Chinese LED Lights

[latinyoungn]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Getting my IT2080's into my canopy was way easier than I thought it would be. And more importantly, they look way better than I thought they would. I set them at 80% blue and 60% white for the picture below, then I dialed them down. They don't have much purple tint to them at all. They look a lot better than the IT2040 over the nem tank. But Elaine, my wife, says she thinks the purple tint is due to the fact that everything in the tank is mostly purple. There's a ton of coraline algae on 3 glass sides and all over the rocks, there is a fair amount of purple macro algae and I hate to admit it, but there is a bit of purple cyano that bloomed a few weeks ago but id dying back now.

would you say thats 18k?

[jwoyshnar]

Where is the best place to order the it2080? Anyone have a link?

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Tank looks awesome. I constantly debate between 100% for 10k, or 100% blue 45% white for the 14-16k look. Depends on my mood.

As far as the software, just go into menu/custom

Change the time points from 1 HR to 0:30min
Change each half hour time point to whatever you want.
Hit preview to watch all the settings over the 24HR change every 5-10 seconds.
Hit menu to exit. Hit save to save the settings so you don't lose them if the power to the unit is cut.

I'll be selling off my custom IT2040 with cyans on ebay or another forum, as I can't sell it here (probation period)

[rad1687]

How much of a drop off in par do you see when running the white at 45%?

[blue98ls1]

I'd PM you about the IT2040s after following your other thread, but cannot yet.

I'm looking seriously at these fixtures for my 180g I'm building and have a few questions.

Originally Posted by bhazard451

Tank looks awesome. I constantly debate between 100% for 10k, or 100% blue 45% white for the 14-16k look. Depends on my mood.

As far as the software, just go into menu/custom

Change the time points from 1 HR to 0:30min
Change each half hour time point to whatever you want.
Hit preview to watch all the settings over the 24HR change every 5-10 seconds.
Hit menu to exit. Hit save to save the settings so you don't lose them if the power to the unit is cut.

I'll be selling off my custom IT2040 with cyans on ebay or another forum, as I can't sell it here (probation period)

[Ron Reefman]

latinyoungn, I think of 18K as being quite blue. At 80:60 these lights are a very white, like a photo printed on bright whie paper. There isn't any yellow or blue or purple, just white. It makes the tank look so clean and fresh. The photo has a bit of a blue cast due to the canopy. And the way the light makes the canopy fabric lit up is pretty cool as well.

bhazard451, thanks alot man. I appreciate your comments and thanks for the controller tips. I can't wait to try again in the morning. I think I may move these lights about 2-3" more toward the front of the tank. They are currently dead center of the front to back. But with the steep rock wall I have some pretty serious shadowing. I hope moving the lights forward a bit and tipping them back slightly will help. I also intend to take the lenses off the moon lights and all the non blue or white leds.

jwoyshnar, direct from EverGrow in China or Reef Breeders in the US. I delt with Helen at EverGrow and she was very helpful. Here is a link to her:
EverGrow-Helen(sales05@evergrowlighting.com)

rad1687, I'll do a few PAR readings and post them later this morning. At 80% blue and 60% white I was getting a PAR of 125 at 22" underwater (lights are about 6" off the water).

[nikesb]

ron, when youre checking those readings, can you possibly check at 6" with 60/30 as well?

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by nikesb

ron, when youre checking those readings, can you possibly check at 6" with 60/30 as well?

Sure. And what the heck are you doing up at this hour?

[nikesb]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Sure. And what the heck are you doing up at this hour?

I'm a night owl

[jwoyshnar]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

latinyoungn, I think of 18K as being quite blue. At 80:60 these lights are a very white, like a photo printed on bright whie paper. There isn't any yellow or blue or purple, just white. It makes the tank look so clean and fresh. The photo has a bit of a blue cast due to the canopy. And the way the light makes the canopy fabric lit up is pretty cool as well.

bhazard451, thanks alot man. I appreciate your comments and thanks for the controller tips. I can't wait to try again in the morning. I think I may move these lights about 2-3" more toward the front of the tank. They are currently dead center of the front to back. But with the steep rock wall I have some pretty serious shadowing. I hope moving the lights forward a bit and tipping them back slightly will help. I also intend to take the lenses off the moon lights and all the non blue or white leds.

jwoyshnar, direct from EverGrow in China or Reef Breeders in the US. I delt with Helen at EverGrow and she was very helpful. Here is a link to her:
EverGrow-Helen(sales05@evergrowlighting.com)

rad1687, I'll do a few PAR readings and post them later this morning. At 80% blue and 60% white I was getting a PAR of 125 at 22" underwater (lights are about 6" off the water).

Thanks Ron

[YoungREEFA]

im going to take the greens off my fixture, I hear they have no use and dont provide any flourescense?

