Led help!

[rpritch]

Hello,

I am in desperate need of LED suggestions. There are just so many options.

I have a 14 gallon biocube and it needs a retrofit.

Here are my goals:
1.) Less heat (my biocube gets too hot with the PCs)
2.) Enough light for moderate to high light corals
3.) Good color, something that will make the corals pop best they can.
4.) Decent Price

I've looked into Rapid LED and AquaStyle. The prices are radically different (one uses CREE and the other Bridgelux).

Does anyone have any experience with the Current USA Truelumen retrofit?

Any and all suggestions please!

[nanoreefer1000]

Rapid or Stevesleds

[rpritch]

Can anyone tell me if this would be adequate? I found them at a great price...and the install is a piece of cake...

http://www.current-usa.com/aquarium-...striplight-kit

[ghellin]

I answered in your other thread as well for the true lumen strips they only total 18.2 watts. The 14 LED kit from rapidled would be up to 45 watts if the xp/xt series Cree leds were driven to their max. Cree LEDs are significantly more efficient than the bridgelux leds. Where this can benefit you is when you run bridgelux leds at their max current of 700 mA they are hot, while Cree leds driven at 700 mA are only at half their output and are significantly cooler. You would want the dimmable kit they heat will rise as the current rises therefore giving you complete control of heat and light. my first led build was a 24 gallon aquapod where I put 12 xre rb Crees and 12 xpg Crees the 24 leds gave me over 1000 par at the surface and 350 on the sandbed. My clams and sps on my sandbed showed insane growth.

[joey125]

If you are going to do LEDs on a biocube, it would be extremely recommened that they are the dimable type. Light is good, but there is such a thing as too much light. Just something to think about. Also, my buddy found some diy dimable LEDs that you dont even have to sotter, I dont remember the name of them, but it sounds easy. If you are not comfortable with sottering, this may be a good option, I dont know how good they are, but it could be a good setup.

[Killer Tangs]

Ecoxotic RGB Pro Module? Dimmable and has different color range I believe. Not too expensive either.

[nanoreefer1000]

Pro's and similar have pretty bad spectrums

[ghellin]

Soldering is about as easy as color by number, hit up YouTube if you have never done it before you will be well on your way in 5 minutes.

[ghellin]

I might consider the ecoxotic on a goldfish aquarium. After reading the description on the manufacturer's website it is designed for your view of the tank not to grow corals. With what you are looking for in your original post I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 3 watt led retrofit.

[rpritch]

I'm probably going to save for the RapidLED. If I'm going to shell out the cash, I shouldn't compromise.

Thanks!

[ghellin]

I know you will be beyond happy with that decision.

[Nano sapiens]

Originally Posted by ghellin

I might consider the ecoxotic on a goldfish aquarium. After reading the description on the manufacturer's website it is designed for your view of the tank not to grow corals. With what you are looking for in your original post I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 3 watt led retrofit.

That's a really broad statement considering Ecoxotic has low and higher powered lighting systems.

If I were to tell you which of the 'Goldfish' suitable Ecoxotic products I use to grow this mixed reef in my 12g cube, with virtually no heat and no heat sinks required, you'd have a really hard time believing it:

[nanoreefer1000]

Yes but a Diy fixture would be far better

[ghellin]

Originally Posted by nanoreefer1000

yes but a diy fixture would be far better

+1

[Nano sapiens]

'Better' is whatever system works best for a particular application/situation. DIY LEDs can work great, or not so great, depending on the knowledge of the aquarist in selecting the correct spectrum/intensity to match the tank and types of organisms he/she wants to keep.

On the plus side, using many low power LED strips in an enclosed canopy spreads out the light and any heat generated over a large surface area without the need for heat sinks or optics. This is especially beneficial when used inside an enclosed canopy or in a warm room. There is no 'disco-effect' or 'shadowing', but one still gets 'shimmer'. What one won't get is high-intensity penetration at depth, so this approach is not a good option for larger/deeper tanks. However, in a 10-14g Nano cube the full depth is only around 12" - 15".

