Diy led?

[FoCoAquarist]

I'm thinking about going DIY LED on my 210 sps dominant tank. I'm looking at doing 3 of the 48 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable from rapidled.com (http://www.rapidled.com/48-ultra-premium-led-diy-kit-with-dimmable-drivers/). Would 3 of these be enough for my 6 foot tank? and does anyone have any experience with rapidled?
[h=2][/h]

 

[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

I think they would do the job on a 6 foot. I personally am looking at one per each 2 feet. RapidLED ROCKS!!! They ship quickly and have AWESOME customer service. You can't go wrong ordering from them.

 

[tlsrcs]

pm sent.. i have rapid leds 4 sale

 

[FoCoAquarist]

That's what I'm thinking. one set of 48 for each two foot section for a total of 144 LEDs. That should be enough for more light demanding SPS right?
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[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

That should be plenty of light for your SPS.

 

[Bajamike]

Not being a smart a$$ but why not just by AI Sols or another pre-made light for that price? What if any is the advantage of the diy leds? Really want your take on this,
Thank you

 

[FoCoAquarist]

Cost. I was originally looking at AI sols, I would need 6 sols @$400 each. would run me $2400. Three kits from rapidled and 3 heat sinks are 1095+135=$1230

 

[Zooid]

The price of the kit is about $365....it has the same number of LED's as 2 AI Sols which cost around $400 per unit.
So it's $365 vs. $800. He will have to buy the heatsinks for it and find some way to control them, so the price gap gets a little closer
but DIY is still cheaper and you can add other colors if you want. I bought the AI's because I didn't really have the time to DIY my own.

 

[Cake_Boss]

The aluminum recycling place in Boulder sells heatsinks for $1/lbs. Way cheaper than anything online

 

[AlgaeBarn]

The aluminum recycling place in Boulder sells heatsinks for $1/lbs. Way cheaper than anything online

Are you talking about ReSource?

 

[hurrafreak]

I bought the AI's because I didn't really have the time to DIY my own.

This is exactly why I'm going with the Sol's as well

 

[ShelbyJK500]

I'm thinking about going DIY LED on my 210 sps dominant tank. I'm looking at doing 3 of the 48 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable from rapidled.com (http://www.rapidled.com/48-ultra-premium-led-diy-kit-with-dimmable-drivers/). Would 3 of these be enough for my 6 foot tank? and does anyone have any experience with rapidled?

Have you seen this kit??

http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/120--LEDs--DIY-Dimmable-Kit.html

I saw it on another thread and I'm still considering it. Unless I'm reading something wrong there are 120, 3w Bridgelux LED's in this kit...which would total 360watts for one kit!! Somebody correct me if I'm failing grade-school mathematics?!?

 

[Zooid]

360W is correct theoretically. I think actual output would be somewhere between 240W and 360W, probably closer to 240W.
Still a nice buy. The meanwells alone would cost close to $150.

 

[ShelbyJK500]

360W is correct theoretically. I think actual output would be somewhere between 240W and 360W, probably closer to 240W.
Still a nice buy. The meanwells alone would cost close to $150.

So after looking closer, the first kit mentioned has 5w LED's which would make the total wattage on that kit 240. However, I'm assuming you are saying the actual output on the other kit with 3w bulbs would have an "actual output" lower because most run at less watts than advertised for longevity reasons. However, i'm not that educated in LED DIY stuff, but I'm wondering if these are dimmable, then I assume you can run them at full power? In that case, one kit would be worth 240w for more money compared to 360w for less?? Hopefully some of you DIY experts will chime in!

 

[DyM]

I'm not an expert, not even close. I'm building a RAPID LED DIY now in strips, and here was my rational that led to my decision on the issue. The crux difference is CREE vs Bridgelux. Both are good LEDs. CREE (my research) are more efficient = better operating efficiency = less heat for the same or better light output. More watts doesn't necessarily equal more luminants. CREE had some much data available through their site, I felt the most comfortable, and in the end that was how I decided (gut check). Yea I left out a lot of detail, but I didn't save my research, so that was it in a nutshell.

I'm not replacing all my lighting with LEDs, just the T5's, so I'm not concerned about the whole spectrum. Most DIY builds on Reef2Reef, and RC, are using a combination between the two types of LEDs. I feel you won't regret either option, as the differences seem so miniscule to not make a difference either way.

