LED's

[NC2WA]

Mojo,

This may help you. An article by Sanjay Joshi on spectral analysis of MH, T5, and LED lights.

Feature Article: Quantitative Comparison of Lighting Technologies: Metal Halide, T5 Fluorescent and LED — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

 

[Krish]

I have a small questions. Didn't dig very deep into this thread to see if it was mentioned and if so, my apologies... It's been a long wekend, but how often do L.E.D "bulbs" need replacing? Are they like halides that need replacing every few months eventhough they may still be firing up and look as colorful and intense to you as they always did or do these things not need replacing at all only unless the individual L.E.D completely just burns itself out and doesn't light up anymore? I was really curious about this because that's a lot of "bulbs" you'd have to replace if they all needed changing every few months and if it is not a DIY kit you have, but rather a factory made fixture, I'd imagine swapping out the bulbs would require quite a bit of time as you'd have to tear the thing down to change them out in addition to there being so many. You run halides and you will only have to replace basically one bulb for every 2ft by 2ft of area which in most cases, will only be 1-3 bulbs as you don't often see too many tanks beyond 6ft long among the reefing community except for a small handful. Majority of hobbyist have tanks 6ft long and less.

 

[NC2WA]

Krish,

Most LEDs bulbs can last 3-5 yrs depending on the brand. I know some of the CREE can last up to 50,000 hrs.

So it is a bit of an investment up front, but dont have to pay $60-80/yr for MH bulb replacement. It's a tradeoff.

 

[akunochi]

Krish also the maxspect mazzara and Ai Sols can cover a 2x2 area.

 

[Krish]

Nice!!! So these L.E.D.S don't loose their spectrum over time like metal halides do which is why halide bulbs need changing even before they burn out?

 

[akunochi]

yep the cree's are good for 50K hours before needing replaced.

 

[tat2z_21]

LED's will lose Kalvin rating after about 1000 hours of use. Right around 1000k. But this decrease is very little compared to metal halides and T5's that do a complete spectrum shift, and loss of par. They figure at the 50000 hour mark it is around a 30 percent. For me that is more then acceptable. Also for you DIY'ers if you do not supply a large enough heat sink the LED's are negative coefficient. So as heat goes up the lifespan and Kalvin rating will decrease. Yes LED's, depending on proper cooling and installation will last you around 50000 hours. With very little degredation.

 

[Frankie]

Cool thread!

I have always been a fan of LED's since the old days when Sanjay would do the light seminars in chat rooms on MIRC.

I have talked to him at length on the use of them and he even helped me design a moon light system that works great even to this day. (took about two weeks for him to beat it into my head that moon light is white, not blue )

After the Solaris fiasco I gave up on the idea of using them for the main reef lighting.

I am glad to see the topic picked up again. Very good infomation so far. I look forward to learning more from this thread.

Not only will the heat be less and the bulbs last longer, but the savings alone long term with electric bills will greatly be reduced from LED's.

My new build is built around MH's but that can easily be changed once we use Mike as a guinea pig

 

[TJL]

That's some GREAT info guys, very happy to be making the change over to LED's. Would love to put mine through some testing once I complete the build. I'll be running 8 different led chips, try to pull up each spectral chart for overall comparison to add here for ya Mike. Floyd IS GOING TO HELP ME get it all wired up soon...lol... oh and not over my head yet Seth...cuz I'm just a little taller then Floyd

Cheers, Todd

 

[tat2z_21]

Can't wait to help you get started on that light. Let me know when you are ready. My current project is G13 classified. I will be posting pics of it as I go.

 

[akunochi]

That's some GREAT info guys, very happy to be making the change over to LED's. Would love to put mine through some testing once I complete the build. I'll be running 8 different led chips, try to pull up each spectral chart for overall comparison to add here for ya Mike. Floyd IS GOING TO HELP ME get it all wired up soon...lol... oh and not over my head yet Seth...cuz I'm just a little taller then Floyd

Cheers, Todd

LOL it probably wouldn't be over my head, I just don't have the patience or attention span to read it. LOL

 

[mojoreef]

LED's has always had some big drawback, but most of those are slowly disappearing. The one that is still lingering is the cost IMHO, their is no way I could justify the cost of a premade unit just yet, BUT the DIY is right in the money even cheaper then setting up a MH system.