[nikesb]

Green provides flourescense to pink iirc

[Ron Reefman]

nikesb, set at 60:30 and 6" deep I got a PAR of 300-325. The sensor was tipped some so if I could have made it straight up and down it would have been 325 maybe even 350.

rad1687, at 100:100 and 12" the PAR was 550. At 100:45 and 12" deep the PAR was 425. So dropping about 25% of the total power and it lost about 25% of it's PAR. Is there a relationship or is that just a curiousity? I don't know.

[nikesb]

Ive been wondering about the par drop compared with the percentage too. If its close enough, maybe its a good base for some to use without par meters. The local club par meter has a long wait list here.

[ssteal]

Ok i dont know

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by nikesb

Ive been wondering about the par drop compared with the percentage too. If its close enough, maybe its a good base for some to use without par meters. The local club par meter has a long wait list here.

When I get some spare time I'll do some testing and report my findings back here. I just moved my IT2080's over the 180g DT forward 3" and now I'm getting a less shadow down the front of my rock wall and corals. Pretty happy with that. Now I'm going to take apart one of my new D120s and pull a bunch of lenses. It doesn't cover the length of my 55g QT with the lenses on. One of the other buyers in my group took lenses off his IT2080 and he said the light spread out quite a bit. I think we got the new Bridgelux 90 degree leds, but he said it made a difference.

[blue98ls1]

Is there a link to the IT2080s?

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by blue98ls1

Is there a link to the IT2080s?

Links are not allowed, but the maker is Evergrow Lighting, and a US reseller is Reefbreeders.

I'll be comparing these to Maxspect Razors soon, as I just ordered two of those. They will be my main lighting until I can finish my 60" DIY light. Wiring 140 leds and 7 channels with little free time takes awhile.

[blue98ls1]

Cool. I'll be contacting you in the near future on a build. Your information is very helpful.

Originally Posted by bhazard451

Links are not allowed, but the maker is Evergrow Lighting, and a US reseller is Reefbreeders.

I'll be comparing these to Maxspect Razors soon, as I just ordered two of those. They will be my main lighting until I can finish my 60" DIY light. Wiring 140 leds and 7 channels with little free time takes awhile.

[latinyoungn]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

When I get some spare time I'll do some testing and report my findings back here. I just moved my IT2080's over the 180g DT forward 3" and now I'm getting a less shadow down the front of my rock wall and corals. Pretty happy with that. Now I'm going to take apart one of my new D120s and pull a bunch of lenses. It doesn't cover the length of my 55g QT with the lenses on. One of the other buyers in my group took lenses off his IT2080 and he said the light spread out quite a bit. I think we got the new Bridgelux 90 degree leds, but he said it made a difference.

Do you think they put the new 90 degree leds in the IT2080 as well?

[blue98ls1]

bhazard, could you shoot me a PM? Thanks.

[rad1687]

Thanks for the reply Ron!

My lights arrived today, the shipping was super fast. I order them Christmas day, and they arrived in perfect condition 6 days later (China to Florida). I am now looking into hanging these lights. I need them 16 inches away from the wall to be centered over my 90. The lights aren't too heavy, would I be safe to use a wall bracket like this and drywall anchors? The studs in the wall won't work, so I will need to use some sort of anchor. Is 5"-6" above the water line what is recommended? Thanks!

rad

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by latinyoungn

Do you think they put the new 90 degree leds in the IT2080 as well?

I was told that the 90 degree Bridgelux is the only led EG is using now. But they still put 90 degree lenses on all of the IT series and if you ask for them on the D120. Why? I think the lenses do more to focus a narrow beam and even the 90 degree led isn't that narrow. But I'm just guessing.

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by rad1687

Thanks for the reply Ron!

My lights arrived today, the shipping was super fast. I order them Christmas day, and they arrived in perfect condition 6 days later (China to Florida). I am now looking into hanging these lights. I need them 16 inches away from the wall to be centered over my 90. The lights aren't too heavy, would I be safe to use a wall bracket like this and drywall anchors? The studs in the wall won't work, so I will need to use some sort of anchor. Is 5"-6" above the water line what is recommended? Thanks!

rad

rad, that's the exact bracket I used over my anemone tank. I just drilled out the hole in the end to make it big enough for the carabiner to slip through. HD or Lowes will have drywall anchors that look like giant screws. A phillips head driver goes in where the final screw goes in and you just use your drill driver to screw it in flush with the wall. Then put the finish screw thru the hanger bracket and screw it into the anchor in the wall. They are rated for way more weight than the lights.

Mine are 5-6" above the water, but there isn't any rule of thumb for that. You can go higher if you need the light to cover more base, but then your PAR goes down. I put my brackets high enough that I can raise the light a good 8" if I needed to.

[rad1687]

Perfect Ron, I really appreciate the reply! I will head to Home Depot tomorrow and start the project! I have D120's, so no adjustable hanger. I will try a few heights to see what gives me the best spread. As far as par goes, I appreciate the numbers you gave me earlier. My tank is already set up with the high light sps in the upper 1/3 of the tank, so I am hopping that running the likes at 100% blue and 40-60% white will be sufficient. How low should I start the lights for acclimating, if coming over from 2 x 250w halides?