SWC Xtreme LED lights

I agree with you alpha 03. The biggest benefit of LED for me is the heat. No IR heat in the water makes a huge difference. I need an LED that is not only intense, but has a spread that will cover the 30" front to back measurement. I am now experimenting with a LED fixture that may be able to get me that but at the moment the spread is actually too wide. If I can work with the optics to get the focus a bit tighter, it will get me the intensity that I want and it will be great. LED is definitely in my future, however I will probably be jumping on the plasma train too.

 

Here are some pictures of the tank with the lights. the first one is a half and half. full on blue no white/ full on white no blue. The second is a full on both white and blue. Also took the pictures without flash and my basement is dungeon with the exception of the tank...what do you guys think??

 

Looks like they will work out fine for you. What are the dimensions of that tank? It looks to have a very narrow footprint. It looks like you have light where you need it. The ends are a tad dim but don't have to put light loving corals there.

 

the tank is a 55G long...its 4ft X 12'' x 18'' i believe. My biggest concern is if i need to have some type of secondary lighting along with the LED. I know corals do best under a certain spectrum of lighting or combination. What i don't know or understand is are LED lights rated like a T5? how can i determine if my blue bulbs are actinic or just a blue colored bulb? it will make a difference in my corals or no? are my white lights 10000K? 140000? 20K? anyone know how to find out other than asking the guy who sold me them and will likely just say what i want to hear?

 

Switch the 18 and the 12, then invert the 1 and 2 in the 12

 

I lifted this off an RC thread and thought it would be very appropriate in this context.

LED is such a different animal for some of the normal way of thinking for us...couple that with the fact that there is so much rebranding that you never know what you are going to get....

I noticed a post recently about using quantum sensors, so I thought you might be interested in the following response I received from Apogee regarding their current unit and LED applications.

"Apogee quantum sensors underweight blue light, and as a result, photon flux measurements for blue LEDs will be too low. Also, the quantum sensors overweight red light up to a wavelength of approximately 650 nm, above which they do not measure, and as a result, photon flux measurement for red LEDs will either be too high (if the LED output is all below 650 nm) or too low (if a non-negligible fraction of the LED output is above 650 nm). Our quantum sensors will likely provide a reasonable measurement for white LEDs because they are broadband, and because the sensors are calibrated under CWF lamps. However, because of the diversity of LED lighting systems the precise errors have not been quantified. The current spectral response of our quantum sensor can be viewed on our website (http://www.apogeeinstruments.com/qua...lresponse.html). We are currently working on better filtering in order to achieve a sharp cutoff at both the 400 and 700 nm wavelengths, but this improvement is still a few months away.

That being said, Apogee quantum sensors can be used to measure the relative output of an LED or bank of LEDs, in order to track variability in output with time or temperature for example. However, quantum sensors should not be used to characterize the absolute output of LEDs (except for the possibility of white LEDs), to compare one LED to another, or to determine photon flux for plant growth for example."

 

This is not an issue isolated to LED lighting and the Quantum sensor. This is an issue to measuring all aquarium lighting as all of our lighting is strongly weighted to the blue spectrum where as Horticulture lighting is weighted more toward green. It is not abnormal for Horticulture lighting to be 3000K. We would not even consider running 6500K bulbs because they make the tank look "pee yellow."

"However, quantum sensors should not be used to characterize the absolute output of LEDs"

That being said, The Apogee is still the best way we can measure aquarium lighting without purchasing a higher quality $1000+ Licor meter. The difference in reading is still in most cases under 10%. A 10% differences can happen in just one inch depth in water. Getting a 90+% accurate reading is more than sufficient for our purposes.

 

Ah, and there in lies the catch- unless you spends thousands of dollars for correct LED, then you are better off with halides and T5 lighting with tanks over say 24-36 inches in depth. Not to mention the power such LED's consume- they are no better then halides- worse then T5 when consumption is considered.

We spoke of plasma before, but my concern is going to be heat as well because it is a gas that is being electrically charged, therefore- considerable heat, however, the amount of electrical usuage will be quite less then any halide for sure. Another problem, is that over time plasma disapates, which could be expensive.

I have been working with a TV lenticular sheet and a few LED, i should send you some of this material- it would make the perfect LENS.

So for now, at least, it's halides and T5 for me.

 

That's funny because in another thread I mentioned the fact that the AI sol blue use a 6500k white LED and one of the poster very strongly defended it saying that there are 6500k MH out there and that people use them....

The thing is that very few manufacturers care about our industry......bottom line....

They aren't running around looking to increase par or PUR in order to make our systems more successful with their LEDs.

I dont like the look of the AI sol blues and wouldn't put a 6500k bulb over my tank...so why would I put 6500k LED over my tank. I don't care how much actinic you put in it.....

 

Alpha,

Lenticular lenses....interesting......

Got any pics?