Jmvanness Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 lol @ JImbo Does anyone use par38 bulbs? I can't find a lot of information on them. I know they would limit my control options, but they would be significantly less expensive. Because of my center braces I think smaller fixtures might work better. Considering the 2x AI Vegas, 3x 24" BuildMyLED fixtures, or 5x par38 scattered across the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Kimp did really good with her kessil lights Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 lol @ JImbo Does anyone use par38 bulbs? I can't find a lot of information on them. I know they would limit my control options, but they would be significantly less expensive. Because of my center braces I think smaller fixtures might work better. Considering the 2x AI Vegas, 3x 24" BuildMyLED fixtures, or 5x par38 scattered across the tank. I have an ecoxotic and a zooman par38 over my quarantine tanks and used to have one over my office tank. I also have a pico twentyk over my pico quarantine system. I like them, but you have to play with your optics to figure out what you like/need mixing and power wise. Frankly, I feel they get too hot for the amount of bulbs in each unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 yah, Kim's new rig is outstanding... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 I did diy leds in 2008. Talk about not knowing anything. I did 30 leds half blue half white with two drivers. I hated the color but the coral didnt mind. I am lucky enough to have a friend that owns a lfs in Houston. He let me borrow an ai sol, ai vega and a gen 1 radion. They were ok but I felt the need to fiddle with them. Then arc had a tour of bml and I won a 48" reef spectrum and I was sold. I could take great pics and my wife liked the color the best. And 3 12" fixtures fit inside my bio cube 29 hood. So I was sold. You don't need to figure out the led combo on the bml. You can get the Aquadome/aqua tek chosen combo which is the reef spectrum. Then get super actinic to add blue/ dusk/dawn effect. I was confused too and felt this was easiest for me. And you can add lights if you feel you need more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 With respect to BUILDMYLED, I like the crisp look of their 12K light. There general recommendation of 1' for each 10G of water will produce 100 PAR at the bottom of your tank. That should provide sufficient intensity for your livestock. For light loving SPS, it would not be adequate. Patrick My question is with respect to the 1" per 10g rule. I'm probably wrong, but it was my understanding that higher wattage produced greater PAR at the bottom of your tank, i.e. light penetration. So if that's true then how does adding more fixtures of LED's increase the PAR at the bottom of your tank when the wattage is the same per unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 With respect to BUILDMYLED, I like the crisp look of their 12K light. There general recommendation of 1' for each 10G of water will produce 100 PAR at the bottom of your tank. That should provide sufficient intensity for your livestock. For light loving SPS, it would not be adequate. Patrick My question is with respect to the 1" per 10g rule. I'm probably wrong, but it was my understanding that higher wattage produced greater PAR at the bottom of your tank, i.e. light penetration. So if that's true then how does adding more fixtures of LED's increase the PAR at the bottom of your tank when the wattage is the same per unit? If my tank is 4' long, then two 4' fixtures will produce twice the PAR at bottom of tank as one 4' lamp. In the case of BUILDMYLED, if I compared a 4' fixture using 90 degree optics with a 75 degree optics, the 75 degree optics would get more PAR to the bottom of the tank but less at the top. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 With respect to BUILDMYLED, I like the crisp look of their 12K light. There general recommendation of 1' for each 10G of water will produce 100 PAR at the bottom of your tank. That should provide sufficient intensity for your livestock. For light loving SPS, it would not be adequate. Patrick My question is with respect to the 1" per 10g rule. I'm probably wrong, but it was my understanding that higher wattage produced greater PAR at the bottom of your tank, i.e. light penetration. So if that's true then how does adding more fixtures of LED's increase the PAR at the bottom of your tank when the wattage is the same per unit?If my tank is 4' long, then two 4' fixtures will produce twice the PAR at bottom of tank as one 4' lamp.In the case of BUILDMYLED, if I compared a 4' fixture using 90 degree optics with a 75 degree optics, the 75 degree optics would get more PAR to the bottom of the tank but less at the top. Patrick The 75 optic will get less spread but more depth. I think it will have more par top and bottom but less spread coverageSent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Thanks for the explanation. I looked up some acceptable PAR values for coral on a random website, PAR and Reef Aquarium Lighting. For example, if someone wanted to have a mixed reef with SPS at the top, LPS in the middle and mushrooms on the bottom then they would need PAR values of 450, 300 and 100 respectively? