LEDs, discussion.

tlsrcs

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#41
By any chance do you have a build thread?? and ok ill lookinto other options as well....i saw the LED group buy but that seems like it would take a long time to ship as well. I dont mind waiting as long as its all there the first time. Oh also do you have some pics of your tank with LEDs and maybe befor the LEDS??
 

tlsrcs

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#43
do you feel that mixing the red and uv was useful? I was also thinking of using green maybe.. I just want there to be a broad spectrome of light.
 

lpsouth1978@msn.com

Users with zero posts needing moderation to determine if they are spam bots
#44
I really don't have any proof, but I think that having a mix of 6 different colors has been good for the Corals. Here is another comparison for you. The first pic was taken July 2011 right after I finished the LED build. The second pic was taken on Feb. 5, 2012. Take a look at the birdsnest. The color is much better and it has almost doubled in size in only 6 months.


 

tlsrcs

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#45
wow i am loving that nest!lol but uv leds are running 4.69 a peice! wow do you have a suggestion on how many to run on my 55? Also i was thinking of throwing a few green in....any one appeal to that idea?
 

lpsouth1978@msn.com

Users with zero posts needing moderation to determine if they are spam bots
#46
tlsrcs;141086 said:
wow i am loving that nest!lol but uv leds are running 4.69 a peice! wow do you have a suggestion on how many to run on my 55? Also i was thinking of throwing a few green in....any one appeal to that idea?
I have seen a few people using green in their fixtures. The thing to keep in mind is that you do not need a lot of the green or red LED's, a little goes a long ways with them. I am using 3 red and 3 UV. I keep the red turned WAY down. As for how many UV, I really don't have an answer. They put off almost NO visible light so it would be really easy to go overboard on them. If it was me I would do between 4 and 6 of each - UV, red, and green. If you go with Cree LED's use even less. Also I personally would not put optics on these colors.
 

tlsrcs

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#47
ok well if i order from the satis led i have to oreder in groups of 5 for the uv and ten for everything else. So maybe 5 uv and 6 of the rest and i can turn them way way down and slowly increase maybe at two week intervals to see where growth is best....now as far as optics i was going to just use them on the outside ones. i have read alot of different reviews on using optics.
 

lpsouth1978@msn.com

Users with zero posts needing moderation to determine if they are spam bots
#48
Don't buy any optics if you get the Satis LED's. You can only get them in boxes of like 260, so I have a crap load of them you can have.
 

tlsrcs

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#49
oh ok Thank you. well im waiting for tax return to come in. tell then ill put together a buy list and maybe you guys can tell me what else ill need. or if it sounds like enough..
 

projectx

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#50
I put my LEDs in back in September. I started out with them real high, and lowered them down a few inches at a time.
These are the 120watt 14k fixtures, I am running 2 of them over my 90. most of my colors are washed out and just dont have that pop. I did do a DIY to add blue to the tank, added another 60w of blue (which reminds me I need to finish my build thread) I have 3 of the LEDs left and will probably get another driver to have a total of 90w to see if that helps the colors pop. But on the fence if I want to throw any more money at it or go back to what I know was working.
 

tlsrcs

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#51
hhmm that seems to be the issue is some people love LEDs and they really work for them and then some have a hard time with tham and dont...I guess i will have to experiment and tri it out!
 

Dbarnes

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#52
Ok so i ordered my LEDs today, overall from what i read and saw at local fish stores alot of individual were having good luck with either DIY or the chienese white/blues. Sense i dont have time to DIY nor do i know enough about them to do it i just oreder the TaoTonics 120watt 45white/40blue 3wattbulbs setup (x2). My plan is to build a custom alum housing to fit them in and surround them with my T5s in order to get a little growth. However first i am going to do a little expirement and light half my tank with LED and the other half with my current MH, i have a fairly diverse mix of diffrent corals including sps, and lps as well as plenty of softies. Im going to give it two weeks and if i see a diffrence in some corals i will then switch them and see if the same thing happens to the oposing side. If i see a huge decline in the corals overall health then i will have really nice LEDs on MASC for a reallycheap price :0. Maybe this little expirement will help answer a few questions IE; are the perticular corals that will do better either under MH or Leds? also weather or not the corals will do any better with T5 support?
 

Dbarnes

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#54
Ebay was the best price other than aqua imports in boulder and they were out of stock (highly suggested them). I forgot to mention that the AI got really good reviews from what i saw and the big benifit is they are made in the USA however i was not quiet willing to dump another 1k into my tank lighting just yet.
 
#55
Dbarnes;141134 said:
Ok so i ordered my LEDs today, overall from what i read and saw at local fish stores alot of individual were having good luck with either DIY or the chienese white/blues. Sense i dont have time to DIY nor do i know enough about them to do it i just oreder the TaoTonics 120watt 45white/40blue 3wattbulbs setup (x2). My plan is to build a custom alum housing to fit them in and surround them with my T5s in order to get a little growth. However first i am going to do a little expirement and light half my tank with LED and the other half with my current MH, i have a fairly diverse mix of diffrent corals including sps, and lps as well as plenty of softies. Im going to give it two weeks and if i see a diffrence in some corals i will then switch them and see if the same thing happens to the oposing side. If i see a huge decline in the corals overall health then i will have really nice LEDs on MASC for a reallycheap price :0. Maybe this little expirement will help answer a few questions IE; are the perticular corals that will do better either under MH or Leds? also weather or not the corals will do any better with T5 support?
Be extra cautious acclimating your corals to the LEDs.
 

that0neguy1126

Registered Users
M.A.S.C Club Member
#57
Dbarnes;141134 said:
However first i am going to do a little expirement and light half my tank with LED and the other half with my current MH, i have a fairly diverse mix of diffrent corals including sps, and lps as well as plenty of softies. Im going to give it two weeks and if i see a diffrence in some corals i will then switch them and see if the same thing happens to the oposing side. If i see a huge decline in the corals overall health then i will have really nice LEDs on MASC for a reallycheap price :0. Maybe this little expirement will help answer a few questions IE; are the perticular corals that will do better either under MH or Leds? also weather or not the corals will do any better with T5 support?
The idea of testing this is sound. However there are a lot of other factor's at work. I don't think 2 weeks is a long enough test. I would test atleast 1 month, if not 2.
 

lpsouth1978@msn.com

Users with zero posts needing moderation to determine if they are spam bots
#58
Dbarnes;141751 said:
This is the first i have heard of LED acclimation, can you explain?
You need to acclimate your corals to the LED's because they are SOOOO intense and can easily bleach your corals. Since I have dimmers on all of my LED's, i started with the LED's dimmed way down and increased the brightness a little bit every couple of days. Most people without dimmers typically just start with the light WAY above the tank and lower it a little bit every couple of days. This can save you a lot of heartache and money spent on corals.
 

Dbarnes

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#59
that0neguy1126;141765 said:
The idea of testing this is sound. However there are a lot of other factor's at work. I don't think 2 weeks is a long enough test. I would test atleast 1 month, if not 2.
Thats a good point, i will keep that in mind if in two weeks time do not see any real change i will lengthen the expiriment.
 

Dbarnes

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#60
lpsouth1978;141791 said:
You need to acclimate your corals to the LED's because they are SOOOO intense and can easily bleach your corals. Since I have dimmers on all of my LED's, i started with the LED's dimmed way down and increased the brightness a little bit every couple of days. Most people without dimmers typically just start with the light WAY above the tank and lower it a little bit every couple of days. This can save you a lot of heartache and money spent on corals.
OK, good to know i have not heard much in regards to this in all the forums and websites by suppliers.
 
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