I think I made a mistake!!!

3S1K · 02/03/2014, 08:25 PM

I'm not a noob to reef tanks but I am when it comes to LEDs. I use to run 2x250w MH on my old 120g so I decided to run some LED on my 20g long and save on electricity. So I bought some on eBay. Beawswork to be exact. And all my corals look nice and open up so I figured everything is great until I find this LED thread with hundreds of pages and they talk about wattage.

Here are the specs on the lights I bought
Dimensions - 28.50” x 5.00” x 1.00”
Brackets add 0.65" in height
Includes 99 LEDs
1700 Lumen
Super energy efficient .20 watt LEDs
90x 10000K LEDs
9x Actinic 460nm LEDs
Uses 26 watts
Slim and contemporary light design
2 mode on / off function for day and night use
Extendable bracket - 30"-34" max extend
Extendable bracket - 75-85 cm max extend
Non-corrosive powder coated aluminum housing
Splash guard
110V - 220V

I thought wattage referred to the amount of electricity it would consume. I did not think of its wattage output and how the corals would grow. Apparently good LED. Use 3w per LED. Mine are only using a fraction of that at .20w per LED. Although it is to soon to notice any growth I will keep a closer eye on it and post results. My tank is 3mo old but I had a Zoa frag and a trumpet that seem somewhat larger. I see a few new polyps on the Zoa but no new heads on the Trumpet. It is nice and fat and has grown larger though.

fijisrfr · 02/03/2014, 08:29 PM

.2 watts each & 27 watts total? Pretty low for growing corals.

Jerzey · 02/03/2014, 08:37 PM

definitely do your homework before purchasing any led fixture there's tons of reviews and info about all led manufacturing company's on the web but here's a decent link that'll educate you a little about leds http://www.rapidled.com/led-university-1/

zachts · 02/03/2014, 09:13 PM

.2 watts each would be fine with enough of them. I'm running 22 watts on a ten gallon with a very fat and happy sebae anemone and have the light hung about 2' above the tank. though on a 20 long 27watts might not be enough output....depends what you're growing.

LEDs are not about wattage consumed but are about the output of the chip and it's efficiency plus the total number of chips used. 100 of those .2 watt LEDs could be more efficient than the 12 3 watt LEDs I'm running at just under 2 watts each but I doubt it. Those .2 watt LEDs are likely resistor driven which wastes power.

zachts · 02/03/2014, 09:16 PM

make sure you feed your trumpet coral while waiting to see if the lights work out. Low light plus food equals a happy coral. low light plus no food equals a dead coral.

3S1K · 02/04/2014, 03:12 PM

Jerzey - Funny thing is I take pride in doing the research before I buy any sort of product. I searched but didnt find much on the led that were in my budget. I really thought all led were the same so didn't bother reading up on them.

There's 96 of them but I think I would need a lot more than that to make a difference. Maybe 2 fixtures would help. But for now I'll nake due with what I have and keep track of coral growth.

FlyPenFly · 02/04/2014, 03:19 PM

There are huge differences in lighting, you really get your money's worth almost exactly because it's such a competitive market.

Jerzey · 02/04/2014, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3S1K

Jerzey - Funny thing is I take pride in doing the research before I buy any sort of product. I searched but didnt find much on the led that were in my budget. I really thought all led were the same so didn't bother reading up on them.

There's 96 of them but I think I would need a lot more than that to make a difference. Maybe 2 fixtures would help. But for now I'll nake due with what I have and keep track of coral growth.

it really wouldn't cost you to much to build a fixture from rapidled or led group buy for a 20 long....and gradually add to your fixture as needed...there's alot of build threads around and you could easily have a great fixture for a fraction of high end manufactured ones. or even go t5 and supplement with leds.

zachts · 02/04/2014, 07:19 PM

If his buget was only $50-60 like the similar fixtures I've seen cost then he'd have a hard time DIYing for that, could be done but he would be better off to save up for additional lights like the Reef Breaders or Ocean Revive fixtures.

In the meantime just keep the trumpet near the top of the tank, it may do fine with feedings.

That LED light uses resistor driven SMD LEDs, if it is the same as the ones i found googling it, and they are not the worst kind of lights out there, but it only produces slightly less light (1700 lumens) if specs can be believed as a pair of 24" T12 tubes would and with those you'd need 3-4 to be happy in the long run with LPS corals.

Jerzey · 02/04/2014, 08:37 PM

i agree... led lit tanks no matter how you slice it aren't cheap... i bought a cheap chinese knockoff off ebay years ago before i went the diy route...it was called "reef blok" for around $130 or so...this was before they had a ton of knockoffs floating around like they do now and believe it or not it made my zoe's, mushrooms, grow very well for a while...multiple new heads a month and even was good enough for my duncan coral...some ebay knockoffs do work also..im sure especially now with how much has changed since then.

