would use 80 optics as the coral would be within 10 inches of the bulb spread would be best with the 80 optics and it being that close, i will add the PAR may not be great with the 80 optics but you will still blast the coral with the spectrums from the PAR bulb so the bulb will still be able to add color to the coral and inhance it's look

 

[karsco]

Thanks for the advice Beeker I will order one of these when they are back in stock...

 

[karsco]

Thanks for the advice Beeker I will order one of these when they are back in stock...

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Has anyone seen the LED security lights at Home Depot? I was in there the other day and found them. From what I remember reading on the box, they were around 5500K bulbs. I can't find much on HD's website other than that the lights of america one is a 20W bulb but I was looking at the three bulb unit from Lithonia.

It looked like a nice crisp white with a hint of blue. And it was really bright from where I was standing. Just wondering if anyone has thought of using these or if they would work.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...light&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[Anemonebuff]

5500K looks great on a wall or in a room, but will make a tank look very yellow. Plus you need to look at who makes the LEDs, what they are driven at, what wattage they are, and how you could mount them if you were to use them. I would stick to the ones made for reefing IMO. They may work okay for a fuge though.

 

[Higgy2010]

I now have bought 3 PAR lamps: one Evil's PAR38 (40* optics) and two RapidLED's PAR30 (60*) and PAR38 (80*). I interchangeably use them on my SPS-dominant and FOWLR tanks. So far, the SPSs and softies are doing well. One monti cap actually started to bleach around the edges a little bit under the PAR38, so I moved to the bottom. The carpet anemone loves the light, though.
Aesthetically, as someone mentioned, I like the spotlight look a lot better than the light-box look, since it creates depth and natural looks for my eyes. Therefore, I'm happy with only one PAR38 for my JBJ 24G cube.

 

[Anemonebuff]

I now have bought 3 PAR lamps: one Evil's PAR38 (40* optics) and two RapidLED's PAR30 (60*) and PAR38 (80*). I interchangeably use them on my SPS-dominant and FOWLR tanks. So far, the SPSs and softies are doing well. One monti cap actually started to bleach around the edges a little bit under the PAR38, so I moved to the bottom. The carpet anemone loves the light, though.
Aesthetically, as someone mentioned, I like the spotlight look a lot better than the light-box look, since it creates depth and natural looks for my eyes. Therefore, I'm happy with only one PAR38 for my JBJ 24G cube.

Glad you like them and they are working out for you.

 

[bohannbj]

I just traded 280 watts for 17. To put that into perspective that's $13.66 a month down to 75 cents. I put a rapid par 38 (7 leds) over a 29 gallon. They are certainly 20k from where they are positioned now, but I noticed the color changed the closer they got to the tank. Wondering if anyone else has noticed this effect. Might be a way to adjust color when dimming is not an option. Currently the light sits about 36 inches off the tank with a 60 degree lens. The tank is lit evenly at that height, but not brightly. Personally I like it better than the blinding 150 halide and 130 PC. Can't wait to use the other four on my 75. Also thought I would mention another alternative to track lighting. There is a reptile fixture on reptilesupply.com that doesn't have the hood part. It has two extra holes in it so you can hang it. I'm going to chop part of it off so it looks cleaner. Not a bad alternative for those when track lighting isn't an option.
http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=2362

 

[Anemonebuff]

The further you mount them the more the blues and whites mix when using optics.

 

[reefsurfing]

I am thinking of putting these over a GLA 25 cube; any recommendations?

 

[bohannbj]

1 or two depending on how bright you want the tank and what corals you plan on keeping. Higher the mount the more coverage, but less par. Has anyone tried mixing optics for a varied effect?

 

[Anemonebuff]

I am thinking of putting these over a GLA 25 cube; any recommendations?

Depends on the width and depth of the tank. Is it the cube 18x18x18?

For that one with 80* optics mounted close or one 60* optics mounted a little further away.

 

[Crab Rangoon]

Has anyone tried mixing optics for a varied effect?

I'd really wanted to use 60-80* optics on my whites and to keep my blues at 40* on a couple of my bulbs, or to swap all my optics to something wider and keep 1 white per bulb at 40* - to give a brighter focal point to the center of each one. By the time I'd wanted to do this, I think NT was out of stock / not offering other optics, and EcoXotic has still yet to offer any 60 & 80 degree lenses :sad2:

I think I'm actually about to change my lighting quite a bit, though. I've currently got 6 of the 12k PAR38's @ 40* and 3 Stunner Strips over the tank. I may be swapping 4 of my PAR lamps out for the AI Sol Blue fixture & keeping 3-4 of the 403nm UV Stunners and two of my 12k's to spotlight specific animals - such as my SPS-only island and my rock of RBTA's.

 

[jong11]

i'm thinking about using a rapid par 38 (7 bulb) on a 10 gal, 20x10x12. Should I get more than one? Should I use 60 or 80 degree optics? Any mounting suggestions? Track lighting isn't an option.