ebay LEDs or Bridgelux?

[mendel]

bsd

Im planning to go sps, i was wondering which one of these 2 (if any) should i get? i have a 55 gallon (48 / 12-1/2 / 20)

http://www.aquastyleonline.com/produ...mable-Kit.html

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Ree...item416fd8bb4e


and if i get these, should i get 10000k and actinic? or 20000k w/o actinic?

[nemosworld]

This one
http://www.aquastyleonline.com/produ...r-DIY-kit.html

[williewilliams]

I just checked out the kits on aquastyle. Is there an avantage to building one of their kits over just buying a reefbreeders already built unit. The value fixture seems to be at the same price point as their similar kit. If anyone can shed some light on this it would be great. I also trying to figure out what is best. Thanks

[Cymonous]

Has anyone used that kit from aqua style? How good is that controller?

[RobinsonFam1]

i just ordered the same kit. should be here late next week.

lots of ppl are saying that the chinese led/bridgelux are not consistent and very inefficient compared to cree, luxeon, phillips, et.....i have a shallow tank and oversized my lights to overcome this "issue". there are lots of threads and owners proving them to be just fine or better.

i did not purchase the reefbreeder for 2 reasons: i wanted a fixture that would provide me the coverage that i want for my tank without having to change up my canopy height, 2 not ontrollable.

the other brand i did look at was buildmyled.....i think they are the way to go to be honest. the only reason i did not order them is beacause i need a light asap and they are currently backed up for a few weeks due to tax return season. theyre website is top notch though! you can design your own lighting and see the spectrums etc....awesome! very nice ppl to deal with as well. i did talk to them on the phone several times while deciding which light.

i set up my 35 led kit as follows:

14) 6500K white (board 1 x2)
7) royal blue 450nm (board 2)
4) cool blue 470nm (board 3)
4) cyan 505nm (board 4)
3) pink (board 4)
3) true violet (board 3)

this should give me about 12K look with full spectrum and growth.

it is the controller kit, their new controller is not detailed on site but is fully programmable where the current one shown is only capable of 0-100% light for a sunrise/set.

let us know what you do!

what are your tank specs and size?

[AMDphenomx4]

Originally Posted by RobinsonFam1

i just ordered the same kit. should be here late next week.

lots of ppl are saying that the chinese led/bridgelux are not consistent and very inefficient compared to cree, luxeon, phillips, et.....i have a shallow tank and oversized my lights to overcome this "issue". there are lots of threads and owners proving them to be just fine or better.

i did not purchase the reefbreeder for 2 reasons: i wanted a fixture that would provide me the coverage that i want for my tank without having to change up my canopy height, 2 not ontrollable.

the other brand i did look at was buildmyled.....i think they are the way to go to be honest. the only reason i did not order them is beacause i need a light asap and they are currently backed up for a few weeks due to tax return season. theyre website is top notch though! you can design your own lighting and see the spectrums etc....awesome! very nice ppl to deal with as well. i did talk to them on the phone several times while deciding which light.

i set up my 35 led kit as follows:

14) 6500K white (board 1 x2)
7) royal blue 450nm (board 2)
4) cool blue 470nm (board 3)
4) cyan 505nm (board 4)
3) pink (board 4)
3) true violet (board 3)

this should give me about 12K look with full spectrum and growth.

it is the controller kit, their new controller is not detailed on site but is fully programmable where the current one shown is only capable of 0-100% light for a sunrise/set.

let us know what you do!

what are your tank specs and size?

Just a note on your comment on their efficiency. With the Aquastyle LEDs, you are getting about 30% less efficiency on the white LEDs and half the efficiency with the royal blues. See the chart I made. They will grow corals but keep in mind that you need 2 of the aquastyle royal blues to equal 1 modern Cree or Philips Luxeon LED. This inefficiency though, does help if people want spread where by using multiple less powerful LEDs, they get the same amount of light (albeit with more power) but a much better spread.

[sethsolomon]

My 2 cents:
I would go with a rapid led kit. More custom ability when it comes to the colors. But if you cant afford a rapid led kit go with the aqua style kit.

[mendel]

"i just ordered the same kit. should be here late next week."


which one?

[RobinsonFam1]

Originally Posted by AMDphenomx4

Just a note on your comment on their efficiency. With the Aquastyle LEDs, you are getting about 30% less efficiency on the white LEDs and half the efficiency with the royal blues. See the chart I made. They will grow corals but keep in mind that you need 2 of the aquastyle royal blues to equal 1 modern Cree or Philips Luxeon LED. This inefficiency though, does help if people want spread where by using multiple less powerful LEDs, they get the same amount of light (albeit with more power) but a much better spread.

yep! nice chart too!

"i just ordered the same kit. should be here late next week."


which one?

oops.....35 led controllable kit. in the color selections i mentioned above.

[mendel]

do you think the 36 Dimmable kit will work for my 55?

