LEDs

[+Hydro]

pics with just LED

[Tallspawn]

That's what my tank looks like when I have just my "moon lights" on. You're right, some things look really fake...still pretty cool though.

[chrisfowler99]

Yeah...the blues alone are probably going to be way too blue.

I figure I'll have to have some amount of white in with the blue even when I want the "actinic" look.

Gonna start a blog of my build at some point today.

[Viet'spride70]

I seem to remember some people in town running LEDs over their tanks.

If you are running them, could you let me know? I'm interested in seeing them in action.

i run full DIY led on my 120g right now. i'll get some pics to night or u cuold stopping by some times, LMK...

by the way i loved them...

[Viet'spride70]

absolutely Stephen. they r build in a small air space fixture w/ out air to cool, but still not a bad designed at all. i build my in opened air, it make a big different....

[Viet'spride70]

pics of my led....

at dawn, 12 leds from each module

day light, 36 leds from each...

night time with 6 xr-c leds...

they r like this

[Viet'spride70]

sorry pics is not fairly good to ID dawn and day light....

[chrisfowler99]

It has begun: http://www.austinreefclub.com/blog/56/entry-777-leds/

[OgreMkV]

Mc, you can come see my tank anytime.

I've been running LEDs for 9 months now and am pretty happy with them. I've got a collection of SPSs and getting good growth. A Birdsnest and Hydrophora are near the bottom of the tank and getting very good growth. They are both 22 inches from the LED (with a piece of crap clear plastic plate between them.

I've got 30W white spots and about 40 3W whites and blues.

[OgreMkV]

THese are some of the most recent tank shots. The tank itself is 24inches deep.

[+Hydro]

The tank looks bright for sure. From the pictures it looks like overall the spectrum is around 10k, would you agree? What is the total wattage (power consumption) of your fixture?

[OgreMkV]

The tank looks bright for sure. From the pictures it looks like overall the spectrum is around 10k, would you agree? What is the total wattage (power consumption) of your fixture?

Mine is 160W total. The 30W are 'supposed' to be about 14k-15K, while the 3W whites are supposed to be 10K.

I'lll add that the power consumption is two computer fans in a large aluminum housing for heat dissipation.

[+Hydro]

If you have 10k MH lights vs 20k MH lights you will typically see more growth with the 10k. This is becuase the 20k has the other colors removed so the lamps aren't as bright. I wonder if this is the same for LEDs or not? In other words if you had all 10k leds in one fixture and all 20ks in another will they offer the same amount of light?

So in comparison your LED fixture uses 40 watts more than a 150 watt MH and about 15 watts less than a 250 watt MH, both using energy efficient digital ballasts. Either a 150 watt or 250 watt MH would be recommended for your size tank...a 150 watt would not need a chiller but a 250 watt over a 40 gallon might. It would awesome if someone out there has a similiar tank setup with MH to help us do some experimenting, preferably a 150 watt in a quality reflector. I would be glad to donate some coral for this if anyone is interested!

[+Hydro]

I wanted to add something about chillers and MH lighting that I haven't mentioned. The reason that LEDs tanks typically don't need chiller is because they don't emmit as much IR as MH. LED fixtures still get very warm but that heat isn't projected down in to the tank. IR from MH bulbs actually warms anything that it strikes inside the tank which in turn warms the water. Same as the sun does.

One of my questions about this is do some or all corals so better with IR and UV waves? Seems like coral that is in shallow water may benefit from this but deepwater corals would never be exposed.

[diabeetus]

i think i read somewhere that the UV rays are actually harmful to corals, like it is to the skin on humans, but corals have adapted. im wondering if the LED's might actually be better for the corals over a long period of time

[chrisfowler99]

i think i read somewhere that the UV rays are actually harmful to corals, like it is to the skin on humans, but corals have adapted. im wondering if the LED's might actually be better for the corals over a long period of time

If I am remembering correctly, UV rays definitely can be a problem. LEDs do not emit them. SE MH Bulbs have built in UV shielding. DE MH bulbs do not, which is why you have to have a UV shield below DE MH bulbs.

This is one of the major heat differences between the MH and LED.

[OgreMkV]

I wanted to add something about chillers and MH lighting that I haven't mentioned. The reason that LEDs tanks typically don't need chiller is because they don't emmit as much IR as MH. LED fixtures still get very warm but that heat isn't projected down in to the tank. IR from MH bulbs actually warms anything that it strikes inside the tank which in turn warms the water. Same as the sun does.

One of my questions about this is do some or all corals so better with IR and UV waves? Seems like coral that is in shallow water may benefit from this but deepwater corals would never be exposed.

This is definitely true. The LED bulbs get hot enough to melt the plastic (POS) cover that is on the tank... if they are touching it. If there's even a half inch clearance, the plastic cover doesn't get very warm at all.

Just from what I've picked up, corals should pretty much ignore IR radiation.

[+Hydro]

So any updates/pics from you LED guys? How is the coral growth?

