Chinese LED Lights

[ChrisChow]

They should name their lights "Bhazard451"

Without this thread, I have been in the market to replace my very wasteful fluorescent lights in my main tank.

I have since upgraded my T5's in my fuge to LED's and the cheato is growing like mad now! Also, went from 36 watts to 18 and reduced heat. Yeah.

Chris

Originally Posted by bhazard451

Here is a quick summary of info for these lights, and leds in general:

LED types:
Asian Bridgelux/Epistar leds: typically 60-100lm/watt
Cree XT-E/XPG/XPE leds: typically 110-140+lm/watt

You can use less Cree leds and get the same amount of light as a Bridgelux fixture with more leds. Crees are more expensive however. Be careful of listings that say "Cree" but really aren't. Look for specific Cree models like XPG/XPE and bin numbers in the listings. None of them seem to use the newer XT-E's yet.

Color Ratios:
1:1 Royal Blue: Cool White = 10-12k look
2:1/3:2 Royal Blue: Neutral White/Warm White = 14k Phoenix look
3:1 Royal Blue: Neutral White/Warm White = 20k Radium look (not tested, unsure of the look)

Led Colors to use:
Cool White (7500k-14000k)
Neutral White (~4500-6500k)
Warm White (~3500k)
Royal Blue (450nm)
Blue (470-480nm)
Violet (420nm)
Cyan (around 490nm). Can use Green if not available
Green (~520nm)

Led coloring is subjective. I have run standard cool white/royal blue and was unhappy with the look. Adding a few Violet and Red to it makes things look much more visually appealing. Cool Blue, Cyan, or Green can also be added for aesthetics, and for other photosynthesis peaks in the case of cool blue/cyan.

Optics:

Optics will focus light into a specified angle, compared to a less focused, wider spread light from a led with no optics.

60 degree optics or lower = more focused, more PAR at a lower depth. Use for deeper than 31"
90 degree optics = still focused but with a wider angle. Good for up to 30"
No optics (120 degrees or more) = wide angle, less focused. Good for a canopy

Companies:
Email them for requests. You can customize the lights how you want via most of the companies. Here are a few, but there are many more:

Evergrow-
Gehl-
Greensun- Luoke
E.Shine Systems
Twilight Group
Houyi
Damai

Reefbreeders- (US company, Evergrow reseller + more)
Pharos Led (Fathom LED, US Distributor)
Apollo Reef Led (US Company, works with Apex)

Warranty:
The US companies will provide a warranty. The chinese ones do also, but YMMV depending on the company. If you ever have to ship the unit back, the cost is astronomical if they choose not to cover it.

[livingseas]

What light did you use for your cheato?

I was thinking about picking up one of the red grow lights evergrow
sells for the sump but I was concerned about alge.

Mike

Originally Posted by ChrisChow

They should name their lights "Bhazard451"

Without this thread, I have been in the market to replace my very wasteful fluorescent lights in my main tank.

I have since upgraded my T5's in my fuge to LED's and the cheato is growing like mad now! Also, went from 36 watts to 18 and reduced heat. Yeah.

Chris

[denny crain]

I got a d120 last week and have been playing with it for a while. I like it pretty well. It is kind of loud, the fans. ALso the color is a little to purple for me. But I can correct it by using the dimmers to get close to the color I want. I tried to take pics but they come out bad.

[kevin32]

Hey bhazard451,


I have a few questions I wanna ask you if you dont mind....

Here are my specs:


Specs:
Dimmer 1:24 450-460nm + 4 Violets
Dimmer 2:23 15000K + 4 UV
Extra power:2pcs moonlights
Viewing angle:90/120 degree



Do you think I should replace the 4x UV with 2x Red and 2 x Royal Blues?


My tank is a 40 gallon breeder and is 36" long and about 18 inches deep.

Would one fixture be enough to cover the tank? Which optics should I choose?

By the way my tank has a built in overflow box on the corner of the tank so I did lose some space there... just fyi

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by kevin32

Hey bhazard451,


I have a few questions I wanna ask you if you dont mind....

Here are my specs:


Specs:
Dimmer 1:24 450-460nm + 4 Violets
Dimmer 2:23 15000K + 4 UV
Extra power:2pcs moonlights
Viewing angle:90/120 degree

Do you think I should replace the 4x UV with 2x Red and 2 x Royal Blues?

My tank is a 40 gallon breeder and is 36" long and about 18 inches deep.

Would one fixture be enough to cover the tank? Which optics should I choose?

