First time poster, new member, LED user

Hi All,

I've been following the forum off/on for sometime. I've caught the reef-bug lately and I've learned alot from reading this forum.. I have two tanks, a 95 gallon LPS-dominated tank and a 34 gallon SPS-dominated tank. I've just started using Kalkwasser and this has helped to keep my kH and pH more stable.

As for fishes, I'm addicted to wrasses as a species. I find they have such varied personalities and colors, not to mention most are reef-safe.

I've been experimenting with LED's for the past year and have been so-so satisfied with the results. Growth of the LPS has been slower than with my previous T5 lighting. I've even lost some specimens, likely from uneven distribution of the light. For the 95 gallon corner LPS tank, I run three 60W Cree LEDs from OCREEF. In my 34 gallon SPS tank, I run two DIY bridgelux LED units from OCREEF. The shimmer from the LED's are great, something I never had with the T5's. (Never used MH, though).

I was wondering if anyone has any extended experiences with LED's. Granted, the units I've been using are probably of lower quality. I think the newer units like Ecotech Radions or Kissell units probably have better light spectrum.

 

Welcome to 3reef!

 

Hello and welcome to 3reef! I will follow this thread as I am planning on doing a diy build from rapidled and I was wondering how different types of coral do over a longer period of time.

 

Welcome to 3reef! LEDs are a hot topic here. You will find many build threads here. The general consensus seems to be the RAPIDLED is the place to shop for Cree LEDS. They are a higher quality and the technology has really advanced in the last couple years. They have 8-10 different colors (spectrum) of LEDS and they are a bit higher quality then bridgelux from what I hear. Are you using optics? What type of drivers? I find that these items make quite a bit of difference as well. Good luck with whatever you decide

 

Welcome to 3Reef! Here, members have almost all the major fixtures and DIY styles of LED. I personally have an EcoTech Radion, but have had many major brand fixtures in the past. Welcome to the family!

 

Hello and welcome. As you've probably already read, there's a wealth of knowledge from these guys (and please don't let me forget the girls too ) Everyone here has helped me in ways they can't even begin to imagine.
For LED's, I've been told that in the last year there's been a considerable amount of misinformation, and it's taken nearly this long to filter it all out. Luckily folks here have done a lot of homework, and offered from experience the best sellers. Still, there's a lot to learn, as I'm doing the same thing you're doing. Personally, I'm looking into the rapid kit, 48 led dimmable and moon lights with two fans, and heat sinks for my upcoming 120 build. That's just a rough sketch idea but it only puts me back 500 and I'll build the rest of the canopy out of timber and paint.

I would have figured that 3 60w led's would have been good for your 95g, but maybe I need to re think the amount lighting I'm going to put in mine. What corals did you loose, and which ones did well? I was told that when I look for white led's, to go for the 5w ones as they provide for corals better. (just hear say, but more light makes sense)
I'm sure I'm not the only one here that would love to hear your efforts in this subject, especially after a year in the making.

 

I think that 3 60w LED's would be enough for a 90 gallon tank, however, I had to put mine directly on the glass canopy and I get quite a bit of spotlighting. The 60w dimmable LEDs have 10 cool white and 10 royal blue 3w LED on 80 degree non-removable optics. With the light on the glass canopy there is only about 3-4 inches to the water surface. I think that if one is able to mount the lights a bit higher from the water surface, the spotlighting effect would be less and therefore get more even light coverage. Due to the non-uniform light exposure, some corals didn't get enough and some got too much light. The 95 gallon tank was my first experience with LED's. Overall, I'm still happy with the effect. I was expecting to be wow'ed by LED which didn't happen. I do like the fact that my electric bill is less and I my chiller doesn't run as often.

When I moved onto to the 34g SPS, I bought the DIY bridgelux 3W LED from OCREEF for $169 which included dimmable driver, 12 cool white and 12 royal blue LED's and heatsink/fan. They came with 60 degree optics. I use these without the optics in some areas which gives about 120 degree light spread. In certain areas where the tank is deeper, I will selectively use the 60 degree optics on specific LED's for deeper water penetration. The SPS are growing, probably not as quick as with MH. That's OK with me since I don't want them to grow too fast in such a small tank. I'm still a newbie with growing SPS and will likely expand to a bigger system when I get the hang of it.