LED lighting for reef tank?

[Jetmech2000]

Does anyone have LED lighting On a reef tank? If so, does it work good, do your corals grow, and what type of LED's do you use?

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[Zbatey]

I'm buying two of the ai sol LEDs on a 90 gallon reef tank

 

[Limpits Reef]

I have been using LEDs on 2 of my tanks for a few months now and am very happy with both color and coral growth. My electric use is also down which is always a good thing.

 

[Jetmech2000]

I have been using LEDs on 2 of my tanks for a few months now and am very happy with both color and coral growth. My electric use is also down which is always a good thing.

What brand are u using

 

[Limpits_Reef]

What brand are u using

I am using the Evolution LED fixtures and also I have built a 80 LED 3 watt DIY fixture for another of my tanks.
If you are into the DIY stuff building your own LED fixture is the way to go.

 

[Zbatey]

I watched all your videos on YouTube and they were great and was wandering if you could make a video on your LEDs and the coral growth with them

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I'm building my own fixture for my 120 Reef project. Going to have 96 CREE LEDs and will cost at least 1/2 of any fixture out there, if not less, and have more power.

 

[InfernoST]

I'm using 4 AI's Sol Super Blue modules on my 120, they are very powerful. The only issue is it is very easy to over power the tank causing bleaching so great care must be taken when using them. And yes when implemented correctly the corals grow nicely.
IMO, it's relatively easy to build an LED but there is more to it than meets the eye. 1st issue is for them to be more efficient you will have to buy optics for the led's, 2nd the amount of wiring (depending on how the fixture is built) going to your various controllers and power supplies will be quite a lot and will not look ascetically pleasing, 3rd you are going to have to install potentiometers to control the intensity for the different controllers and colors and still have to use some sort of timer to just have them turn on and off.
After you've completed your fixture you still aren't going to have the features of a professionally manufactured fixture/controller like multiple timers so one can adjust the intensities throughout the day to simulate actual day time conditions/intensities, lunar cycles, thunderstorms, cloud cover etc...
Building your own is cheaper but one must remember when you buy them from a manufacturer you are also paying for the R & D / engineering that went into the product such as the controller, optics and so on. Just my .02

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Mine will be made from board with the pots built in, and the boards have PWM inputs so I can hook up an Arduino and program dimming cycles, etc. Same control as you described above, I just have to do the programming myself (which I look forward to, plus much of it is on RC already) and I won't have huge unnecessary heat sinks (just adequate ones) and it will cost about 1/3 to 1/2 as much, easily

 

[InfernoST]

Mine will be made from board with the pots built in, and the boards have PWM inputs so I can hook up an Arduino and program dimming cycles, etc. Same control as you described above, I just have to do the programming myself (which I look forward to, plus much of it is on RC already) and I won't have huge unnecessary heat sinks (just adequate ones) and it will cost about 1/3 to 1/2 as much, easily

As long as you can do the programming yourself and manage to keep all of the wiring nice and tidy then you're all set. BTW what LED's and optics are you going with? Maybe you start a thread in the DIY section for your led build.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I have a build thread for the tank project started

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f20/turbos-reef-project-141630.html

I'm using CREE XP-G and XP-Es and not 100% on the optics yet, was going to go with 60 degree but I'm holding off on ordering those for $ reasons, will get them eventually. Plus I can figure out the height above tank and think about 40 deg vs 60

 

[InfernoST]

If it helps I'm about 13 inches above the water with mixed 40 and 70 degree optics and still manage to torch things at only 40%.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I see you're running AIs on a 120, what dimensions is the tank and how many AIs / what model?

I'm going with 60 RBs and 36 CWs so 96 LED all together.

 

[InfernoST]

I'm running 4 Sol Blues. Tank dimensions 60x18x26.

 

[Limpits_Reef]

Building your own LED fixture is not for everyone but I have to disagree about all the R&D that goes into a manufacturers built fixture because there are a lot of crappy pre-built fixtures out there. With a little planning and research you can build your own LED fixture that will blow any pre-made unit out of the water as far as par readings are concerned. 60-70 degree optics are the way to go if you have a deeper tank otherwise most people do not use any optics on the 3 watt Cree's.
As far as how the DIY units look, if your worried about aesthetics find yourself someone who is good with sheet metal and have them bend you up a case to house your light and get it powder coated.
Next LED unit I build I will take pics and post a step by step on the build if I have the time.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Ooooh.. My cousin does custom electrical cabinets and does painting, possibly powder coating. Oooooooh...thanks for the brain jog!!

 

[InfernoST]

Building your own LED fixture is not for everyone but I have to disagree about all the R&D that goes into a manufacturers built fixture because there are a lot of crappy pre-built fixtures out there. With a little planning and research you can build your own LED fixture that will blow any pre-made unit out of the water as far as par readings are concerned. 60-70 degree optics are the way to go if you have a deeper tank otherwise most people do not use any optics on the 3 watt Cree's.
As far as how the DIY units look, if your worried about aesthetics find yourself someone who is good with sheet metal and have them bend you up a case to house your light and get it powder coated.
Next LED unit I build I will take pics and post a step by step on the build if I have the time.

I'm referring to reputable Manufacturers not these no name units from china. And yes you are correct about it just being an LED which in itself is a very simple device and is extremely easy to make a useable fixture with or without optics, the R&D I'm referring to is when a company goes to great lengths to develop their own optics to enhance the efficiency of the LED's being used and the development of an easy to use and reliable controller that is upgradeable by the end user as the manufacturer adds new features free of charge whom also provide quality service. There are only a handful of companies out there that are making quality fixtures the rest are just crap.
As you well know you get what you pay for, you buy cheap and you get cheap. The one thing that amazes me is that everybody want's to buy 100 dollar item for 10 which just isn't going to happen

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I'm with you there. The LED industry is being flooded with salesmen that have no idea what they're selling, they're just on the bandwagon. This is not specific to any particular industry. There are groups in place attempting to prevent what happened with T8 ballasts back in the 90s, there were problems that caused people to swear off them for quite a while.

There are reputable manufacturers of LEDs and fixtures. The first is the really important one. Cree and Phillips and I think there's one other, the rest are just flat out "avoid". Starting to see the mainstream manufacturers like Marineland come out with fixtures. So far, I don't like them. AI (which is based 30 miles north of me) has a fantastic fixture, but like you said, you need a deep pocketbook. But you can't go wrong - upgradeable modules for technology advances, all the bells & whistles. I bet their customer service is top notch also. I have heard nothing bad about them.