Question about new LED's.

deepentry · Feb 18, 2013

Hello all, I've just been a stalker for a couple years.but I just purchased 3 120 Helois led's at the Bob Moore frag swap saturday and have a question about using a controller or not. I don't know much about LED's to start with. would using a controller be a wise choice for my lights, or is it just something else that can go wrong. Thanks in advance for your pro's/con's. Rich.

ReefGeeker · Feb 18, 2013

I would definetly call Oceans by Design and ask them so you don't burn up your corals! I think you start at 10 percent but i don't have LEDs this is just from talking to Mike about it.

Herefishyfishy · Feb 18, 2013

The controller is not necessary but adds a level of convenience. Each light has a pair of manual controll knobs that can be changed to raise and lower output. You could turn the lights on and set each by hand, or have the controller do it plus all kinds of timed activety such as gradual increase and decrease through the day to approximate sunrise to sunset.

eww · Feb 18, 2013

Hey Rich. Thank you for buying the lights the other day. As I explained at the time the controller is really only to give you the ability to do a ramp up and ramp down lighting scheme. Most people like to see the blue LED's come on first and go off last to give the dawn/dusk effect and really show off the fluorescing colors of your corals during these periods. With the two separate channels controlling the blues and white independently you can also tune your final color of light in your aquarium to your liking as well as enjoy many different shades in between during the ramp up and ramp down periods. All this being said, none of this does anything for the aquarium inhabitants other than maybe eliminating a little startlement each day when the lights just turn on and off suddenly. As long as the lights are on your critters will be happy.

As to acclimation as ReefGeeker mentions... You will definitely want to start low on the intensity whether it be with a controller or with the built in rheostats. We typically recommend in the 10-20% range to start with and slowly, over weeks, bumping it up a bit each week. We have found that most aquariums max out at between 40-60% of the available full power of the lights. This meaning if you turn them up further than that they can harm your corals in a very short period of time. Where your maximum level is depends on how your inhabitants react so as long as you go slow and pay attention to things you will find their happy place and leave it.

trido · Feb 18, 2013

I would recommend the typhon controller if thats what you're asking. Not only do you get the dawn and dusk dimming which is not only cool for you but easier on your fish. They get to slowly wake up and then can wind down for bed too as the lights dim. You also know exactly how much percentage you are running your lights at with a controller as opposed to just guessing with the dimmer dial. IME, the dimmer dials are not accurate enough to just turn down 50% and your drivers are actually at 50%. You will just be guessing.

kpiotrowski · Feb 18, 2013

trido said:
I would recommend the typhon controller if thats what you're asking. Not only do you get the dawn and dusk dimming which is not only cool for you but easier on your fish. They get to slowly wake up and then can wind down for bed too as the lights dim. You also know exactly how much percentage you are running your lights at with a controller as opposed to just guessing with the dimmer dial. IME, the dimmer dials are not accurate enough to just turn down 50% and your drivers are actually at 50%. You will just be guessing.

or if you are in the market for the apex unit in the future, you way want to just go that way? ( we all hate dbl buying things) ( and the apex will help you from dbl buying many things)