Aquastyleonline.com LED questions.

[Honks69]

Can anyone recommend a setup for a 180 gallon long (72" x 24" x 24")

I just purchased the tank so its empty but when i have it setup I want to go LED

I was not sure if the 120 led kit would work or would i need something more

I plan to use the c channels

Thanks in advance

[jwoyshnar]

Originally Posted by Honks69

Can anyone recommend a setup for a 180 gallon long (72" x 24" x 24")

I just purchased the tank so its empty but when i have it setup I want to go LED

I was not sure if the 120 led kit would work or would i need something more

I plan to use the c channels

Thanks in advance

I have the same tank. 120 was perfect in my eyes. I sold the fixtures as i wasnt happy with the color. It had too much white. Im building another in the next two weeks. I will be buying the 120 kit again but ill be using different colors

[juice79]

Originally Posted by Honks69

Can anyone recommend a setup for a 180 gallon long (72" x 24" x 24")

I just purchased the tank so its empty but when i have it setup I want to go LED

I was not sure if the 120 led kit would work or would i need something more

I plan to use the c channels

Thanks in advance

I have a 175g bowfront that is basically the same dimensions as your tank. I have 108 leds from aquastyle and built a rig that sits 8 inches above the top of tank. I used C channels as wells...4 rows of 27 each with 80 degree optics. My tank is a mix of softies and Lps and i have no problems with growth. I think 120 leds should be sufficient, however, to be sure if I were you i would buy 5 more leds and build a rig that is 5 rows of 25. That will definitely be enough.

Erik

[Honks69]

Originally Posted by jwoyshnar

I have the same tank. 120 was perfect in my eyes. I sold the fixtures as i wasnt happy with the color. It had too much white. Im building another in the next two weeks. I will be buying the 120 kit again but ill be using different colors

What combo did you use the first time?

I was looking at the 60 Royal Blue + 60 10000K white

Also what is your new plan?

Thanks for the quick reply!

[jwoyshnar]

what you are getting is what i got last time. I was not happy at all. Besides when you mix 10k with royal blue your tank will be purple. That was the thing i hated the most. My sons tank is still like that. Im changing out his too. The way im doing it is as follows
2:1 mix royal blue to white 45 k. I just completed a test fixture with this combo and i arranged them like the AI Sol with clusters of 3. What a difference. I may also add some red and cyan but not many and they wont have lenses.

[jwoyshnar]

Originally Posted by juice79

I have a 175g bowfront that is basically the same dimensions as your tank. I have 108 leds from aquastyle and built a rig that sits 8 inches above the top of tank. I used C channels as wells...4 rows of 27 each with 80 degree optics. My tank is a mix of softies and Lps and i have no problems with growth. I think 120 leds should be sufficient, however, to be sure if I were you i would buy 5 more leds and build a rig that is 5 rows of 25. That will definitely be enough.

Erik

Agreed totally

[Honks69]

Originally Posted by jwoyshnar

what you are getting is what i got last time. I was not happy at all. Besides when you mix 10k with royal blue your tank will be purple. That was the thing i hated the most. My sons tank is still like that. Im changing out his too. The way im doing it is as follows
2:1 mix royal blue to white 45 k. I just completed a test fixture with this combo and i arranged them like the AI Sol with clusters of 3. What a difference. I may also add some red and cyan but not many and they wont have lenses.

Thanks. When you get your new color combo will you post pics and give me an update to the color. I dont want a real purple look. I like would like a blueish tint tho.

[blesk]

is cona be interesting u see hove 45 k compare tu 10k in the setings

[blesk]

Originally Posted by jwoyshnar

what you are getting is what i got last time. I was not happy at all. Besides when you mix 10k with royal blue your tank will be purple. That was the thing i hated the most. My sons tank is still like that. Im changing out his too. The way im doing it is as follows
2:1 mix royal blue to white 45 k. I just completed a test fixture with this combo and i arranged them like the AI Sol with clusters of 3. What a difference. I may also add some red and cyan but not many and they wont have lenses.

Cont you post pics hove the fixture look like please.

[outssider]

I just put together a fixture with 3 channels, 12 led on each channel, total 36 leds with maxwellen drivers.
My wattage meter is showing between 16 and 19 watts on each channel being used at full power....that's not 3 watts/led...actually less than 2 watts/led....

anyone else experience this ???

