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Thread: LED Lighting

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    Apprentice oger696's Avatar
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    LED Lighting

    MY apologies to all if there already is a thread regarding LED lights ... as i could not find it ....

    So is anyone using them yet ?

    i have purchased 2x 12w Aquaray 600 ultra strips and im just trying to get a straight answer about how to rate them ...

    ive read a fair bit about them ... par and lumens are great output for power similar spectrum to MH and actualy has better growth then MH to a certain depth .. i tihnk 24" + the MH is better blah blah the closest ive come to an answer is a study claiming that 1 x aquaray 12w strip is sufficient to replace a 100w MH ...
    but has proven to have better results of growth and usable light then a 175 w MH



    if this is true then i might be concerned about having too much light ? lol

    i have a red sea max 130 ... 34 gallons depth of about 18 inches so not overally deep and not a large tank at all

    ive purchased 1x reef blue aquaray wich is 5 x 50k blue emitters
    1x Marine white wich is 5x 14k emitters

    Stock the Redsea max has 2 x 54w power compact T5's

    ill be leaving the T5's in and installing additionaly the LED's

    so does that mean ill be looking at having like 308w of light going into 34 gallons ? lol seems a bit exssesive


    This is not my install but i will be putting them in the same spot like this .. except both mine will be same level and angled the same ....
    just for an idea for those who cant picture what im saying
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    Last edited by oger696; 11-20-2010 at 08:35 AM.

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    Insightful Reefer Russel P's Avatar
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    Pretty sure Carmie Jo bought a Solaris back when they first came out. I know everything did well under them at the time, but I'd love to hear an update myself! Also curious what Marineland, etc. is doing differently to keep from being sued like PFO...

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    Apprentice oger696's Avatar
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    Dont quote me on this but as far as i know the Tmc Aquaray's use Cree genereation leds where as the solaris used luxeon ones ... TMC have been selling Aquaray leds in england for over a year and won awards for best marine product of the year so one would assume thier not going anywhere .. maybe the patent issue is to do with how the solaris was setup .. like the whole hood design etc .. Aquarays are funny looking little things 2 types tiles or strips

    . i plugged them in and just held it above my tank jsut for a looksy and visualy the 1 white led strip of 5 leds appears about 30 - 40 % brighter then the 2 54w T5's ...

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Dick is continuing to research LED's and hopefully he will check in here. I don't think that growing grass is equal to growing corals. In fact the difference could be that the LED's are not as hot and are not burning the grass the way the MH is. Or maybe they make less PAR and that is better for the grass.

    The problem with PFO (Solaris) was not the brand of LED's used but the drivers for them. The case was never tried, they were forced into bankruptcy.

    I am still using my Solaris G on my 54 and my corals and BTA are great. I won a Marineland LED Reef Capable fixture at MACNA that I am using on my NC24. I think it looks brighter than the PC's but the eye can be deceived and I don't have a PAR meter to really tell.
    Carmie


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    Apprentice oger696's Avatar
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    Thankyou for the info carmie ; ) its good points about grass to corals i would never try contradict an expert but id like to just share this little quote from tests that have been done ...

    " This controlled test has aquatic implications, as photosynthesis is the same whether it be a terrestrial plant, a freshwater aquatic plant, or symbiotic zooanthellic algae found in corals. The only difference would be that light energy is quickly absorbed by water, especially red light waves and many MH (such as a 14,000K or 20,000) have excellent depth penetration, however modern LED lights such as an AquaRay/AquaBeam 500 Marine Blue have similar penetration. "

    i understand the problems with this test but its hard because there is so little information have to work off what we can : (

    This below pic is supposed to demonstrate useful PAR light energy used by full spectrum daylight bulbs of MH and LED
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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    I definitely agree that LED's can produce the same PAR as MH and that the process of photosynthsis is the same in all plants. MH bulbs are routinely used for growing plants in greenhouses but they are mounted feet above the plants, not inches. I don't know how the experiment was designed but off the top of my head you would have to have both lights at the optimal height above the plants and provide the correct amount of water for the heat of the lamps. It looks to me like the MH grass is dry/burned which could indicate that these conditions weren't met.

    Here are a couple articles that might interest you.
    http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/10/review
    http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/12/aafeature1
    http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009...ew?searchterm= There are additional articles in this series. Just search his name in Advanced Aquarist.
    http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006...ew?searchterm=
    Carmie


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    Apprentice oger696's Avatar
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    Definately agree about the possibility that the experiement most probably has flaws .. ; ) still interesting to see i thought ... and thanks for the links browsing them now ; )

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