02/03/2014, 08:25 PM	#1
3S1K Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 391	I think I made a mistake!!! I'm not a noob to reef tanks but I am when it comes to LEDs. I use to run 2x250w MH on my old 120g so I decided to run some LED on my 20g long and save on electricity. So I bought some on eBay. Beawswork to be exact. And all my corals look nice and open up so I figured everything is great until I find this LED thread with hundreds of pages and they talk about wattage. Here are the specs on the lights I bought Dimensions - 28.50” x 5.00” x 1.00” Brackets add 0.65" in height Includes 99 LEDs 1700 Lumen Super energy efficient .20 watt LEDs 90x 10000K LEDs 9x Actinic 460nm LEDs Uses 26 watts Slim and contemporary light design 2 mode on / off function for day and night use Extendable bracket - 30"-34" max extend Extendable bracket - 75-85 cm max extend Non-corrosive powder coated aluminum housing Splash guard 110V - 220V I thought wattage referred to the amount of electricity it would consume. I did not think of its wattage output and how the corals would grow. Apparently good LED. Use 3w per LED. Mine are only using a fraction of that at .20w per LED. Although it is to soon to notice any growth I will keep a closer eye on it and post results. My tank is 3mo old but I had a Zoa frag and a trumpet that seem somewhat larger. I see a few new polyps on the Zoa but no new heads on the Trumpet. It is nice and fat and has grown larger though.

02/03/2014, 08:37 PM	#3
Jerzey Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Cape may, New jersey Posts: 375	definitely do your homework before purchasing any led fixture there's tons of reviews and info about all led manufacturing company's on the web but here's a decent link that'll educate you a little about leds http://www.rapidled.com/led-university-1/ __________________ 54g corner BB, 30g acrylic sump, SRO 1000 int skimmer, Jebao dual controller WP25+(2)WP10, dim4, DIY (142w) cree led(142w)/t5(96w) hybrid fixture, refugium, media reactor, ATO, 70lbsLR, mixed reef

02/04/2014, 08:37 PM	#10
Jerzey Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Cape may, New jersey Posts: 375	i agree... led lit tanks no matter how you slice it aren't cheap... i bought a cheap chinese knockoff off ebay years ago before i went the diy route...it was called "reef blok" for around $130 or so...this was before they had a ton of knockoffs floating around like they do now and believe it or not it made my zoe's, mushrooms, grow very well for a while...multiple new heads a month and even was good enough for my duncan coral...some ebay knockoffs do work also..im sure especially now with how much has changed since then. __________________ 54g corner BB, 30g acrylic sump, SRO 1000 int skimmer, Jebao dual controller WP25+(2)WP10, dim4, DIY (142w) cree led(142w)/t5(96w) hybrid fixture, refugium, media reactor, ATO, 70lbsLR, mixed reef

02/03/2014, 08:29 PM	#2
fijisrfr Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 594	.2 watts each & 27 watts total? Pretty low for growing corals.

02/03/2014, 09:13 PM	#4
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	.2 watts each would be fine with enough of them. I'm running 22 watts on a ten gallon with a very fat and happy sebae anemone and have the light hung about 2' above the tank. though on a 20 long 27watts might not be enough output....depends what you're growing. LEDs are not about wattage consumed but are about the output of the chip and it's efficiency plus the total number of chips used. 100 of those .2 watt LEDs could be more efficient than the 12 3 watt LEDs I'm running at just under 2 watts each but I doubt it. Those .2 watt LEDs are likely resistor driven which wastes power.

02/03/2014, 09:16 PM	#5
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	make sure you feed your trumpet coral while waiting to see if the lights work out. Low light plus food equals a happy coral. low light plus no food equals a dead coral.

02/04/2014, 03:12 PM	#6
3S1K Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 391	Jerzey - Funny thing is I take pride in doing the research before I buy any sort of product. I searched but didnt find much on the led that were in my budget. I really thought all led were the same so didn't bother reading up on them. There's 96 of them but I think I would need a lot more than that to make a difference. Maybe 2 fixtures would help. But for now I'll nake due with what I have and keep track of coral growth.

02/04/2014, 03:19 PM	#7
FlyPenFly SPS Killer Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,490	There are huge differences in lighting, you really get your money's worth almost exactly because it's such a competitive market.

02/04/2014, 07:19 PM	#9
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	If his buget was only $50-60 like the similar fixtures I've seen cost then he'd have a hard time DIYing for that, could be done but he would be better off to save up for additional lights like the Reef Breaders or Ocean Revive fixtures. In the meantime just keep the trumpet near the top of the tank, it may do fine with feedings. That LED light uses resistor driven SMD LEDs, if it is the same as the ones i found googling it, and they are not the worst kind of lights out there, but it only produces slightly less light (1700 lumens) if specs can be believed as a pair of 24" T12 tubes would and with those you'd need 3-4 to be happy in the long run with LPS corals.