Reef Brite LED's - Now Taking Orders!

[yeldarbj]

Jeremy,

When you got the PAR reading of 485-510 on the ReefBrite, were you testing the all blue, 50/50, or white?

JC-Reef, ryanjiang,

I'm thinking about going the same route, and initially supplementing my T5's with RB's. Starting by replacing 2 - T5's (Blue Plus, Pure Actinic) with a RB Blue - from all my reading, I'm guessing the color should be about the same if not better. Sticking with 4 additional T5's (2 blues, 2 "whites"). My tank is mixed, but sps dominant.

 

[Jeremy B.]

@ RMR Racer - What size do you need? Pretty much everything is in stock right now in all blue, with a few out of stocks on 50/50 and all whites. All modules will be dimmable once that power supply is ready, you jut swap the power supply out.

@ ryanjiang - I honestly do not know the lifespan. We hear 50,000+ hrs on the LED's, however with the new technology, no one really knows how much degredation there will be over time with LED's. This is going to be the same for AI, Reef Brite, Vertex, etc... basically any LED fixture out there.

@ yeldarbj - That comparison was with an all blue module, no 50/50 or white. The white was approximately 5% - 10% higher in output.

 

[Snookster]

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but how much "spread" do these give?

I have a closed canopy and my T5s are about 6" off the water. My main concern would be "spot lighting" the ithe LEDS.

I tried the power brites once, and they needed about another 4" IMO.

 

[jc-reef]

@ RMR Racer - What size do you need? Pretty much everything is in stock right now in all blue, with a few out of stocks on 50/50 and all whites. All modules will be dimmable once that power supply is ready, you jut swap the power supply out.

Jeremy - Do you have a price range we will be looking at for the dimmable power supplies?

 

[jc-reef]

If you do 4:3 and have 2X 50/50, you may not want to use the Fiji purple since the white LED on RB are pretty warm, with Fiji it likely be too warm for the taste of most. Anyway I think your approach to use RB as main and use some T5 to supplement are nice, color can be changed by easily switching T5, I may as well consider to do 1:1.

I borrowed the Macro lens from friend just to try, I think will buy one eventually when budget allows.

I may use 2 Blues instead of 2 50/50's...not sure yet. As more reefers give feedbacks with different combos, I will probably make my move. I will probably wait about a month to see if I notice a noticable difference in color/growth with the 1 blue strip addition. But I do like what I am hearing so far from you and others.

If you can, take before and after pics of the corals and post after a month or so to document any significant change...especially if everything else is status quo with your tank...this will pinpoint how effective the LED's are. Heck, if they end up being equivellant to T5's with color and growth, thats a win in my column just for the simple fact of lower engery costs.

 

[ryanjiang]

Jeremy,

When you got the PAR reading of 485-510 on the ReefBrite, were you testing the all blue, 50/50, or white?

JC-Reef, ryanjiang,

I'm thinking about going the same route, and initially supplementing my T5's with RB's. Starting by replacing 2 - T5's (Blue Plus, Pure Actinic) with a RB Blue - from all my reading, I'm guessing the color should be about the same if not better. Sticking with 4 additional T5's (2 blues, 2 "whites"). My tank is mixed, but sps dominant.

IMO it will work great, the pure actinic T5 will have more violet pop when it run on it own or pair with another actinic T5 but when you have other T5 on, other brighter T5 esp. white T5 will easily over shadow it, the violet look is not there any more. From this point of view, the RB blue do much better job, esp. when full light is on, you can still see some violet look. Plus the pure actinic T5 has worse PAR, the RB will prob. put 4 times more par.

 

[Fishamatank]

Do you think a blue would help colors in my situation and significantly increase PAR?
I have a 7 T5's on 660's over my 120. I was using 4 of the ATI blue + that everyone lves, but I was not happy with the color, so I've switched out a couple for UVL super actinics. I like the "pop" of the colors I am getting now, but I know I have lost quite a bit of PAR.

Could I go back to blue + and add one reefbrite blue strip and get the same "pop" as I am getting with super actinics?

 

[ryanjiang]

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but how much "spread" do these give?

I have a closed canopy and my T5s are about 6" off the water. My main concern would be "spot lighting" the ithe LEDS.

I tried the power brites once, and they needed about another 4" IMO.

These LED have no optics but the way of 'reflector' design make it spead down at about 90" degree (at beginning to see how it looks I put it on top of my tank, looking from the side, the top angel of cone looks roughly 90" to me). IMO this is good compromise of spread and penetration, IMO if you hang it high enough 1 strip should be able to lit up 12" deep tank without cone look from side, but the PAR prob. only good for LPS maybe few SPS placed high and directly under the strip.

 

[Snookster]

These LED have no optics but the way of 'reflector' design make it spead down at about 90" degree (at beginning to see how it looks I put it on top of my tank, looking from the side, the top angel of cone looks roughly 90" to me). IMO this is good compromise of spread and penetration, IMO if you hang it high enough 1 strip should be able to lit up 12" deep tank without cone look from side, but the PAR prob. only good for LPS maybe few SPS placed high and directly under the strip.

