Thinking going LED

[haninja]

<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I’m thinking about going LED on a 72” 180g tank. </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">From what I read, about 3-4” spacing in between LEDs with 60 degree optics should provide good coverage. Then, 3 strips of 24 LEDs, 5” apart would cover most of the 24” wide tank with 3” left “uncovered” in front and back.</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I’m thinking equal mix of Cool White and Royal blue. I saw kits of 24 mixed LEDs including the drivers, glue, wires, LED and lenses for about $200 and just need to add the 2 heat sinks for about $32 (1.1" x 24" Aluminum) a piece.</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">So for about $300 I should be able to cover 1/3 of my tank which would put me at about $900 for a 72”. I got my prices from http://www.rapidled.com/">http://www.rapidled.com</a></span></span>[/FONT]

<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">[FONT=Verdana]My monthly electric bill is $300-$600 (winter-summer) running 3X400w MH and a chiller. I’m thinking I can return my investment just by cutting my electric bill in 4 month.</span></span>[/FONT]

<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">[FONT=Verdana]I’m opening this for discussion and opinions. </span></span>[/FONT]

 

[budsreef]

I'm not sure if cool white and white is the same thing, but if I only have the white and royal blue turned on with my AI Leds I get a purple look to the tank. I really need the blue leds as well to get a nice look. I have limited experience though, since I've only had my led fixtures for two weeks.

 

[basscyn]

Tagging along.
I have a 72" tank myself and considering LED's as well.

More importantly I need to sell the idea to the wife.:yes:
I can hear her now.

..."you want to do what?!! ":mad2:</em>

..."its going to cost how much ...$900.00?":mad2:</em>

...and your going to build it yourself??:lol2::lol2:</em>

:mad2::rocketwhore:

 

[haninja]

Cool white and Neutral white are not the same. The vendor site above say the Cool white is in the 5000-8,300K range but there's no info on the Neutral white. From reading other forms it seams they are in the 4000K range. I currently have 20Kk Radium and love the crispy blue.

 

[oz]

Hurry up and do it so we'll see the results by the time it gets 100 out! Most of the larger tanks I've seen with LED's have the light columns so any solution with LEDs without those would be very nice to see. Even with running actinics with the LEDs, the columns were still there.

 

[haninja]

I was planning on using their 1" heat sink.

aquaculture, can you let us know what are the components you were quoted for $550?

 

[thbrewst]

How much are you expecting to cut your electric bill and at what power price rates. There was another thread on here in the past few weeks about the cost savings and it seemed (from that discussion) that the power bill savings would take a looooong time to justify the cost of upgrading. Admittedly I do not think that discussion included anything to do with the cost of bulb replacement, which seems like a much quicker return.

 

[haninja]

I have not calculated the exact power consumption but since introducing the MH and chiller I could see an increase of $150-$200 a month.

 

[gwhiz]

aquaculture;622528 wrote: The kits are excellent, it just seems $900 for a tank longer and wider than my 40 breeder is a little cheap, but I could be mistaken.

FWIW--I was looking at the RapidLED site the other day and estimated about $900 for my 72" tank...

 

[rbredding]

thbrewst;622536 wrote: How much are you expecting to cut your electric bill and at what power price rates. There was another thread on here in the past few weeks about the cost savings and it seemed (from that discussion) that the power bill savings would take a looooong time to justify the cost of upgrading. Admittedly I do not think that discussion included anything to do with the cost of bulb replacement, which seems like a much quicker return.

Don't forget to put an extra $80/year per MH Lamp in there when you're calculating costs..


my Chiller (5A), MH Lamps (4.4A), Actinic (1.83A) pull 11.23A/hr = 1350w/hr (1.35 kW/h) that they're on...

I bet that I'm looking at 5.4kW/h per day (4hours) during the summer (April-September) 182days x 5.4kW/h = 983kW/h X $0.15/kW/h = $150 + $200 in new bulbs every year = $350.00/ year minimum increased cost due to the MH lamps... **now, obviously, that's not a net increased cost because the LED's would consume energy also.. but it's not tough to see that you could pay off an investment like LED lamps within 3-4 years..

I did this fast, so there's no telling how many mistakes I made in my calculations/oversimplification..





**doesn't take into consideration the cost of running the MH lamps on days that the chiller doesn't come on.. (so half the year, I've got at least another $1,100 on top of that $350 for the time when the MH's/Actinics run and the chiller doesn't come on at all)

 

[haninja]

Amici;622558 wrote: On a tank that size I would really think about incorporating some 30 or 50w chips to bring the cost down and get a little more punch.