By the way my tank has a built in overflow box on the corner of the tank so I did lose some space there... just fyi

Which model light are you referring to? The d120, the new one, or another companies? The d120 doesn't have moonlights, and the new one I just got has 3 moonlights.

Yes, replace the uvs with 2-4 red. I don't know what the 15k's look like, so I couldn't tell you. I would expect a whitish blue.

One fixture 12" up should be able to light the whole thing just fine.

[kevin32]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

Which model light are you referring to? The d120, the new one, or another companies? The d120 doesn't have moonlights, and the new one I just got has 3 moonlights.

Yes, replace the uvs with 2-4 red. I don't know what the 15k's look like, so I couldn't tell you. I would expect a whitish blue.

One fixture 12" up should be able to light the whole thing just fine.

I'm sorry,

here's the link to it

http://gehl-led.en.alibaba.com/produ...time&edm_ver=e

Which optics should I pick... 90 or 120 degrees?


Should I leave the Violet alone ?

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by kevin32

I'm sorry,

here's the link to it

http://gehl-led.en.alibaba.com/produ...time&edm_ver=e

Which optics should I pick... 90 or 120 degrees?

Should I leave the Violet alone ?

90 if you don't have a canopy, 120 (no optics) if you do. Without a canopy and 120 degrees, it'll practically blind you if you hang it high and will spill light outside of the tank.

[Travis1787]

I saw some asking about covering for 36 inch tank. I run a d120 on a 65 gallon tank the size is 36 long 18 wide 21 tall and I used 120 degree lenses .... it covers my whole tank with no problems ... its in a canopy ....

[Fish_Freek]

Bhazard
I bought two of the d120s and am very happy with them thus far. I also ordered them with 90 degree optics. Now I ended putting them in a hood, 7" above the water in a 20" tall tank. Should I remove the optics? Is this difficult to do?

Thanks

[pecman347]

So I've done LED's for about 4 years now starting with the chinese high powered led's. I got in contact with a company offering DIY plans, and was wondering which "warm tone" led would be good to balance out cool whites and blues? Red vs warm white vs neutral white.

[pecman347]

Oh also any input on 420nm vs 400nm would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! I'm trying to get rid of that sterile RB/CW look.

[Travis1787]

Bhaz if you can give me a ratio u would use in a d120 or the new model if you wanted to try and get a 20k look. Right now mine has 30 rbs 21 whites(10-12k) and 4 uvs... this time around I'm thinking about going 32 blues 16 whites 3 UV 2 reds 2 cyan and if it was the new model 31 blues 15 whites 3 moons 2 UV 2 reds 2 cyan.... this would give me a 2:1 ratio of rb to 10-12k and then some added colors...

So I wanna see what you think of this ratio and if it would be close to a 20k look and I also what to know what you would use yourself if you wanted a 20k look.... I know ur not big on 20k look so bare with me man lol

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by Fish_Freek

Bhazard
I bought two of the d120s and am very happy with them thus far. I also ordered them with 90 degree optics. Now I ended putting them in a hood, 7" above the water in a 20" tall tank. Should I remove the optics? Is this difficult to do?

Thanks

Originally Posted by pecman347

So I've done LED's for about 4 years now starting with the chinese high powered led's. I got in contact with a company offering DIY plans, and was wondering which "warm tone" led would be good to balance out cool whites and blues? Red vs warm white vs neutral white.

Originally Posted by pecman347

Oh also any input on 420nm vs 400nm would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! I'm trying to get rid of that sterile RB/CW look.

Originally Posted by Travis1787

Bhaz if you can give me a ratio u would use in a d120 or the new model if you wanted to try and get a 20k look. Right now mine has 30 rbs 21 whites(10-12k) and 4 uvs... this time around I'm thinking about going 32 blues 16 whites 3 UV 2 reds 2 cyan and if it was the new model 31 blues 15 whites 3 moons 2 UV 2 reds 2 cyan.... this would give me a 2:1 ratio of rb to 10-12k and then some added colors...

So I wanna see what you think of this ratio and if it would be close to a 20k look and I also what to know what you would use yourself if you wanted a 20k look.... I know ur not big on 20k look so bare with me man lol

-Keep the optics.

-Use them all, red, NW, and WW. I am. NW and WW alone aren't enough to visually change things.

-420nm. Better results and more appealing visually.

-Depends on the whites. Keeping the cool whites, use at least 2:1 like you have, possibly even more like 3:1. I never tried to make 20k. With NW/WW, almost 4:1. You might get stuck having to put some blues on the white channel though. No idea how the reds will blend with that much blue.

[bezlar]

I have 60x26x28 tank how many of the It2040's would it take to cover. Also would one power cord run all three, and does one controller run all three? If not how hard would it be to program them all the same?