(http://www.aquastyleonline.com/produ...d12%29x3w.html)

[dread240]

Yup, I THINK that most of the LED's are rated at 1a current, which this driver doesn't run at. The driver itself is only pushing each LED at 680ma if I recall correctly, which comes out to right around 2 watts an LED. There's calculations which I could do but I'm exhausted, just got home from work and didn't even get a chance to look at blesk's fixture today

[nemosworld]

Originally Posted by dread240

Yup, I THINK that most of the LED's are rated at 1a current, which this driver doesn't run at. The driver itself is only pushing each LED at 680ma if I recall correctly, which comes out to right around 2 watts an LED. There's calculations which I could do but I'm exhausted, just got home from work and didn't even get a chance to look at blesk's fixture today

if i'm not mistaken, you can only run the bridgelux at 700ma max.

[dread240]

That doesn't change how the 'ratings' are derived for the most part. Even at 700ma and 3.6volt you're not using 3w of power... A cree at 1200ma is using like 3.5w of power at that point. Another reason we use more bridgelux LED's compared to cree, yet still have the same energy useage (and I think much better spread most of the time)

[milkman55]

Most of the Chinese fixtures that use 3w Bridgelux or Epistar are all running at 2w.

[zachts]

Originally Posted by outssider

I just put together a fixture with 3 channels, 12 led on each channel, total 36 leds with maxwellen drivers.
My wattage meter is showing between 16 and 19 watts on each channel being used at full power....that's not 3 watts/led...actually less than 2 watts/led....

anyone else experience this ???

(http://www.aquastyleonline.com/produ...d12%29x3w.html)

Yes, It's to be expected, I would consider between 600 to 680 as typical for these drivers and well matched for the bridgelux LEDs they are ment to power. they are very inexpensive drivers so you sacrifice some of the quality control of more expensive (meanwell) drivers. Mine only output 615ma when at full power. Which is fine by me since bridgelux should not be driven much over 500ma anyway unless you have realy good heatsinks or fans otherwise they will not last all that long. they are only rated at 700ma. which is the max they can will run at for any length of time with out burning up and is likely a high side estimate.

Originally Posted by nemosworld

if i'm not mistaken, you can only run the bridgelux at 700ma max.

correct, sir. many sites now are starting to recommending keeping them under 500ma unless you have really good heatsinks, and fans just for good measure. like what comes with the aquastyle kits. (which I am very pleased with by the way and plan to order more of)

Originally Posted by dread240

There's calculations which I could do but I'm exhausted

And here's the math that I also should be too tired to remember but volts times amps equals watts. 0.7A(700ma) x 3.6volts = 2.52watts. and driven any higer I would not expect bridgelux to last very long. (I keep meaning to test this but just cant get myself to intentionaly burn one up) Even Cree are typicaly not driven at 3 watts. (with exception of the newer xpg and xml which are gross overkill if driven at full power, for all but the largest of tanks)

Originally Posted by milkman55

Most of the Chinese fixtures that use 3w Bridgelux or Epistar are all running at 2w.

This lets them run on basicaly a piece of 1/16" sheet metal (ie, the circut board they are are mounted on) as a heatsink when using fans. they are more efficieant lument per watt this way as well. if ran under 400ma you can use these without a fan on just 1" x 1/16" aluminum strips @ 2" on center with no problems what so ever without fans. They get warm but not hot! Push them over 600ma though on the same setup and you cant hold onto the heatsink without getting burned.

[zachts]

Originally Posted by outssider

I just put together a fixture with 3 channels, 12 led on each channel, total 36 leds with maxwellen drivers.
My wattage meter is showing between 16 and 19 watts on each channel being used at full power....that's not 3 watts/led...actually less than 2 watts/led....

anyone else experience this ???

(http://www.aquastyleonline.com/produ...d12%29x3w.html)

I should also add that the total watts your seeing is also a result of the combined forward voltage of each LED on your strings, which is why it varries from 16-19 watts i would imagine. driven below their max LEDs use less voltage so your LEDs might really be running at only 3 volts or so. I've measured some of mine at differeent drive curerents and get between 2.9V at 330ma, up to 3.9V at 800ma on the same LED.

[Jamesjkl]

dread240

what hydor koralia's do you have the 110 version? Have you been able to get anything done in the fun category?

[gbru316]

Dread, what do you think about electromechanical control of the maxwellen's

Arduino controlled steppers for the pots, and relays to kill the 120 VAC supply for each dimmer, or +dc out to turn each string off?

Might be easier to implement than 100% electrical control.

[madlarkin]

Hey All,
Just hoping for a little input. In the midst of a 150G X-Tall(48x24x30tall) SPS dominated build. I was looking at 120 LED's total, 54 white(50-50 10k/6500k), 52 blue, 4 red, 4 UV and 6 actinic. Does this look to be about right for coloration(prefer blue weighted, 20k-ish) and PAR? Planning on ordering a number of extra optics in 45 and 80 so I can play around with spread as needed.