Are you talking about this chip: http://cgi.ebay.com/50W-20000K-High-Power-4000LM-LED-Panel-Aquarium-/270693111112?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f06911548">http://cgi.ebay.com/50W-20000K-High-Power-4000LM-LED-Panel-Aquarium-/270693111112?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f06911548</a>
It will require lens ([IMG]http://cgi.ebay.com/45mm-Lens-Reflector-Base-20-50W-LED-Lamp-Blub-/220738462299?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336509a25b">http://cgi.ebay.com/45mm-Lens-Reflector-Base-20-50W-LED-Lamp-Blub-/220738462299?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336509a25b</a>) and driver ([IMG]http://cgi.ebay.com/50-Watt-Waterproof-LED-Driver-/270698614039?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f06e50d17">http://cgi.ebay.com/50-Watt-Waterproof-LED-Driver-/270698614039?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f06e50d17</a>) all together $100 before shipping which is not really a bad deal...
Any idea what kind of coverage you can get with one?

 

[totalchaos13]

So having been out of the hobby for a couple years, has LED technology come that far already? Do you get as good of growth rates on SPS? And what about he look of the light in the water...do you get that "wavy" asthetic like you do from MH's?

Sorry for all the questions but I too am working on a 180g build and have yet to decide on lights. I'm sure there are threads out there on RC but I have yet to find them...

 

[tony_caliente]

Google this "TED 5000C" it appeared in last week's Wall Street Journal. I may buy one. It supposed to help you save money on your electric bill.

 

[rbredding]

Totalchaos13;622589 wrote: So having been out of the hobby for a couple years, has LED technology come that far already?

some have.. most (cheap) units will not deliver what they promise..

Totalchaos13;622589 wrote: Do you get as good of growth rates on SPS?

yes, on the more expensive units.. several guys here are using them.. (big $ though)

Totalchaos13;622589 wrote: And what about he look of the light in the water...do you get that "wavy" asthetic like you do from MH's?

yes.. you get the shimmer from LED..

Totalchaos13;622589 wrote: Sorry for all the questions but I too am working on a 180g build and have yet to decide on lights. I'm sure there are threads out there on RC but I have yet to find them...

nah.. nothing of it..

 

[miami dolfan]

My tank is 30" deep...will LED technology work on a tank that deep or am I forever married to my MH?

 

[rbredding]

does anyone have a manual for the installation of these kits?

 

[totalchaos13]

With the DIY kit from RapidLED how do you adjust the blue and white intensity? Or since they are all wired on the same circuit is it not possible? I like the variable settingt on the AI SOL units...

 

[morganatlanta]

You have to separate the colors on different drivers so that you can control them separately. The drivers come in numerous different current/voltage combinations, and there are lots of places to get the drivers, so if RapidLED or ReefLEDLights don't have the ones you are looking for, just look elsewhere. There doesn't seem to be much cost savings in the kits, versus the individual pieces, but there is certainly convenience of buying everything in one place.
I think it has been said before, but I would reiterate that you should look at adding "regular" blues in addition to the "royal" blues because the CREE royal blue color probably isn't exactly the "blue" you want. The kits are usually just cool white and royal blue. I'd call or email the site and see if they will do 1/3 cool white, 1/3 royal and 1/3 blue.
These are not large shops, so they'll likely put together a kit that fits your needs. I also would not space the blues and whites out evenly like you see in a lot of the DIY threads. I would group them together in clumps of three white/royal/blue like in the AI fixtures.

 

[rbredding]

aquaculture;622700 wrote: Yeah I have a installation manual for these kits...it's my DIY brain.:lol2: Just kiddin...if you have questions or need a little help with this, feel free to message me and we can talk on the phone or if I have time, I can come by and give you a hand/pointers on making this a little easier. Also, Budsreef just bought a couple AI modules. I would speak with him about the route he went, and see if that would be more feasible for you so you don't have to mess with putting a kit together over a 72" tank. Good luck and let me know if ya need a little help.

Aston Martin;622726 wrote: The kit of 24 I bought from them had no manual. It's pretty strait forward. I'm in Canton if you want to take a look at one in operation.

No.. I don't really have any questions, but I usually read online manuals before I purchase something.

I'm sure that I could figure it out... but I'm surprised that they don't have a manual.. (I've actually noticed that lots of stuff in this hobby don't come with manuals.. which just blows my mind)

 

[totalchaos13]

I've got a ReefKeeper 2 from a few years ago. Are those able to fully control this style lighting or am I looking at having to buy a seperate controller to get the dimming function?