[RobinsonFam1]

for a fowlr yes. softies/lps maybe. id say the minimum # would be about 48 leds. if you go bridgelux then id load in as many as you can. the biggest problem is that you will have coverage problems with a 36 kit. dark ends/corners for sure.

id go with 60+. aquastyle has a 72 kit if you stick with them.

get a dimmable kit then upgrade to controller later if you choose. save some dough there for now if thats a concern. if its not concern then id choose a pre-made light.

[mendel]

This one
http://www.aquastyleonline.com/produ...r-DIY-kit.html

will this be enough for my tank?

the other brand i did look at was buildmyled.....i think they are the way to go to be honest. the only reason i did not order them is beacause i need a light asap and they are currently backed up for a few weeks due to tax return season. theyre website is top notch though! you can design your own lighting and see the spectrums etc....awesome! very nice ppl to deal with as well. i did talk to them on the phone several times while deciding which light.

whats the web? im not in such a hurry. how much was a similar kit?

[mendel]

id say the minimum # would be about 48 leds.

what about philips?

[RobinsonFam1]

You got pm

[nemosworld]

if you go with u-channels for heat sinks, 36-48 leds will grow anything in a 55 gallon.
that's 18 leds per u-channel @ 4ft. i have about 36 over a 55 in a buddies store and he has lps and softies in it along with bubble tip anemone's all doing fine. i have to add that we do not have optics on them either. for sps i would just add another 18 leds and you will be good.

[mendel]

i have about 36 over a 55

what brand?

[byee]

LED technology is constantly changing. You can't go wrong with any of the DIY companies. It's more about how much you're willing to spend and how you want to control it.

I've been researching this for months! I'll be buying my heat sink from led group buy. Their heatsink allows you to easily reconfigure easily without the need to drill and tap holes.

LEDs from aquastyle with Meanwell drivers. Meanwells are self contained waterproof drivers in one package. Safest option as well especially in salt water environments.

Currently building the Jarduino to control the LEDs.

[TomTheWicked]

Originally Posted by AMDphenomx4

Just a note on your comment on their efficiency. With the Aquastyle LEDs, you are getting about 30% less efficiency on the white LEDs and half the efficiency with the royal blues. See the chart I made. They will grow corals but keep in mind that you need 2 of the aquastyle royal blues to equal 1 modern Cree or Philips Luxeon LED. This inefficiency though, does help if people want spread where by using multiple less powerful LEDs, they get the same amount of light (albeit with more power) but a much better spread.

Agreed, some people report getting a spotlight effect with the real powerful LED's. I chose the aquastyleonline setup, but had to run more LED's to get the same amount of light. Definitely something people should take into consideration.

[BrassMonkey]

"about 30% less efficiency on the white LEDs and half the efficiency with the royal blues"

i always assumed the stats were measured in lumens and the blues would be more efficient in PAR value.

ive been building fixtures under this assumption
blue= PAR
white= aesthetics

[djmx2002]

I used both rapidled and aquastyle online, I was actually very happy with the results of the aquastyle LEDs, it's true that they are less powerful but I have no issues growing anything under them. Anyhow I used to have my rapid LEDs at about 60% most of the time

[AMDphenomx4]

Originally Posted by BrassMonkey

"about 30% less efficiency on the white LEDs and half the efficiency with the royal blues"

i always assumed the stats were measured in lumens and the blues would be more efficient in PAR value.

ive been building fixtures under this assumption
blue= PAR
white= aesthetics

My statement was referring to the LEDs themselves, not the PAR a specific wavelength of light produces.

If you look at the table I made, you will notice that the only 3W "Bridgelux" emitters on the chart are for the whites, 77 lm/W at 4500K vs the Cree XT-E which is 103 lm/W which means the Bridgelux is about 30% less efficient.

The royal blue Bridgelux emitter outputs 263 mW/W while the XT-E outputs 490 mW/W, which once again leaves the Bridgelux chip at about half the efficiency.

Note the Bridgelux chip efficiencies were at 700mA @ 25C while the Cree XT-E efficiencies were at 1000mA @ 25C. A similar picture would be painted with the Luxeon Rebel ES, but I figured the XT-E were better known.

[Cymonous]

With this Aqua Style kit, does anyone know if you can set a max Dim on each channel? It says you can use it for Sunrise/Sunset to where it starts at 1% and slowly reaches 100%. And also, it can be used for moonlight effect? Would that be used on like one channel of say the Blue Leds at a certain %?

[mendel]

so.........

should i do the 72 dimmable kit from aqua style? or 36-45 philips-none dimmable- from rapid led?

[nemosworld]

Originally Posted by mendel

so.........

should i do the 72 dimmable kit from aqua style? or 36-45 philips-none dimmable- from rapid led?

i think the only one that can make that choice is you, all i can say is i know that the aquastyle will grow all corals. my 225 60*30*29 with 72 bridgelux less from aqua style:

[nemosworld]

to take it a step further, the reef breeders led have bridgelux led in them and i know a few members local to me that love them, one guy with pricey lps and sps.