LED Lighting

Dick- thanks so much for keeping us updated over here!!

I'm pretty much sold on LED tech, but I'm not one to buy a brand new product.

In about 6 months, I may seriously consider this for the future tank.

I've seen the nice growth on your corals. Can you update us on your clams as well?
 
I am not arguing what the value of the Solaris unit is nor am I encouraging someone to DIY. I was just throwing out there what could be done outside of 3500 bucks or using Type V bulbs for the DIY crowd.

As for putting my money where my mouth is. Will I? No simply because I don't need that much light (no corals for me) nor am I going to lay out 1500 bucks for something for which I have no need. If I wanted bang for the buck cost savings I would take the 3500 for the LED panel and spend it on solar panels and get that 2k federal discount.
 
Amphibious wrote: My responce to your post was done with a great deal of "tongue in cheek" humor. It was not in any way meant to offend.
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Oddly enough after your post, I started thinking about putting something together. I was an electrical engineer major for a brief time (very brief) and still retain enough ability to pull this off including coding the microprocessor. That said, I started thinking about how it would be put together. Problem is lumens are virtually impossible to use in aquarium lighting for equalization purposes. White LEDs (K2 anyway) are focued in the yellow-green spectrum which is where most lumens are measured. They are probably much worse in the other spectrum. There is a lot more science involved in this beyond just putting it together and I am quite sure a company like Solaris has worked it out. You probably need a variation of LEDs for each spectrum and would need to mix them properly to simulate sunlight. While I can handle the electronics and the math behind it, I know very little about lighting itself. It might be simple such as throwing a blue LED for every X white LEDs or using all colored LEDs rather than white, but someone who knows more than I about lighting would have to chime in

BTW, my GF reminded me I have enough to learn/do setting up my first marine aquarium and already have my hands more than full learning pluming, fish handling, aquarium technology, etc and I don't need any new projects.
 
I'm guessing that you could do a small test run with 3-5 LED's for now and scale up from there. The same combination of lights (blue / white / other) will scale as well. The uP option would most likely scale as well, depending on how you did your layout; presumably you would control the entire bank of 3-5 at one time.

The club has a PAR meter that we could use for a club-related project. I'm sure we could use it for something like this. Lumens aren't directly usable, but PAR readings are.

I remember talking to Steven Pro, and he said that lights aren't cumulative - 2 100w bulbs != 200w bulb. This will factor in here, but I'm not sure how or how much. Something to keep in mind.

I say do a small test run and see where it gets you.
 
I will be very interested in seeing the 400w versions when they come out. I'm setting up a 60 cube this spring and would love to have one of the 24" fixtures for it.
 
mojo wrote: I'm guessing that you could do a small test run with 3-5 LED's for now and scale up from there. The same combination of lights (blue / white / other) will scale as well. The uP option would most likely scale as well, depending on how you did your layout; presumably you would control the entire bank of 3-5 at one time.

The club has a PAR meter that we could use for a club-related project. I'm sure we could use it for something like this. Lumens aren't directly usable, but PAR readings are.

I remember talking to Steven Pro, and he said that lights aren't cumulative - 2 100w bulbs != 200w bulb. This will factor in here, but I'm not sure how or how much. Something to keep in mind.

I say do a small test run and see where it gets you.
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Now that I am keeping corals (my how things change quickly), I am going to try a small experiment just to see. I ordered the K2 bulbs and once I have the rest of my aquarium operational, I think I will break out the soldering gun. If nothing else, I can use them for moonlight simulation.
 
I've been chatting with one of the local online sponsors and we talked about using the clubs PAR meter to do some testing on one of these LED fixtures. When/if he gets one in stock, we'll definately be sure to post a report.
 
I saw the one at Marine Fish and man that thing is cool. Absolutely no heat! But it was like $1,500 or something like that.
 
