Rapid LED or Aquastyle LED??

OK...So, I have been reading alot about all this LED and I'm ready to switch my MH ot LED. I have a 65G tall tank that use 250W MH + (2) 90W actinic PC. this fixture is due for the bulbs replacement. So, insted of spending $200+ for all the bulbs I figure a new LED unit.

At first I was thinking of Rapid LED 24LED Kit but, from what i see that is not enough for my tank. It seem like I'll need (2) 36LED kit...but that's way over my budget! with the heat-sink I'll be well over $850... Might as well get the Ecotech Radion XR30. (Just the thought) that should be plenty enough light I think.

I then come across this AqusStyleOnline.com Led for reef. and found that it's alot cheaper than RapidLED kit. I notice that AquaStyle LED is not CREE LED but it seem like many people are ok with the kit. I was thinking to buy a 36LED kit w/Heat-sink. But some suggest to go for 72LED with 2 Heat-sink instead. So for the 36LED is about $180 shiped and 72LED is abut $284. A little over my budget but, I will dig a little to get 72LED kit. Also for the Aquastyle I can also pick and choose to add/switch for more UV

So, I my thought is going with Aquastyle... but what kid should I get 36LED or 72LED? and If I go with Rapid what would be a better setup and the lowest cost for my tank?

Thanks

 

IMO, Aquastyle kits are a big waste of money. Sure, they can work, but the quality is nearly zero.

You'd need one 36 LED kit from Rapid to get the job done.

 

I have a rapidLED 48 LED kit over my 65 and I can keep anything I want. You could easily get away a 36 LED kit if you aren't wanting to keep high light SPS (you could prob still do them as leong as you place them high in the tank). IMO the aquastyle Bridgelux LEDs are not as good as the CREE LEDs that rapid uses, and you will need more to get the same effect. I feel the extra cost for the rapid is worth it, but it's your choice.

I believe that my 48 kit, with dual fans from rapidLED and heat sinks from heatsinkusa.com was less that $500.

 

I honestly wonder how they (AquaStyle) get away with claiming they're Bridgelux LEDs.

Where did you come up with the number $850?? My 60 LED build was like 650 total, mainly ordered from RapidLED.

 

^ In redfishsc's thread, he mentions that aquastyle LED's use the bridgelux emitter but I agree that the company bridgelux would likely not want there name associated with those LEDS.

The aquastyle LED's are definitely not as good as the CREE's and you can assume that you would need 2x as many LEDS to get the equivalent light output. Assuming that the bridgelux are similar to the satistronics (based from redfishsc's thread), they have a comparable spectrum just less output.

So if you get the 72 LED kit from aquastyles you will have more than enough light for your tank and it will still be cheaper than just the 36 LED cree kit ($180 vs $280). The addition of extra LED's also means that you can have more options for blending and getting a wider spectrum.

In the end, the spectrums between the Crees and bridgelux are similar you just need more LEDS to get equivalent PAR values, and even getting twice as many LEDS you still wind up with a cheaper cost than the Cree kit. So these kits are great for the budget reefer.

just my $0.02...

 

With hanging kit + cooling fan ect.. I may be over price it. But 36LED kit is $280 ... so 2 set $560 + all other stuff hanging + Heat-sink + Cooling fans + lens... Hm... If I can get away with 36 LED that might do.. I like to get some UV in the unit. What kind of color setup should I get? Driver? Dimmable or Constance? so much to choose from... would like to have dimmable but...if it will save some $ Constance will do. I just hate dead spot in the tank.

 

72 CREE is way way overkill, I have 48 and it is more than enough. I like dimmable, but it's up to you. As for UV's I haven't gone that route yet, so I can't really make a recommendation.

 

Thanks Tharsis that's exactly my thought! Love the RapidLED kit! but can't really effort it! Aquastyle pirce seem cheaper and it seem to be plunty enough for my tank. I'm hoping to upgrade my tank to 90G + in the near future so if I do 72LED with 2 Head-sink that would allow me to use the same setup and don't have to add any more light. Also as of now I only have small amount softly LPS in my tank. I hope to get into SPS some day.

 

You won't get good coverage if you go from a 3 foot tank to a 4 foot tank and use the same heat sinks. It may still work, but won't have as good of coverage in the middle and outsides IMO. Also you may be in for a headache trying to get 36 LEDs and all the wiring on one heatsink.

Just my 2 cents, it's up to you.

 

I agree that getting 36 LEDs on the 7" x 16" heatsink will be hard, not impossible but it will get crowded with the wiring.

As for coverage, I don't see why a 16" heatsink wouldn't be able to adequately cover a 24" long footprint.. with 60 degree optics at lets say 6" above the top of the tank (30" from substrate) you will have a radius of 17" at the substrate. So two 16" heatsinks would be fine for a 4 foot tank. With 90 degree optics (30" radius on the substrate at 30" above the substrate) you would have great light spread.

unless I am not calculating the light spread from the optics correctly...

tan(half degree of optics) x height of LED = radius of light on the substrate

is that correct?