rogerwilco357
Active member
will the structure also play as a heat sync? that would be cool
Who has really colorful acros under leds?
- Thread starter DarkStalker
- Start date
Decadence
New member
For mine, yes. The structure is the only heatsink. Hopefully because of the amount of LEDs, I can run them well bellow maximum output and won't need any cooling fans but I may put some on the back of the tank pointed up at he lights only to come on for a few hours at mid-day when then lights are the most intense in their programming.
I will post pictures pretty soon, I have been adhering LEDs the past few days and I am still waiting for a few colors to come in as well as a few of the wider angle optics.
I will post pictures pretty soon, I have been adhering LEDs the past few days and I am still waiting for a few colors to come in as well as a few of the wider angle optics.
dieselkeeper
New member
There was a lot of talk early on about the coverage offered by LEDs vs metal halide or T5. LEDs are an extremely directional light source. I have found that I get the best results in coloration throughout the entire corals by not just running lights above the tank facing down, but to also add additional lights pointing down and out at angles from the front and from the sides. I build custom PAR38 LED lights to add color accents coming in from the sides of the tank and then mount addition fixtures pointed down and back to achieve this and get color throughout the entire coral.
All of my demanding SPS are on the right side of the tank under 240w of LED with a very full spectrum. The left side has lesser demanding SPS and some LPS under 120w of LED.
I'm working on a new lightings system to combat this issue all in one fixture by curving it around the rock structure so that LEDs are pointing at the corals from all sides.
I just started building this one a few days ago and am waiting on some components but it uses 240 3w LEDs and 12 60w meanwell drivers and is going over top of my 150g SPS display tank.
I like this, custom spectrum. I wish I knew how to wire up the drivers. So I can build a custom fixture.
mike nickerson
New member
Check this guy out he's a local reefer on my forum, he uses all leds on his 400g in wall tank.
http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?28114-Reefnjunkie-s-400-gallon-inwall
http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?28114-Reefnjunkie-s-400-gallon-inwall
WOW... I just went through it... NICE tank.. a few hicups but nice setup.
Logzor
New member
There was a lot of talk early on about the coverage offered by LEDs vs metal halide or T5. LEDs are an extremely directional light source. I have found that I get the best results in coloration throughout the entire corals by not just running lights above the tank facing down, but to also add additional lights pointing down and out at angles from the front and from the sides. I build custom PAR38 LED lights to add color accents coming in from the sides of the tank and then mount addition fixtures pointed down and back to achieve this and get color throughout the entire coral.
All of my demanding SPS are on the right side of the tank under 240w of LED with a very full spectrum. The left side has lesser demanding SPS and some LPS under 120w of LED.
I'm working on a new lightings system to combat this issue all in one fixture by curving it around the rock structure so that LEDs are pointing at the corals from all sides.
I just started building this one a few days ago and am waiting on some components but it uses 240 3w LEDs and 12 60w meanwell drivers and is going over top of my 150g SPS display tank.
Brilliant! I can't wait to see this come together. I really like the idea of having some light come in from the sides. With LED you very often see SPS die on the underside due to the directional point source light.
:hb2:
Very cool! Functional and looks nice!
I agree on the directional issues. I run SOL Blues but continued to get terrible under shading! So I can up w/ a system made of PVC. The cross ties each unit is mounted to can pivot up to 60degrees as well as slide length of tank. It allows me two features 1) arc of the sun (sadly limited pitch ) 2) ability to create low light ends w/o sacrificing light energy go the acros.
Not so pretty but highly functional, give me time to dial in a design for DT
There was a lot of talk early on about the coverage offered by LEDs vs metal halide or T5. LEDs are an extremely directional light source. I have found that I get the best results in coloration throughout the entire corals by not just running lights above the tank facing down, but to also add additional lights pointing down and out at angles from the front and from the sides. I build custom PAR38 LED lights to add color accents coming in from the sides of the tank and then mount addition fixtures pointed down and back to achieve this and get color throughout the entire coral.
All of my demanding SPS are on the right side of the tank under 240w of LED with a very full spectrum. The left side has lesser demanding SPS and some LPS under 120w of LED.
