LED cannon upgrade @ marine park- video!

[cr500_af]

<div class="gc_ifarem_title">YouTube - Sea Life Aquarium at LEGOLAND Lighting Retrofit from Metal Halide to Ecoxotic LED</div><iframe style="width: 70%; height: 400px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZLH3TcHGOP4&feature=player_embedded"></iframe>

Sanjay mentioned this upgrade. The difference in looks and energy consumption is astounding.

 

[glxtrix]

Wow!

 

[carpenter981]

thats amazing...Better results with a huge savings...I cant wait until LED fixtures get a little cheaper

 

[peachyreef]

WOW!!!! Thats awesome!!!!!

 

[sharkbait]

WOW! I wonder how much one of those bad boys would run...

 

[brynbyers]

Sharkbait;614312 wrote: WOW! I wonder how much one of those bad boys would run...

Apparently $521.99

 

[sharkbait]

Hmmm. I wonder if two of those would be able to replace my two 400w MH setup...

 

[brynbyers]

Each fixture is only one color...white or blue, so at least two.
It looks like in the sample picture they have 2 whites and 2 blues over that display.

 

[lilrobb]

Each cannon replaces 3 (in words THREE) 250W units - and you wonder if one would replace one 400W....?

 

[sharkbait]

LilRobb;614336 wrote: Each cannon replaces 3 (in words THREE) 250W units - and you wonder if one would replace one 400W....?

First off isn't it about PAR at the bottom? Second they state that one replaces three MH units, they didn't specify what three MH they replaced. Third I don't see a single piece of coral in that setup at all. So more or less they are looking at a more cost effective way of lighting the tank up. So, maybe not all of those are needed on oh lets say a much smaller system that is much shallower then that setup. It was a simple question and personally I don't understand why you would respond the way you did.

 

[sharkbait]

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Edit: That's four over from what I can tell at least a 150-200g system and the spread and color seems quite amazing.

 

[rbredding]

guys... those cannons were more than 10' above the top of the water (and the water was 15' deep)... that's how they covered the area they did...


and as they got further away from the source, the blue & white blended more consistently..

 

[ichthyoid]

Rbredding;614369 wrote: guys... those cannons were more than 10' above the top of the water (and the water was 15' deep)... that's how they covered the area they did...


and as they got further away from the source, the blue & white blended more consistently..

+1

A laser lights up a pretty decent sized area, when directed from Earth to the Moon!

 

[sharkbait]

Regardless with these guys on the market it seems like soon enough MH will be out dated. With what my electric bill is running just two 400w MH is enough to justify the cost of those led cannon's.

 

[sharkbait]

Amici;614395 wrote: Are you DIY inclined? If so shot me a pm, I've got some info that may help.

Mechanical engineer so yes...LOL. PM inbound.

 

[cr500_af]

Sharkbait;614348 wrote: First off isn't it about PAR at the bottom? Second they state that one replaces three MH units, they didn't specify what three MH they replaced. Third I don't see a single piece of coral in that setup at all. So more or less they are looking at a more cost effective way of lighting the tank up. So, maybe not all of those are needed on oh lets say a much smaller system that is much shallower then that setup. It was a simple question and personally I don't understand why you would respond the way you did.

Yes, they did. 8 of these (50w each) replaced 6x400w MH plus 14x250w MH. So, 400w of LEDs are lighting their tank more effectively than 5900w of metal halides. The video says 6700w, but unless I miscounted it is less.

And in THIS case, it is not at all about PAR. It isn't a reef tank; it's a shark tank. It's all about being able to see the animals. So in that aspect, you're right. However, Sanjay provided data that really supported the idea that LEDs do indeed provide the PAR at depth required for a reef tank... just maybe not 15' down. On the other hand, the MH lighting they had was so dim at that depth I'd be willing to bet that the PAR was almost nonexistant.

 

[sharkbait]

Amici;614455 wrote: Oh the 50w chips with optics can really punch down deep! Its just a matter of how quickly the spread fads as you raise up the fixture. I had the advantage of playing with a 50w chip with 60 deg and 90 deg optics with a par meter and there is a sweet zone for the height to achieve even spread.

I want to see this over my tank....

 

[cr500_af]

If you watch the video you can see very strong "spotlighting" going on, but I guess that is to be expected when you are lighting that much area with eight small lamps.

 

[ichthyoid]

Light is all about power per unit area. LED's are much more directional than any other reef lighting available. Therefore, they spread their power over a smaller area.

Either increase the watts, or decrease the area and Irradiance goes up.

Anyone that has played with a magnifying glass in sunlight has seen this effect at work. Focus the light to a small enough spot and that 13 watts per square meter of sunlight that shines down on us will burn paper.

Here is the math-

I = W / A, where

I = irradiance
W = watts, and
A = area

 

[ichthyoid]

It's amazing to see how little power we would really need if we had it only shine down on the floor of the tank.

Sanjay made a point of this during his talk, and I commended him afterward for saying so. He mentioned walking into fish rooms and seeing the whole room lit up. The light on the walls and floor will not grow coral.