 

[Zooid]

So after looking closer, the first kit mentioned has 5w LED's which would make the total wattage on that kit 240. However, I'm assuming you are saying the actual output on the other kit with 3w bulbs would have an "actual output" lower because most run at less watts than advertised for longevity reasons. However, i'm not that educated in LED DIY stuff, but I'm wondering if these are dimmable, then I assume you can run them at full power? In that case, one kit would be worth 240w for more money compared to 360w for less?? Hopefully some of you DIY experts will chime in!

If I read correctly, full power on a Bridgelux is 700mA. At 700mA, the voltage drop across the LED is 3.7V. I believe that means that the LED's at full power are 2.6W. As Dave & Monica pointed out, the CREE's are much more efficient so some of that wattage of the Bridgelux will be producing heat instead of light. The Bridgelux's still have plenty of light, I'm using them and they are powerfull enough for my shallow frag tanks and should be fine for deeper tanks too, I just haven't measured the PAR.
Like I said, those kits are a great deal though. The Meanwells would cost $150 but you'd have to make sure you have a way to dim them.

 

[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

I have used the Crees, Bridgelux, and Epistar on several tanks with great results. I actually like the Bridgelux LEDs the best. The Crees are great, but for many tanks are too intense, IMO. I have had great success with the Crees when NOT using any optics, but then you go blind if you are sitting anywhere near the tank (unless you have a canopy). With the optics on these I had a LOT of bleaching in the tank.

The Bridgelux LEDs allowed me to use 60 degree optics on my 20" deep tank without bleaching or frying anything. The corals colored up better and showed fantastic growth. Plus, because there were optics on them you could look at the tank without blinding yourself.

For the money, I would go with the Bridgelux LED's over Cree every time. Are they less efficient? Yes. Do they create more heat? Yes. However, these inefficiencies are minimal at best and IME require no different planning on our part. You still need to have fans and quality heatsinks for the build and the energy savings of the Crees may add up to a few dollars A YEAR over the Bridgelux.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Bridgelux are HALF the cost of the Cree LED's? For me there are just not enough advantages to use the Crees again. If the price dropped to match that of other LED's on the market I might consider it, but until then I will continue to use Brigelux or Epistar.

 

[Zooid]

I have used the Crees, Bridgelux, and Epistar on several tanks with great results. I actually like the Bridgelux LEDs the best. The Crees are great, but for many tanks are too intense, IMO. I have had great success with the Crees when NOT using any optics, but then you go blind if you are sitting anywhere near the tank (unless you have a canopy). With the optics on these I had a LOT of bleaching in the tank.

The Bridgelux LEDs allowed me to use 60 degree optics on my 20" deep tank without bleaching or frying anything. The corals colored up better and showed fantastic growth. Plus, because there were optics on them you could look at the tank without blinding yourself.

For the money, I would go with the Bridgelux LED's over Cree every time. Are they less efficient? Yes. Do they create more heat? Yes. However, these inefficiencies are minimal at best and IME require no different planning on our part. You still need to have fans and quality heatsinks for the build and the energy savings of the Crees may add up to a few dollars A YEAR over the Bridgelux.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Bridgelux are HALF the cost of the Cree LED's? For me there are just not enough advantages to use the Crees again. If the price dropped to match that of other LED's on the market I might consider it, but until then I will continue to use Brigelux or Epistar.

I agree with everything you said here.

The only cases that I'd buy Crees instead of Bridgelux are:
1. If my tank were deeper than 24"
or 2. If I was doing a large build because I would be able to have more LED's per driver using Crees. Also
if I were doing a small build that would necessitate 2 drivers for Bridgelux while getting away with one driver with Crees.

Other than that.....Bridgelux would be my choice also. I'd just make sure I had adequate cooling because they do get pretty hot.

 

[cdrewferd]

I went with Bridgelux because of the price. I got my 44 LEDs for $100. For CREE it would have been much closer to $400.


Drew

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[jpc763]

I am looking to do a LED retrofit on my soon to arrive Biocube 29. I was looking at Steve's and he has a complete 28 LED kit for $249 that is customized to fit in a Biocube hood.

aquastyleonline has a 24 LED kit for $99! Any idea if that will fit my hood or will I need to do some cutting! That is a much better price (I can even go to 36 LED kit for ~$130).

I checked RapidLED and they do not have kits for my Biocube, only the older ones.

Thanks, John