DIY will undoubtedly be a cheaper option, unless strips can be bought used at a good discount.

Anyway, it's up to the OP to decide what type of lighting would work best for his situation. Strips are just one more option that can work quite well in certain circumstances.

[nanoreefer1000]

DIY- Cheaper, Better spectrum if used correctly, Penetrates deeper, some labor to make it
Stunners/Similar- Laughable spectrum, Not as much penetration, more expensive, but there's no need for a heatsink.
DIY would be like 5x better than any of the Stunners or True-lumen lights
And they have solderless diy.

[zooman72]

If going with a "DIY" kit, the pre-made kit from Steve'sLEDs is probably the best "bang-for-the-buck" out there. Have one on my BC 14, and love it, although I have it dialed down to only 50-55% on both channels - it is quite powerful, and since the LED's are clustered close together (Steve is now using 7-up boards, with 2 on the BC 14 kit), there is little color-banding.

Also, I have used Stunner strips, and they do grow coral in shallow tanks, just as Nano sapiens has said, and they have their pros and cons, just like anything else. They are probably simplest in terms of set-up, however one needs a few of them for decent PAR in a small tank.

[Breadman03]

I never heard of Steve's before, but it looks like they have some excellent packages from the nuts and bolts to drop in systems.

How is the quality on their set ups?

[zooman72]

First rate, and with excellent customer service as well!

[Nano sapiens]

Originally Posted by nanoreefer1000

DIY- Cheaper, Better spectrum if used correctly, Penetrates deeper, some labor to make it
Stunners/Similar- Laughable spectrum, Not as much penetration, more expensive, but there's no need for a heatsink.
DIY would be like 5x better than any of the Stunners or True-lumen lights
And they have solderless diy.

'Laughable spectrum' is not a valid argument

Stunners come in peak wavelengths of 405nm, 445nm, 453nm, 8k, 12k, Magenta (primary peak ~450, secondary ~640nm). Put them all together and it covers nearly all of the wavelengths a coral can use for photosynthesiis.

[nanoreefer1000]

no cyan or any of the yellow-orange area, I like the TV, cold whites (wince) so some of it is missing. Not to mention that has to be quite a few fixtures so it must cost even more if want to cover most of the spectrum. Still, you can have a full spectrum fixture with 12 leds. 2 3UP's, 1 OCW, 3 tv. Using 3up stars would also eliminate disco.

[Nano sapiens]

Originally Posted by nanoreefer1000

no cyan or any of the yellow-orange area, I like the TV, cold whites (wince) so some of it is missing. Not to mention that has to be quite a few fixtures so it must cost even more if want to cover most of the spectrum. Still, you can have a full spectrum fixture with 12 leds. 2 3UP's, 1 OCW, 3 tv. Using 3up stars would also eliminate disco.

The Magenta actually covers a small amount of yellow, ramps up through orange to peak in the red, then slides back down to around 780nm. You are correct that Cyan (487 to 505 nm) is not represented and evidence is mounting that this part of the spectrum may assist in creating certain coral pigments.

DIY LEDs can be excellent if implemented properly, no doubt, and if I had a deeper tank to light or wished to keep higher light Acros, I'd have gone that route. For my small 12g, heat issues in the room and the fact I had a few stunners already for accent lighting with the failing stock T5s, adding a few more has been good solution thus far.

[rpritch]

So, after exchanging messages with RapidLED I unfortunately discovered that the kit will only fit the Oceanic and not the Coralife biocube. With this in mind, does anyone have thoughts on the kit by Steve's LEDs as compared to Aquastyle's?

http://shop.stevesleds.com/BioCube-1...alife-BC14.htm

vs.

http://www.aquastyleonline.com/produ...mable-Kit.html

[nanoreefer1000]

Steves by far

[garryclarkfl]

rapid led is by far better products and great customer service, you get what you pay for with crew leds


Posted from ReefCentral.com App for Android