Led q&a

Discussion in 'Reef Breeders' started by Reef Breeders, Aug 20, 2012.

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  1. gcarroll

    gcarroll Zoanthid

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    only cheaper PAR meters like the Apogee, and that is the same as with any primarily blue light source like 14K-20K MH. It's all relative and not just LED.
     
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  3. Reef Breeders

    Reef Breeders 3reef Sponsor

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    True, but even with the same meter, LEDs have the par, sanjay said it, and plenty of people have experienced it.
     
  4. gcarroll

    gcarroll Zoanthid

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    I'm a little confused on what you are trying to say. Yes, LEDs do produce significant PAR numbers albeit in a limited area due to optics. Peak PAR is not all that important without a decent spread. I could easily design a reflector for a MH with a 40 degree spread that would obliterate what LEDs are doing. But who would want a MH with an 18" x 18" spread at 36". I only mentioned it because people tend to act like you cannot compare PAR numbers between MH and LED and that is just not true. The fact is that since most are running blue MH, it is directly comparable.
     
  5. jimmy_beaner

    jimmy_beaner Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    I would like to be able to run a mixed reef. This is what I was thinking for lights...
    [​IMG]

    I need feedback in terms of... is this light intense enough for a mixed reef? Is there good spread of colors to avoid spot lighting? (I'm planning on no optics). Do I go with 14k or 20k 50W multichips? I was thinking 14k because I can add blue to it with the additional lighting... but I can't "remove" blue from 20k if it's too blue (especially with the accent lighting). I want to get in on the LED group buy... so I need to decide this somewhat quick. I have the GPU coolers on the way in for the multichip, so I'm pretty set on having most of my lighting come from those and the Crees just being additional "accent" lighting (and they'll help with phase in/out sunrise/sunset).

    I will have at minimum 2 drivers, more likely three (so I can control Royal Blues independent of the other accent colors, which are expected to be more minor contributors to the overall color). I may also swap some cyan in for some of the blues.

    So... 50w or 100w? I want to keep it to two multichips. I have already purchased the GPU coolers and they are good to cool 90W of heat, so I should have more than enough cooling for either multichip.
     
  6. Reef Breeders

    Reef Breeders 3reef Sponsor

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    That is not the case at all, optics only increase par. I used to have 2 175watt mh pendents on my old 90 gallon. I upgraded to 2 108watt LED fixtures. Drawing only 60 watts, it matched the mh in power. At max power, it blew the mh away hands down. Max power being 108watts, 700ma. That was over a 24"x18"x24" deep area, with NO optics. With 90 degree optics, you trade off very little spread, and increase par even more, not to mention the heat you are not blasting into your tank. Take a look at this guy's tank, he made a nice diy fixture, and look how much more power it had: Who likes their LED Lights? He did use optics, but did he really trade off so much spread that it wasn't worth it? I think not. The point is, LEDs are a viable light source, and should be treated as such. Have you seen how many new LEDs come out every month? If they didn't work, people wouldn't buy them. If noone bought them, who would sell them? Certainly not me, I use and sell LED fixtures, and have tested several over my tank. I was never dissatisfied, some fixtures did not do as well as others, but they all did just as good, and some better, than mh.
     
  7. Reef Breeders

    Reef Breeders 3reef Sponsor

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    I would go with 100 watt, I reccomend about 120watts per 24-36", for bridgelux LEDs. Go 14k, like you said, you can always add blue. I would add a couple more reds, and spread out those colors that you have in the middle, it seems like the edges are a little lacking of diodes, so disperse the middle a bit. Other than that, it looks pretty solid. At a minimum, the diodes should be seperately dimming. Also, you can use a dimmable driver for the multichip, and dim that as well, so the 100watt will not be too intense.
     
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  9. jimmy_beaner

    jimmy_beaner Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    I was concerned adding extra red and green as they are labeled as potentially over powering. The above is not quite to scale, it's more about the numbers of the kinds of LEDs and rough lay out at this point as the final layout can be refined once I get the LEDs in. I will have all the LEDs as dimmable, but some of the colors (like red and green) will share a driver.
     
  10. Reef Breeders

    Reef Breeders 3reef Sponsor

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    With 4 reds for each half of your tank, you will be just fine. Reds and greens seperate from other colors is plenty control to keep them from being overpowering. Do you plan on cree or bridgleux for your reds, or osram?
     
  11. jimmy_beaner

    jimmy_beaner Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    Cree. I think 4 for each side is WAY too much. The corals don't benefit from reds like they do royal blues. And the things that do benefit from it, I want to keep in the sump. I want it for making corals pop just a bit, not for good abundance in the spectrum.
     
  12. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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