[madlarkin]

Double Post

[gbru316]

Originally Posted by madlarkin

Hey All,
Just hoping for a little input. In the midst of a 150G X-Tall(48x24x30tall) SPS dominated build. I was looking at 120 LED's total, 54 white(50-50 10k/6500k), 52 blue, 4 red, 4 UV and 6 actinic. Does this look to be about right for coloration(prefer blue weighted, 20k-ish) and PAR? Planning on ordering a number of extra optics in 45 and 80 so I can play around with spread as needed.

Without significant dimming of the whites, a 1:1 ratio will not be anywhere close to 20k.

I used a 1:1 ratio of 4500k whites and royal blues, and when I'm running both the blues and whites at 100%, the tank is just plain white. With 10k whites, you'll probably be a tad more blue than my setup, but not close to 20k.

To get a 20k-ish appearance with my setup, I need to run the blues at 100%, and the whites dimmed as far as the maxwellen drivers will go.

I also suggest omitting the reds, and substituting deep red and turquoise if you want to hit the red peak. Red is an overpowering color. Combining deep red with turquoise will result in a white appearance while still hitting the absorption peak in the red spectrum.

I'd also omit the UV emitters, as the jury is still out on whether or not UV benefits or hinders coral appearance/growth.

[knight2255]

Originally Posted by jwoyshnar

what you are getting is what i got last time. I was not happy at all. Besides when you mix 10k with royal blue your tank will be purple. That was the thing i hated the most. My sons tank is still like that. Im changing out his too. The way im doing it is as follows
2:1 mix royal blue to white 45 k. I just completed a test fixture with this combo and i arranged them like the AI Sol with clusters of 3. What a difference. I may also add some red and cyan but not many and they wont have lenses.

1. What is AI Sol?

2. My tank is 72l x 18d x 24h, I'm thinking about the 108 kit. How many reds/and UV's should I incorporate?

3. I'd like to see the corals flouresce at nighttime, and I was wanting to control these with a apex controller. How is nighttime/moon lighting usually done with these led kits?

[madlarkin]

Originally Posted by gbru316

I also suggest omitting the reds, and substituting deep red and turquoise if you want to hit the red peak. Red is an overpowering color. Combining deep red with turquoise will result in a white appearance while still hitting the absorption peak in the red spectrum.

I'd also omit the UV emitters, as the jury is still out on whether or not UV benefits or hinders coral appearance/growth.

Again, forgive the stupid questions but when you say deep red and turquoise are you referring to specific LEDs? I don't see them listed, are the CREEs or am I missing something? Otherwise I was just thinking of cutting the UV's and shifting the white/blue ratio to 2:3 or so.

Does 120 on 60* optics sound like enough over the 48x24 footprint at 30" depth?

[gbru316]

Originally Posted by madlarkin

Again, forgive the stupid questions but when you say deep red and turquoise are you referring to specific LEDs? I don't see them listed, are the CREEs or am I missing something? Otherwise I was just thinking of cutting the UV's and shifting the white/blue ratio to 2:3 or so.

Does 120 on 60* optics sound like enough over the 48x24 footprint at 30" depth?

I bought the deep red's and turquoise's from clay-boa.com, not aquastyle. I'm pretty sure they aren't cree's though. Both hit chlorophyll absorption peaks that standard blue/white combo's do not.

You'd probably have a little more luck with 2:3 than 1:1.

Optics recommendations are tricky at best. It's all dependent on how you arrange the LED's, number of LED's, and height from bottom of your tank to the fixture itself.

The surefire thing to do is actually draw up a scale model of your tank and fixture, then drawing cones, with the top angle being your optic degree, from where you plan on putting each LED to the bottom of the tank.

I prefer to use google sketchup, as it's free and you can see your coverage in 3 dimensions.

Doing this will allow you to see and correct any deficiencies (spotlighting is a big one) prior to building.

For my build, I spaced the LED's in such a way that every light cone overlapped with another before the water's surface. This ensured 100% blending of colors with no diffuser necessary. In the tank, there is no spotlighting, no disco, etc. However, it required me to use more LED's than absolutely necessary and use 120 degree optics, 5" from the waters surface.

[wingedfish]

I went with the 90 light kit over a 75. 45 cool white, 39 rb, 3 red, and 3 uv. I'm not terribly happy with the color. The blue is far too purple. Does anyone else find this? If I turn the blues back I get a crisp 10k. Looking for a bluer color but cant stand to turn up the blue.