LED basics... How many and how much...

[Ianwraab]

Ok, I see a lot of back and forth in other forums and I thought it was time to get into the numbers of these things...
DIY fixtures vs. chinese fixtures vs. name brand fixtures
Controllers...
Lumins vs. par
Total output vs. dimmable
Ratios, types, lenses, depth, length...
And all the other number to compare...

If you currently are running LED's please post....
Picture of tank, dimensions, size...
Type.
Led qty and wattage.
Price paid and where you got your fixture.

[Ianwraab]

Help me out here...
If...
120x1w=120w
60x2w= 120w
30x3w= 120w

So, my question is

Running 55x3w at 120w
the same as
Running 40x3w=120w

40x3w=120w ( <,>,or = ) 55x3w= running @ 120w

[Plumbcrazy]

40 breeder aquariumleds.com 14k 20white 20 blue ran at 3w for 120w total. 160$ shipped bought in jan.

[Ianwraab]

http://www.aliexpress.com = lots of options but some of the discriptions make me question what I'm gonna get... anyone made purchases from them?

What about other sites?

Heatsinkusa.com...
RapidLED.com...

Anyone know of other sites?

[Ianwraab]

144x3w running 450w.. What's wrong with this one?

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs...olesalers.html

[Ianwraab]

Originally Posted by RDHDDRAGON

I have had the "Hong Kong" lights on my tank for almost 7 months now. I have four fixtures each with 56 white and 56 blue about 13" over my 220 gallon. I also have two of the same fixtures over my 95 gallon wave tank. So that is 112 1watt chips in each fixture.

In the 220 gallon my old fixture had 3-250 watt MH and 4-96 watt pc.

Par went from 580-880 at 1" under surface and 80-180 at the bottom.

I have lost some of the red in my acans, but not my chalices. THe acan went from red to orange, so still beautiful. My pizza face chalice is just as red as when i bought it. The greens have gone from green to nuclear-glowing out of the tank- green. ALL of my corals are growing like mad. I've had devil's armour polyps go from 2 to 10 in under two weeks.

Below is my link to my milli growth under these leds. The growth has been amazing as far as i am concerned. I have another milli and two acros that are growing just as well if not better. I know 7 months isn't the year everyone is looking for, but in 7 months i think the coral would have suffered and/or died if the lights were bad. Just my opinion, but I absolutely love these lights!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2072657

One word of warning though- When I first put my LED on my tank, everything went pastel. I thought I had screwed up and bleached everything. About a week later they started getting color back and after two weeks everything was brighter than before. I also started with them about 10" off the tank and moved them up.

[Ianwraab]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/1/aafeature


Nice info on some of the higher priced fixtures...

[Ianwraab]

What depth do you use a 60 degree lens on?
80 degrees?

120 degree is a broad spread but what depth is it best used for?

[Groundfury]

DIY all the way. I am running 80-20k, 40-RB, 20-UV (420), 3-Deep Red (660), and 3-Cyan (490-520) on my current fixture. I run a Meanwell 240w(Whites), 120w(RB's), 60w(Other Colors) all dimmable by my apex. My tank is a 150 72x18x30 and everything is growing like weeds. Oh and I am not running any optics, I find the light spread to be better and color blending is better. Lights sit 12' over tank and no i do not running them at 100%.