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Thanks for the explanation. I looked up some acceptable PAR values for coral on a random website, PAR and Reef Aquarium Lighting. For example, if someone wanted to have a mixed reef with SPS at the top, LPS in the middle and mushrooms on the bottom then they would need PAR values of 450, 300 and 100 respectively?Consider the geometry of the angle of optics beam, with LED you can focus light as a beam instead of a wave. For my simplicity, I wanted my LED lighting over my 75G Jaubert Plenumn to be blended between the three rows of lamps. For custom design lighting, LED can not be touched.With respect to a simple/econominal method for using controllers on BUILDMYLED lamps, I suggest having 4' lamps on different circuits. One 4' lamp could be configured with custom blue spectrum to come on first and go off last for dusk/dawn. While this does not allow the tweaking that techies like to play, it is effective, reliable and econominal. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 For anyone wondering whether or not LED's are worth the cost, I have found a calculation page that will help you decide. I did not create it. Reef LED Aquarium Light Calculator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 With BUILMYLED two foot 12K reef spectrum over 20G high tank, bottom highest reading was 105 PAR. The LED bottom lens is 7/8" above rim of tank and waterline is 1 3/8" below rim. The readings will start at waterline and end 14" below waterline. 370 150 105 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Evergrow makes the reefbreeders lights. I just got in on a group buy for two of the ITO2060's. google evergrow and the item no for specs. Its also available in 36". I posted a link for the group buy thread on here and that also has the specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmvanness Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 That's more in my price range for sure and they're controllable which I like. How do you like them Janelle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 I only found this site. It's still 500ish, but these come with extra features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 I'd use that unit with caution. Channel 1 on it has a ton of colors on a single channel, meaning you can't tweak the relative strength of the LEDs on the same channel, only dim them all in unison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Best saying about new purchases. You get what you pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmvanness Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Good catch on the channels.... Got more thinking to do I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Figuring out lighting can give you a major headache! Did you still want to come check my Vega's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmvanness Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Absolutely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmvanness Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 Does anyone have the AI Hydra? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Does anyone have the AI Hydra? Go to jimbo's AI directo thread... someone chimed in about the hydra there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 alex93se posted something about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 For anyone wondering whether or not LED's are worth the cost, I have found a calculation page that will help you decide. I did not create it. Reef LED Aquarium Light Calculator Interesting. If I were to switch to a reefbreeders or an evergrow 36" controllable fixture that would replace my aquatic life 4 bulb T5HO if would cost around $500, and with bulb changes and electricity factored in it would take me 10 years to recoup the cost of the new fixture. Aside from a bit more par, doesn't seem worth the cost. Better fixtures would likely never be recouped as they would be obselete by the time I made tha money back. Lol. Now...I know many of us are in the hobby to keep healthy and amazing looking livestock, not to save money. Which is why a lot of people still use MH. Just an interesting tidbit that kind of negates the "cost saving" argument of switching to LEDs. In short...if you're gonna switch. Don't do it to save money, because by the time you will have saved that money, you'll be looking to buy something new long before that. Do it for better performance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Mine is a little better than that because I pay more for electricity than you do. I'm also comparing 400w T-5's and 210w LED fixtures, which are supposed to be similar. How many watts of electricity do your current bulbs consume? 400 How many hours do you run your lights each day? 12 How much do you pay per kilowatt hour? $0.11 How much do you spend on bulbs each year? $100.00 How much does the LED fixture cost $750.00 How many watts will the LED consume? 210 Annual cost of current lights (bulbs + electricity) $292.72 Annual cost of LED lights $101.18 Annual savings by switching to LEDs $191.54 Switching to LEDs will pay for itself in 3.92 years Lifetime savings by switching to LED $1,436.55 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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