I'm working on a new lightings system to combat this issue all in one fixture by curving it around the rock structure so that LEDs are pointing at the corals from all sides.
I just started building this one a few days ago and am waiting on some components but it uses 240 3w LEDs and 12 60w meanwell drivers and is going over top of my 150g SPS display tank.
Very cool! Functional and looks nice!
I agree on the directional issues. I run SOL Blues but continued to get terrible under shading! So I can up w/ a system made of PVC. The cross ties each unit is mounted to can pivot up to 60degrees as well as slide length of tank. It allows me two features 1) arc of the sun (sadly limited pitch ) 2) ability to create low light ends w/o sacrificing light energy go the acros.
Not so pretty but highly functional, give me time to dial in a design for DT
franklypre
New member
That DIY looks awesome, always thought about the curved style w/t5s just never used them. Seems like it would benefit angle wise so long as you don't have major hot spots.
Decadence
New member
:hb2:
Very cool! Functional and looks nice!
I agree on the directional issues. I run SOL Blues but continued to get terrible under shading! So I can up w/ a system made of PVC. The cross ties each unit is mounted to can pivot up to 60degrees as well as slide length of tank. It allows me two features 1) arc of the sun (sadly limited pitch ) 2) ability to create low light ends w/o sacrificing light energy go the acros.
Not so pretty but highly functional, give me time to dial in a design for DT
Thanks. Your setup is pretty neat too. I'm glad I'm not the only person who has found this issue with LEDs. I actually got the idea around a year ago when I ran a normal fixture with two par38s to the sides and pointed in around 45 degrees. The side lights were all blue, red and uv and it made the corals pop tremendously in the previously shaded areas. Colors wound up coming back in previously shaded areas after a few weeks and corals grew much faster. I still got slight shading in the very front which is why I wanted to try it pointing back. The colors from the front viewing panel have shown tremendous improvement with the current back-tilted setup and because there is greater coverage, the corals are getting way more light without bleaching tips. I need to see where I am at with a PAR meter.
Decadence
New member
Thanks. I think the key to avoiding hot spots will be finding the right height to work with the curvature.
UlyssesG305
New member
I have an Apollo LED 1 generation and can't adjust the intensity. I have blues on for 9 hours and whites for 4 hours. Almost all my sps have browned out. Best tank coloration I have seen was from a local reefer in Miami that was using a combination of t5 and led's for lighting . I am new to the hobby I will first try to master LPS before sps.
MammothReefer
Active member
I don't get why people don't just invert the led chips into a standard reflector.
Think a puck in the middle of a Luminarc (or some sort of highly refracted reflector) pointing up towards the reflector vs down towards the water. Then the light would bounce around the reflector and get aimed down at the tank coming from all the different angles instead of a single point.
Think a puck in the middle of a Luminarc (or some sort of highly refracted reflector) pointing up towards the reflector vs down towards the water. Then the light would bounce around the reflector and get aimed down at the tank coming from all the different angles instead of a single point.
power boat jim
Well-known member
The whole point of having varying degrees on the optics and a fairly close spacing of the LEDs is so there is overlap in the light beams, thus no reflector is needed. A MH bulb shoots light in a 360 circle. The reflector focuses it into a predetermind area of coverage same as the optic.
invertinoob
New member
tbd320reef. do you think 3 to 4 economy 120w led fixtures would be a good start for a 56 gallon corner? the tank is about 30 inches deep. i love the look of your tank and like everyone else has heard t5 is better for sps. but your tank is exceptional with led!
cee
New member
Well since Dave had to jump on this now I have to
Thanks Dave :uhoh3:
And for the blue sps
Shaweet Anthony!
invertinoob
New member
cee are you using full spectrum?
cee
New member
Yes, I tend to not like the overly blue look. I'm guessing I'm in the 12k-14k range. I use 2 Reef Breeder-like fixtures which I changed some bulbs out on. The one in front is angled pointing back about 5-7 degrees and the one is back is angled about 2 degrees pointing towards the front, similar to what the poster at the top of this page did.