Thanks

[skyrne_isk]

Originally Posted by overkill1125

I'm in the same situation as you. Still not sure which LED's to go for. I am at the 36" model which has fewer led's.

They said that the led's are Bridgelux 3W but runs on 2W to prolong lifespan. This is what they sent me in terms of LED combination (see attachment layout #6).

18pcs 14K White
10pcs 460nm Blue
6pcs 453nm Moonlight Blue
2pcs 427nm Purple

I was thinking of replacing 2 moonlight blue to either purple or red.

Does anyone have these lights?

Just a heads up that they do build an 88 x 3W fixture that is 10" x 48" x 3". I do not have a link, but what I do know is that they specify that LEDs for this unit be selected in multiples of 8. So your layout could be:

White 10K 16
Cool White 14K 16
Blue White 18K 8
Moon Blue 453 16
Royal Blue 460 24
Actinic Purple 427 8
Total Leds 88


But not

White 10K 18
Cool White 14K 16
Blue White 18K 8
Moon Blue 453 14
Royal Blue 460 24
Actinic Purple 427 8
Total Leds 88

As in the second case, neither the 10K or 453nm bulbs are mutiples of 8. Also, these fixtures come with built in timers and dimmers to ramp intensity up and down. While these built in features may be nice for some, others with controllers, especially those with built-in dimmers, will find them redundant. They have told me that abandoning the "smart light" tech they include will decrease costs substantially, but they haven't given me a final number yet. Once they do, I will post here.

They do also produce a 55 x 3 fixture with dimensions like the D120. HTH.

[Travis1787]

So would you use the reds with that many blues at all? Or you just saying your not sure how it would look so add it with caution ?

[boxer385]

Originally Posted by bezlar

I have 60x26x28 tank how many of the It2040's would it take to cover. Also would one power cord run all three, and does one controller run all three? If not how hard would it be to program them all the same?

Thanks

i want to know i have the 250DD i like this fixture because it appears to use
one cord per fixture. i was thinking about 3 would be good. I have a soft/lps
system.

[ChrisChow]

Originally Posted by livingseas

What light did you use for your cheato?

I was thinking about picking up one of the red grow lights evergrow
sells for the sump but I was concerned about alge.

Mike

I have this turned on 23 hours of the day:

http://www.aquatraders.com/14-inch-1...re-p/51106.htm

[bezlar]

Originally Posted by boxer385

i want to know i have the 250DD i like this fixture because it appears to use
one cord per fixture. i was thinking about 3 would be good. I have a soft/lps
system.

I have two of the older 120 style on my tank now but think three would be better. Would also like less cords and a sun rise/set controller.

[oscar]

Been following this thread for awhile and have decided to go with one of the d120 fixtures. Pretty sure I've made my mind up regarding color . I am setting up a 40gallon breeder, and planning on one fixture. My last decision is optics I am not going to be using a canopy and just going to hang it so my question is do I need/want optics?

[acanthurus4lyfe]

From my research over the years in lights for many different applications id have to say wavelength is very important. here is a graph of what wavelengths chlorophyll A and B absorb the most of.



And why I wonder how cree LEDs do so well even though bridgelux actually hits the 420 spectrum which imo is harshly neglected in the LED industry. and very important. Could it be just the increase in efficiency (lm/W) or does cree have an led that hits this spectrum?

CREE xp-e color wavelengths


Im looking at many fixtures in china, but want the broader spectrum bridgelux offers and still have the power of crees.

Solutions?

[cmac23]

DIY is the answer is you want CREE and spectrum

[bhazard451]

There is no Cree 420nm yet. The only solution is to use a 420 from another led manufacturer.

The maxspect razor does use 420nm too. As far as these fixtures go, you would need bridgelux/epistar to get 420nm.. or someone would have to design a pcb to use both Cree and bridgelux.

The newer gen Crees are used best in commercial fixtures, or in DIY ones for the time being. I dont find the old gen all that appealing for the price premium.


Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

[kevin32]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

90 if you don't have a canopy, 120 (no optics) if you do. Without a canopy and 120 degrees, it'll practically blind you if you hang it high and will spill light outside of the tank.

Yeah I dont use canopy. I"m just gonna hang it.

[kevin32]

Originally Posted by Travis1787

I saw some asking about covering for 36 inch tank. I run a d120 on a 65 gallon tank the size is 36 long 18 wide 21 tall and I used 120 degree lenses .... it covers my whole tank with no problems ... its in a canopy ....

Nice ... thanks for the heads up.