folks with LED lights

[snowmansnow]

so.. i saw where several of you went with the led fixtures recently on a bulk order.

how are things going?

can you throw some pics in for me?

anyone with an sps tank doing this?

thanks for the update.

b

 

[crewdawg1981]

Doin it, lovin it, but couldnt tell you how its going for the corals just yet. LEDs have only been over the tank for a few days and I have to acclimate them to the PAR slowly.

Check my build for pics, but I think you saw the PAR numbers in Amici's post.

 

[jef4y]

I've had a single AI SOL Blue over my 60 cube for 10 months now. I have 70-deg optics on all LEDs and the tank does just fine. I have solid SPS growth at the top, and excellent LPS growth as well. Softies are doing just fine, as are my RBTA and Flower anemones. And I added a crocea clam like 6 weeks ago and it shows good growth too.

I peak out at around 60% at max.

With my rock layout, I could probably benefit from a second unit and then run the more focused optics in the way front, back, sides and leave the wide optics for the middle, but at this point I have no urgency to add another.

In all, my ATI PM 8x24 T5-HO gave me much more light and the tank was WAY brighter, but I like the adjustable colors, shimmer & not having to drop $200 on bulbs every year.

 

[eagle9252]

just turned mine on last night. so we will see. still doing the canopy at the moment.

 

[vida]

I put 2 of them on a 4' by 2' 120, they are awsome! i love the lighting and being able to adjust the coloring how i want it. plus they use alot less power and make almost no heat compaired to any other lights. i def reccomend them. they give ya that coral pop ive been trying to get since i started my first tank haha

 

[thesilence87]

I got mine on Monday, so nothing major to report, but I do like there is a nice pop from the blue led's that I wasn't getting from the 14k phoenix bulb I used to run. I'm running a mostly softies and LPS tank, with just four frags of SPS, but I'll update you in a month or so if you're interested.

 

[superclown]

I love mine so far i am skeptical on sps but we will see what my garf bonsai does

 

[ripped tide]

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Been running LED's for a year. Most of the stuff in there came from twigs.

 

[seth the wine guy]

BigAl07;754832 wrote: Great looking tank!!

I've been running LED on one tank or another for about 3 years now. I can tell you without a doubt that if you use the right fixture (or right components if DIY) you will have no trouble growing SPS as well as or in some instances better than MH.

I hope your username is Big AL not Big Ai. Them's fighting words!

 

[skriz]

I've found SPS to do and look WAAAAAAAAAY better under MH (even t5) than these LEDs. The colours on the LPS were pretty sick, but MH still worked better overall.

I'm getting ready to try some Radion fixtures to see how they do and look.

 

[tsellers]

I went in on the recent group buy and installed my fixture only a few days ago so still acclimating my tank. I can say that the color "pop" is awesome.

 

[crewdawg1981]

Hey Toby... these things put out some serious par so make sure your only dosing your tank with light a little each day.

My whites only come on for an hour twice a day at this point (blues for more).

 

[seth the wine guy]

Crewdawg1981;754897 wrote: Hey Toby... these things put out some serious par so make sure your only dosing your tank with light a little each day.

My whites only come on for an hour twice a day at this point (blues for more).

If your corals are already acclimated to LED lighting I wouldn't worry about coddling them too much. Anyone going from T5 or MH to LED need to pay attention more. I was able to double my LED wattage overnight on a tank acclimated to LED's already and they soaked it up and asked for more.

 

[crewdawg1981]

Seth The Wine Guy;754899 wrote: If your corals are already acclimated to LED lighting I wouldn't worry about coddling them too much. Anyone going from T5 or MH to LED need to pay attention more. I was able to double my LED wattage overnight on a tank acclimated to LED's already and they soaked it up and asked for more.

... oooooh no.

The PAR increase we're seeing with these eshine units is SUBSTANTIAL. I accidentally left the new LED on for 5 hours the first day (was used to 7 hours of a member modified unit) and definitely scorched some of my corals. Nothing they wont recover from, but serious acclimation is required.

 

[seth the wine guy]

Crewdawg1981;754901 wrote: ... oooooh no.

The PAR increase we're seeing with these eshine units is SUBSTANTIAL. I accidentally left the new LED on for 5 hours the first day (was used to 7 hours of a member modified unit) and definitely scorched some of my corals. Nothing they wont recover from, but serious acclimation is required.

I should have been more specific. LED's with <span style="color: Red">Optics</span>.
I took a tank that had 225w of LED's with optics and overnight took it to 450w with optics. Corals loved it!

 

[crewdawg1981]

Seth The Wine Guy;754903 wrote: I should have been more specific. LED's with <span style="color: Red">Optics</span>.
I took a tank that had 225w of LED's with optics and overnight took it to 450w with optics. Corals loved it!

hrmm... Interesting. Went from 120w no optics to 200w with 90 degree optics and the PAR went through the roof. I cant wait to get Charlie over here so we can test again now that all the units are up.

I mean, I knew optics would improve the PAR.... but...

 

[crewdawg1981]

These are non-dimmable units that run the LEDs at 65%. I've been doing two photo periods a day, especially after some quick PAR readings last week. Both periods involve 50 blues on twice a day for 3 hours each time and the remaining LEDS (32whites, 12 blues and 6 uvs) for 1 hour each photo period.

I'll probably run like this for another week or so then gradually increase the whites. I imagine it will be some time before the lights are on for 8 hours.

 

[tsellers]

Grant...Below is the photo period I am currently using with the new LED fixture.

3pm-4pm (blues and whites)
6pm-7pm (blues and whites)
9pm-10pm (blues and whites)

Basically on for 1 hour then off for 2 hours with a total photo period of 3 hours per day. Does this sound reasonable to start with?

FYI. I went from a 250w radium that was on for 6 hours per day. My goal with the new LED fixture would be to eventually get to a 12 hour photo period which would look something like this.

Blues on for 2 hours
Blues/Whites on for 8 hours
Blues on for 2 hours

 

[superclown]

Am I correct on even the dimmable Leds run bridgelux 3w leds at only 2w Max for longevity of the light?

 

[crewdawg1981]

Hey Toby. That looks reasonable. Just watch your corals for signs of distress and adjust as necessary.

Super, correct. The LEDs are typically run at max of 65% to save chip life. Though I don't know if a dimmable run at100% means the LED is running at 3w or 2w. You should definitely check with Robb.