I still want to try the experiment with the same coral in 2 different tanks, one with LED and one with MH. I'll supply the coral but probably shouldn't participate in the experiment since I have lots of MH lighting. I think that someone with dual 250 watts on a 75-100 gallon would be a good comparision. Chrisfowler99 are you ready?

[+mcallahan]

So any updates/pics from you LED guys? How is the coral growth?

I still want to try the experiment with the same coral in 2 different tanks, one with LED and one with MH. I'll supply the coral but probably shouldn't participate in the experiment since I have lots of MH lighting. I think that someone with dual 250 watts on a 75-100 gallon would be a good comparision. Chrisfowler99 are you ready?

I'm setting up a similar experiment starting on Friday.

And...I've gotten good growth under LEDs. I've even almost burned up a hammer coral underneath them as well. LEDs will grow corals, no doubt. Just gotta get the setup right.

[+brian.srock]

Let me know how your experiment goes. I just picked up a 120w 14k Evolution LEDs for my tank and during all my research LEDs had better par readings than a 250w MH but less than a 400w.

[+Hydro]

So any updates/pics from you LED guys? How is the coral growth?

I still want to try the experiment with the same coral in 2 different tanks, one with LED and one with MH. I'll supply the coral but probably shouldn't participate in the experiment since I have lots of MH lighting. I think that someone with dual 250 watts on a 75-100 gallon would be a good comparision. Chrisfowler99 are you ready?

I'm setting up a similar experiment starting on Friday.

And...I've gotten good growth under LEDs. I've even almost burned up a hammer coral underneath them as well. LEDs will grow corals, no doubt. Just gotta get the setup right.

How many watts are you using for that fixture? What are the dimensions?

[+Hydro]

Let me know how your experiment goes. I just picked up a 120w 14k Evolution LEDs for my tank and during all my research LEDs had better par readings than a 250w MH but less than a 400w.

I wonder if their readings were at 6" or 24", it would be good a good comparison at 24" and I would be impressed if that fixture still showed higeer than a 250 watt MH light. I also wonder what kelvin range of the 250 watt they comparing it to because different bulbs have different par. A 250 watt light using a digital ballast will use about 200 watts, 80 watts more than the LED. If it were a heads up comparison comparing footprint and par at 24" using 250 watt bulbs that are comparable in kelvin I would be impressed. I could be wrong but I don't doubt that is how they tested it.

What is the suggested tank size for this fixture, what size is it?

[DaJMasta]

I've been running LEDs for close to 3 months now. In the last month I added another bulb.

Over my 24G nano cube I have 3 21W PAR38 bulbs (2x 12k, 1x 20k) with 40 degree optics - a total of 63W. For reduced spotlighting, good coverage, and an open-top feel, I've got them positioned 18" over the tank. Growth has been good the entire time and my SPS have colored up better than my 150W 14k MH that I was previously running. Greens also pop out better with corals under the LED light - different spectrum of blues I suppose. The growth and coloration was good with only two bulbs, but because of the tight optics it left the sides and back of the tank fairly dim, so I added the 20k bulb to give a little more blue to the overall light and to get more even coverage of the whole tank. To my eyes the light in the tank is more intense under the beams, the reflected light in the room is also higher. Because of it being several point light sources, you do get some visible differences in the the way shadowing happens, but because of the number of lights it is not a big issue. I've also found that the rockwork in the tank makes more distinct shadows under it than with the MH.

[+Hydro]

Looks well lit inisde the tank and the color from the picture looks good. Did you see anymore growth with the MH Vs LED? I know what you said your corals colored up better under the LED but that could be because of the MH bulb you were using. I have a 150 watt, 250 watt, and 400 watt 12k bulbs. For some reason the 150 watt is much whiter than the 400's and my 250 watt are somewhere in between. The 250 watt are over my frag tank and I never get the color out of the sps until they go under the 400's.

[DaJMasta]

I did some research into the brands/color temp ratings of the MH bulbs before I bought, and from what I can tell the Phoenix 14k I was using was pretty accurate on most scales. The combined color temp of these bulbs is something like 15-16k approximately, but there are many, many instances of certain colors coming out better under LEDs because of their spectrum (than MH or even T5)... but it's not across the board more color, it's just certain ones stand out.

I don't know what's happened to them, but Pacific East Aquaculture (site seems to be dead?) was posting pics of its acans under both standard and LED lighting (side by side) so you could see it under both and in most cases the LED lighting was more vivid.

As for growth, I am seeing more/faster growth, but I don't think my experience should be a big indicator. I was having some trouble with pH (I haven't been able to attribute it to Ca, Mg, or Alk) for a lot of the time I was using the MH, so that certainly kept them from growing some. In the last few months of the MH it was good and the first few months of the LED I have noticed faster encrusting and spreading of frags.... then again I've also slightly increased flow since the LEDs and swapped for a better skimmer.... so I'm going to say it seems like I'm getting more growth, but it's really inconclusive because it could be a combination of a lot of things.