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LED Lighting

C

chaoscat

I know a lot of us are watching the progression of LED lighting into the hobby very closely and with great interest. (I know this, because every time you see a thread posted on a forum that has any real detail, the guy immediately gets mobbed with requests for info) :D

I'm doing a lot of research myself. It's all very confusing. How bright is bright enough? How many LED's do you really need? Do you need more than one type? How do you drive them? Where to buy at lowest cost? Are those multi-LED bulbs of really any use?

Personal experimentation can get expensive fast, though I know some of us have already started down that path.

I'd like to create this thread for the purpose of sharing useful information gained from personal experimentation and links to threads with useful information regarding LED lights, drivers, etc. Basically anything connected to DYI LED lighting of reef tanks.

To that end, I ran across this page, where for the first time, I found someone who had done some real light measurement comparisons between Metal Halide Lighting and some readily availabe LED bulbs.

http://www.asaquaculture.org/8.html
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

Thanks I am extremely interested in LED lighting also. Will have to check out the site you included in further detail. I know that there is one guy on the Manhattan Reef page that is semi-pro with LED lighting. You can check it out I cannot tell you the name but I know he is using mixing equipment to get the same effect as the higher end lights some of the guys have here.

I have a lower watt LED bar for my fuge which has been working great. But A) would never be enough for the tank B) and is the wrong spectrum.

But given the energy usage I am looking at T5s or LED for any larger tank I set up.
So any info you have is welcome.
 
RichT

RichT

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I hear another good combination is to use all t5 and add a couple white LED's for shimmer. Not as green as all LED's but heading in the right direction.
 
RichT

RichT

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Anyone know the conversion from lumens to par?
I'm pretty sure lux to par is lux/50
 
T

tbone212371

I personaly use leds and LOVE them.
I actually did alot of research and took the expense of purchsing some!
I buy my Led panels off of ebay!
And yes they are great! Even for corals!
I use LED panels installed in my canopy!
Very little heat! BRIGHT Light! And brings out the colors of the fish and corals!
And each panel covers about 6 square feet!
And they less costly than other type off lighting!
Saves on electricity costs also!
 
A

albie611

tbone , what led panels do you use.....im looking to go to a bigger tank and use either t5 or led or a combo of both instead of MH
 
T

tbone212371

Here are some pics.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d90/tbone212371/29ca_1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d90/tbone212371/29f4_1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d90/tbone212371/33b1_1.jpg
Otherwise they are sold on ebay. At Least thats where I bought mine from!
Here are some links:

Full Spectrum Lighting RED and BLUE:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=360054057619&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=023

Lunar Blue:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320254720241&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=011

DAY LIGHT WHITE:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280225904808&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=018

I hope that is helpful!?!
Just do your research!!!!
There is plenty of information on those pages.
The Blue ones really promote growth!
Remeber most corals are just like plants and fit into the color spectrum for photosynthesis.
I Love them!!!!
Also they really bring out the colors of the corals and fish!!!
The red and blue produce more of a violet color.
Also the blue color spectrum peneatrates water very well compared
to white!So I use combinations of red, blue, white, and supplimint with 10,000K + Fluroesant light.
Hope that is help full?
 
T

tbone212371

Currently around 6+ months.
And I have had great luck with the Blue Spectrum.
My polyps like them!
The blue Spectrum is 470nm and is great for lunar.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

tbone212371 said:
The Blue ones really promote growth!
Remeber most corals are just like plants and fit into the color spectrum for photosynthesis.
Click to expand...

tbone- I am going to say this statement is not quite true -but I am not anyone who's researched LED lighting personally.

Generally speaking, blue light does nothing for the growth of corals and really is used via actinics purely for aesthetics. Yellow light (6500K) is more typically used for super fast growth of corals, but it's not a pleasant (at least for some people) view of the display tank.

Blue and red light are supposedly great for plants - as in a greenhouse. I think when you add water (which refracts a large portion of light) - the dynamics are different.


29f4_1.jpg

Your display is remarkable for it's lack of LR. Are you compensating via a fuge with LR or are you running a Wet/dry with the bio balls?
 
T

tbone212371

Thanks for the commpliment!!!
Um welp at the moment just using skimmer and mechincal filter (its a tetra with 4 whisper like filters in it)
Just built my sump and fuge out of a 10 gallon tank last weekend and then going all biological!!! Just gotta get my return pump! Can't wait though!!!
That pic is alittle old and that is only with the 2 white leds on in the canopy.
I normally leave my blue led panel (which is located in the center of my canopy in between the 2 white led panels)
When all the lights are on it is pretty bright.
I don't know too much about the whole led thing but I did it and I guess its just a personal preferrence!
I hope it works out for me. I am trying to get the whole color spectrum ging on in the dt though.
 
S

stcreef

RichT said:
Anyone know the conversion from lumens to par?
I'm pretty sure lux to par is lux/50
Click to expand...

Rich,

You actually cant compare any of those easily to one another.

Lumen is a measure of perceived power of a light source.
Lux is a measure of that perceived power of a light source that illuminates an area
Par is a measure of that perceived power of a light source that illuminates an area that is in the photosynthetic range(~400nm-700nm).

So a lumen to par conversion from an incandescent bulb compared to a mh would be different. Your lux to par conversion is about right for sunlight. But not for t5's or for mh's. lux/75 is about right for an average mh.

and

lux = lumen/(meter squared)

Now I am going to go bang my head for even knowing this........
 
M

medachef

yeah definetly check out Nano-reef.com. There are a couple people on there that are doing some cool things. PM MAtty... Coolwaters, and a couple other people on the lighting forum. they know what they are talking about. Also with the 10+ year supposed life span of the led lighting it's worth a try. Or just get a Solaris I4. And your good to go.
 
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