Thanks - I'd be using them to suppliment the t5's, possibly replacing the blue +'s that are coming due for replacement.

 

[jc-reef]

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but how much "spread" do these give?

I have a closed canopy and my T5s are about 6" off the water. My main concern would be "spot lighting" the ithe LEDS.

I tried the power brites once, and they needed about another 4" IMO.

I just added a 48" RB blue strip and I had to raise my T5 up to about 8" (from 6") and my RB is at 6"....NOW, I have it positioned at the back 1/3 of tank angled toward front about 30-45 degrees (you have to play with it) and it covers my entire 90 gal to the sand bed with no noticable cone effect.

Word of caution, these are very intense! I have had mine in for about a week and was being used 6 hrs (3 1/2 peak hrs w/all light running [6-T5's] & remaining at dusk) and noticed some of my birdsnest bleaching a little...so I backed it down to 4 hrs with only 2 hrs during peak time and will slowly add more time each week.

In just a weeks time, I have noticed most colors have already gotten a little deeper and a few recently mounted frags have begun to take of in growth in recent days...:bounce1: .....I'm guessing they must be reacting nicely to the much deeper blue spectrum the RB blue is giving.

 

[Jeremy B.]

jc-reef, do you have any before and after photos you could post for others to see?

 

[ryanjiang]

These LED have no optics but the way of 'reflector' design make it spead down at about 90" degree (at beginning to see how it looks I put it on top of my tank, looking from the side, the top angel of cone looks roughly 90" to me). IMO this is good compromise of spread and penetration, IMO if you hang it high enough 1 strip should be able to lit up 12" deep tank without cone look from side, but the PAR prob. only good for LPS maybe few SPS placed high and directly under the strip.

12" deep I meant from front to back.

 

[jc-reef]

jc-reef, do you have any before and after photos you could post for others to see?

Unfortunately I don't have anything worth posting. I have a cheap point and shoot camera that does not pic up the colors when the blue strip is on. I have tried and they all come out terrible...:hmm4:.... Unless there is a way to edit the blue out...cause that is all you see is different shades of glowing blue on the corals/rocks when shooting with actinics on.

In this case, I have just kept a small journal and have documented changes (if any) a few corals every other day or so. At some point I want to invest in a nice camera with a macro lense and learn to shoot some quality pics.

 

[steevareno2002]

I just got my 48 inch reefbrite 50/50 and attached to front of my Aquacnitics TX5 fixture, the light strip is pretty bright and add noticeable shimmer to my tank, the added color pop is very notable.

Mine has non-adjustable power supply, it states 30W total so it is 1.25W per bulb. (I saw many versions of statement on wattage per bulb, checked out their website but on information, can Jeremy clarify on this?)

Even the wattage per bulb is lower than I expected (I somehow get impression that regular size reefbrite run at 1.5w - 1.75W per bulb), I guesstimate if one use single strip as a single T5 with reflector, it provide at least same par (if not higher) as provided by good T5 lamp/reflector combo. I have few acropora directly under the reefbrite now, time will tell.

Now I am thinking to add another reefbrite inside my TX5 so it will be like reefbrite + 2X T5 + reefbrite + 2X T5, I think it will be very nice blend for color and visual pleasure.

Has anyone done replacing a T5 reflect with a reefbright inside TX5 ?

I've done it with my TX5 and the reefbrite inside. Just had to remove a reflector and screw it into the top of the fixture. I added one white 36" and will be adding one 48" 50/50 in a few weeks. I use all blue plus T5's and I have a nice 15K look with some shimmer.

 

[Jeremy B.]

Looks good, nice DIY job!

 

[steevareno2002]

Thanks! :spin3:

 

[RMR RaC3R]

im looking for the 48" model. im undecided to go for 2x blue or one blue and one 50/50

my lighting is..
TEK t5.
5x ati blue plus
1x blue spezial (20K)
1x 65k
1x fiji purple
hopefully these could mount some how in a TEK light and not spotlight. im hoping to place the order by the end of next week.

 

[Jeremy B.]

@RMR, I would recommend adding a single 48" ReefBrite all blue, then pulling out 1 or 2 of the Blue Plus and adding in some Aquablue Special's. Of course if you're wanting this for shimmer, then add an all white, and adjust the T5's accordingly if you need anymore blue back in there.

 

[Fishamatank]

Do you think a blue would help colors in my situation and significantly increase PAR?
I have a 7 T5's on 660's over my 120. I was using 4 of the ATI blue + that everyone lves, but I was not happy with the color, so I've switched out a couple for UVL super actinics. I like the "pop" of the colors I am getting now, but I know I have lost quite a bit of PAR.

Could I go back to blue + and add one reefbrite blue strip and get the same "pop" as I am getting with super actinics?

Hello? Will these effectively replace the florescence given off by super actinics?

 

[Jeremy B.]

You will get a lot more fluorescence from the ReefBrite versus the Blue Plus, even though they are similar in NM range (450 - 460). The 420 lamps such as the UVL, will make different colored pigments fluoresce than what the 450-460 will, so it's a hard comparison to be honest. I would think the RB would be a very nice addition to what you have going now.