After doing the researth, the PFO fixture uses 3watt LEDs. I thought for sure they used 5watt LEDs. The new K2 bulbs can be driven to 6.5watts per. If there numbers hold true, you could do the same job they did with half the LEDs. It would consume more power, but it would still be a much cheaper investment. Who knows someone might be able to simulate a MQ light if they use low angle LED reflectors.
 
I really like the "Glitter" affect of the halides! It also serves as a kind of reflector because the bright spots of the glitter affect are actually magnified by the moving water and therefor give out even more light.
 
I did more math. If they push the Type III LEDs, they are getting about 80 lumens (I know lumens don't translate to PAR well) depending on how much they are driving the,. Lets say a single 250 MQ bulb throws 20k full spectrum lumens. It would take 250 white 3watt LEDs to equal a single 250 MQ light. Ouch. I believe adding blue LEDs would increase the PAR per LED but would lower the lumen. How much I cannot say, but I would be curious how many blue LEDs are in a bank on this thing. Also, I don't think it is linear either. If one bulb kicks out 100 lumen, I dont think 2 kick out 200. Not sure if that is true for PAR however.

I suppose the PFO LED system "cheats" in some way, but I am still learning how lighting does what lighting does. Still it is very fascinating.

Oh and I ran across this thread. K2s are likely the future in this market and I cannot believe one bulb kicked out this much light:

showthread.php
 
I just sent an e-mail to a few friends who are electrical engineers over at Georgia Tech. Great Grad project, "build me one of these for cheap".... I am waiting to see if they can do it. If they can't, it is not a DIY project for me in anyway.
 
Xyzpdq0121 wrote: I just sent an e-mail to a few friends who are electrical engineers over at Georgia Tech. Great Grad project, "build me one of these for cheap".... I am waiting to see if they can do it. If they can't, it is not a DIY project for me in anyway.
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That's a really great idea! They might be able to incorporate it into a design project class and get credit for it. They could even charge a little for the plans and make some dough- I'd definately pay for the plans! Keep us posted on whether or not they decide to do it.
 
tsciarini wrote: I've been chatting with one of the local online sponsors and we talked about using the clubs PAR meter to do some testing on one of these LED fixtures. When/if he gets one in stock, we'll definately be sure to post a report.
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They had an LED fixture displayed at the frag swap yesterday, I didnt follow it TOO closely but they had a par meter and it compared very favorably against the 150 w/ 20k MH bulbs. They walked over and stuck the meter under a 150w/10k mh and it apparently did not do very well because the guy never announced a meter reading, he just said "it compares better with a 20k or a 14 k bulb". They may be the wave of the future, but for bigger systems, I think they are just a little ways of for now
 
I was told this in a book and I believe I say it on a TV show called Blue Planet. I thought it was true because the Glimmer is brughter than the actual light. Im am not trying to talk you out or put down your solaris lights.
 
Maroons15 wrote: I really like the "Glitter" affect of the halides! It also serves as a kind of reflector because the bright spots of the glitter affect are actually magnified by the moving water and therefor give out even more light...

I was told this in a book and I believe I say it on a TV show called Blue Planet. I thought it was true because the Glimmer is brughter than the actual light.
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Ummm. No. No "extra" light is being produced by the surface agitation. Light can be bent when changing from one media to another (IE: from air to water) depending on its angle of incidence. This is also known as refraction. As such, some areas of the tank could have more light focused on that spot and some will have less due to the bending of light. This produces the glimmer. However, the total amount of light per unit area (IE: lumens, PAR, whatever) does not change. So you had the right idea, but wrong wording.

Amphibious wrote: Solaris Lights produce glimmer, too, not as much as MH but it's there. It's enough to satisfy me and a host of other Solaris users who are also enjoying reduced energy bills along with the reduced glimmer.
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Do you work for Solaris? Just curious, b/c you're really adamant about these lights.
 
IMO they are too expensive for the average aquarist. But if your willing and are able to spend that much on a light then im all for it!
 
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