One thing folks have to watch for when looking to go LED is to make sure that all the things you need from light over a reef tank are met. LED's are mainly built for other industries but are starting to make their way into the reef/aquarium market, so make sure you dot your I's and cross your T's. This is what I am trying to do in this thread. I am at the point where my MH bulbs need replacing and one of my ballasts blew, so if their was ever a time this is it. So here is what I am reseaching and what I have found out so far.

>Does the LED have the par to replace my 400 watt halide = So I had tested a LED that my buddy found, and yep it is at level and might even have more par.

>Does the LED give me the kelvin rating I am looking for and that is usuable for the coral = SO far the spectral analysis I have seen is in the money

>Does the up front cost justify the purchase = In my case for sure.

>Research everywhere to find any positive and/or negative feedback = and that is what brings me to this thread, from Seth and Skimmy I have heard that their have been folks that have experence bleaching from starting with similar lights. Word was mentioned that the LED puts out to much par in the usuable range for the zoox and if care is not taken it will cause the coral to eject its zoox. So I need to know if that is just someone that hits his corals with a new strong light and did not acclimate it properly (same applies for MH) or if this truely is a case of to much par at the Pur range. SOOOOooooo If I can find what I asked for above I can do one of two things, dail it down to an acceptable range, raise the light or find out that its was just a rumor??


Mike

 

[Krish]

What about that light specialst guy...Sanjay??Is that right? Wonder what he has to say about L.E.D's?

 

[mojoreef]

He has changed all his tanks over to LED's

Mojo

 

[tat2z_21]

I am going to say just from process of elimination, that most people that made the switch over from halides to LED's did not acclimate enough. The only reason that I say this is because there are alot of successful reefs being maintained by LED's.With proof of growth, and coloration. IF you were to change a T5 bulb to a different wavelength there would still be a level of change within the coral, possibly not to the point of death, but a color change even if slight would show. If proper care is not taken with any light, the change in spectrum and par will obviously create a climate perfect for xoo expeltion.

 

[user 26995]

Well I hope all goes well with my 75 mixed reef. I just took down my MH system and set up the ACAN LED unit. Its Been up for two days now and I still have full polyp extension on everything. There are a couple pieces in the darker part of the tank so I will need to move them a little but so far so good.

 

[mojoreef]

If you have a dimmer Lorrie just start with it at a lower level and then raise it every other day to just make sure. Never hurts.


MOjo

 

[tat2z_21]

I would definately say to dim the lights, and slowly increase. That is a nice light fixture Lorrie. That is really going to make the corals color pop. I still want to get out your way one day and check out your tanks.

 

[Krish]

What about the opposite? Anyone ever had an issue with going backwards with intensity?? I mean, for someone like me going with corals that was acquired in the wild most of which as mentioned, was in knee high water and at most 10-15ft deep...How would it impact a coral going from the intesity of the sun kinda close to the equator, in this shallow of water with almost perfectly crystal clear water so nothing to block light, to a tank with lighting that can't compare to the sun or does it? Are halides and L.E.D's designed to put out the same amount of par found on a natural reef? The reason I ask is because I've never had an issue with them dying, bleaching or anything which is why I was curious. Corals went from under the sun to under 250w metal halide and did well...

 

[mojoreef]

Well you got to think about it Krish. So "Be the Coral" you farm all this algae with in ya so that you can harvest the biproducts they make. Now all of a sudden the light goes down and you have the same amount of algae but are getting less biproduct, so what do ya do?? You get more algae so you can plant a larger crop and that is exactly what corals do, the problem for us though is because zoox (the algae) has two pigments yellow and green and that makes brown. SO you end up having your corals brown out if the light is not intence enough or theirs not enough photons hitting those zoox's.

Mojo