A lighting question

[bmb527]

Hey y'all,
I am in the equipment gathering stage for a new reef. It is a 235 ish gallon bullet shaped tank that I got from a member a few years back. It measures 53X36X30, euro braced and the access hole on top is about 1.5'x2'. I have pumps and all figured, but lighting is bothering me. I was planning on using a MH pendant, but now I am thinking maybe LED. The tank is 30"tall, so how would LEDs do for lighting? Does anyone have a fixture they would recommend? Any plans and supply lists for DIY? Lets hear some ideas!

 

[Wicked Color]

DIY is just a huge pain, and really not worth the time investment. I have powerbright strips attached to an ATI sunpower T5, never been happier. (I have had HQI halides in the past)
Heffe just got a really cool led fixture, was a lil on the pricy side, but man is it cool! Controlled through wifi, it has a plethora of settings and lighting themes.
Bottom line is lighting is going to be what you pay for, just dont go cheap!
Sounds like a cool tank shape, got any pics?

 

[dv3]

i agree with what aaron said except the cheap part because im cheap ...lol
personally i have the evolution leds basically they are chinese/ebay leds branded as evolution, although reefkoi warranties these in the u.s. and has some newer ones with cool features for cheap too ....i love my 1g evo's
no matter what you get leds pay for themselves eventually when you consider electricity cost and bulb replacement ...but if you really want halides the used fixtures are practically free these days

 

[Zooid]

I have six AI Sol Blue units.......They are an excellent system but extremely expensive. I also
killed almost all of my SPS by starting at about 40% power. I probably should have started around
20% but the only way to tell is with a PAR meter.
I love the functions in the controller, especially the thunderstorms. The controller could have been
designed better, the rotary knob is far too touchy to be used as a selector and a pushbutton, but I
love the system.

 

[miwoodar]

I've always been a halide/VHO guy but I'll eventually jump to LED. The $/PAR is unmatched. I'm also a guy who's always looking for a project so I'm a good candidate for DIY. Saving money is good but having something to tinker with is even better.

Here are two DIY kit vendors that I've looked at. Their kits are running top of the line CREE's and good drivers. You can source the parts from other places but I'm not sure it's worth the time/effort (perhaps someone else know's how/where to do this more efficiently though).
http://www.aquastyleonline.com/
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/StoreFront

 

[that0neguy1126]

Like others have said, you get what you put in. I don't think I would ever put halides over a tank again. LEDs are the way to go. Now if you can afford to put in the money, the AI Sol's are awesome. The Evo's are also nice for the pricetag.

I am just finishing up my DIY LEDs for my 240gal. There's 240 LEDs on the fixture. I dreaded doing it for a long long time, because it seemed like more work than it was worth. Now that I am about 70% completed with the LEDs I would say its worth it if you can put in the time to DIY. I found out that it was less work than I really thought. Working for about 3hrs a night. It took me 1 night to make the frame, 1 night to attach the led's, 1 night to prep the wires, and 1 night to solder the led's together.

 

[MaxxdOut]

OP: How high will you be able to mount the lights above the water (e.g, canopy issues, etc)?

Not to Hijack, but; I myself have been considering upgrading from VHO's to LED's. However, I only have about 4.5 inches of space in my acrylic canopy. Looking at the EVO's etc, the average fixture size is about 3 inches. Would placing LED's like Evo's or AI SOL's approximate 2 inches above the water create spotlighting effects?

 

[that0neguy1126]

It depends on how tall your tank is on if it would be creating spotlighting or not.
Most LED's are 8" - 18" above the tanks. The big concern I would have placing it so close is the LED's warping your acrylic.

 

[MaxxdOut]

That is my concern too. The tank is a 72 bow front, 24 deep, 42 long with a full acrylic top and acrylic canopy.

 

[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

I wouldn't be too concerned with the warping of acrylic. I have several DIY systems on my tanks, two of which have thin acrylic splash guards on them. I have had one of them running for almost a year now and have had no issues with warping. Also if any setup was going to warp the acrylic it would be my first build. It measures approximately 10" x 7" and has 26 3W Cree's on it, still no problems with warping.

Almost all of the heat that LED's generate goes through the backside of the LED and then the fans quickly remove that heat. With the fans running none of my heat-sinks get more than just warm to the touch, around 80-85 degrees according to my laser thermometer.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Interesting lpsouth, I had my doubts about the led's warping acrylic too. But seen a bunch of pictures from people's splash guards and some spots are warped pretty badly.

Also spot lighting depends on which optics you have on the led's. I think the EVOs have 80 degree optics on them, on a 24" deep tank, you should be fine, but you could probably find someone who has a pair, and have them show you their tank, or take a picture with it from about 28" off the ground.

 

[Zooid]

Mike,
It's possible that you can get the stuff cheaper if you price out the parts.
Check out http://www.cutter.com.au
If you can get a group buy, XP-G cool whites are 4.88ea if you buy 100
XP-E royal blues are close to 3.00ea if you buy 100.