LED lighting makes resistance lighting a watse of money!

liquidg
liquidg Member Posts: 44
edited March 2012 in Marine / Saltwater Fish
Firstly the benefits from non-industrial strength LEDlighting are astounding!

Recently there has been talk of some thing the aandtsociety has known for many years,corals do not like UVR,ultra violetradiation,(ultraviolet light).

In fact we humans designed a sunscreen around what the corals use to protect them selves from the suns harm full radiation that so many marine hobbyists and supposedly knowledgeable people educated in marine sciences still to this day value the useless UVR emitting resistance lighting as is metal halide and tube lighting compared to LEDs.

The production of the corals protective coating for harmfull lighting takes so much out of corals!

The LED technology has been very adequate for all corals and all reef aquarium life forms since the mid 2000s!

LEDs can not be tested for PAR affectively as resistance lighting can,it does not emit anywhere near the UVR resistance lighting does,so a weak PAR rating from LEDs means nothing,the R of PAR is radiation and LEDs emit near none!

Also the need for the use of controllers for the LEDs is a fallacy as well,the corals in your aquarium do not need gradual sun rise and sunsets, also copying moonlight and so on and so on, all a waste of time,unless you have money to burn and like toys!

The corals exist fine with lights on, lights off,just keep it the same time each day!

Though it should be remembered that fish do far better when they have a night light to reduce stress.

Fish do not sleep,they try to remain still and stress as to what will possibly eat them as many life forms come out at night that touch them accounting for most fish ending up on the carpet!

The length of time the coral algae clades have the lights colour spectrum for the excitation affects to photosynthesise from is what has to be applied for coral gorwth.

The weaker the light the longer it has to be on to allow the corals algae to feed on the corals waste and other substances in the water

Kelvins,the difference in lighting as with the Kelvin rating is a somewhat over rated notion as well.

One to two watt LEDs with 14 to 16000 Kelvin rating is right up there compared to the old xr-e that is rated at 6 to 8000 kelvin and not much better for the xp and xm range as well, but at depths in the aquarium the 3watt diode pushed the smaller Kelvin rating much deeper and actually provides a higher Kelvin rating to depths in the aquarium.

Plus the degree of light is essential when applying LEDs as well, normally LEDs are rated at 180 degrees and the best degree of the beam of light from these is from a 60 degree diode.

The diode originally with the 60 degree built in is better then altering it your self later with a reflector on each diode.

The xr-e diode 90 watt with 90 degree diode fittings we had made in china for $162 Aus each with 3 computer fans on board were we thought,rated at 6 to 8000 K and when they were tested they went above 17000 and the same lumins as the 3.30 pm pure sunlight???

The rating we looked at on the net was for 180 degree diodes, that was most likely the difference in our results.

This is how a 2 foot tank can perform with natural filtration,no skimmers as such and especially my out dated 3 watt xr-e diode LED lights.

This is it as of last week, it gets better and better than the ocean it self.

tank-as-of-8th-March-.jpg


LEDS work very nicely, especially with the NWMS that does far to much to describe, I will just leave this at,LEDs run cold, produce nearly no heat at all, last for up to 10 years at full aquarium strength, grow every thing in the reef and freshwater aquariums and use very little electricity and are simply astounding.

Comments

  • Doug
    Doug Member, Classifieds Posts: 2,371
    you make a very valid point <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

    They are a bit on the expensive side, though we all know long term they are cheaper.

    that is a mad marine tank too!
  • liquidg
    liquidg Member Posts: 44
    Thanks,the tank is very rewarding in the results I get.

    We got our LED lighting direct from china and hong kong last time.

    They are so much cheaper then anything else.

    We got a deal on 120 watt fittings that arrived two weeks back and they are amazing,$98 and $135 landed at my door,so far only one of the guys that got me to order them with the other stuff i got has picked his up and he cant belive the results in such a short time.

    Mine are not as powerful that I got from china in July,but the tank in this thread is the one that my xr-e cree 90 watt 90 degree diodes are over.

    Mate I have used it all,over the last 30 years of marine keeping and the diodes with no UVR,the results once the corals and algae acclimatize leave me speech less,wow!!!

    My tank pic in this thread is run by my own natural waste management system I designed after many years of my home made and bought skimmers, live rock back in the eighties, useless rip off designed trickle filters, reactors of all types to what I have been using over the last 7 years, two of those years with plastic tub tanks,a natural system that converts all substances after the nitrites cycle oxidises its bit back to valuable elements as the ocean does it!

    Its at the stage now where the tubs I use that do not have a NWMS on it provides it with a water change,the tubs filtration just a huge wet section to devour white spot and oxidise the nitrite cycle to nitrate, its only aerobic you see.

    The water from it I take out two buckets each fortnight as a water change and swap two buckets of water from the display tank with the NWMS and that’s the water change for the wet section only tubs,the same water is being used over and over again with wonderful results for all life forms.

    Its all good!
  • Brengun
    Brengun Moderator Posts: 1,985
    My corals are very happy with the 3cree leds I got off ebay. I have a few sps going great. Going great for me is I havent killed them yet and they are actually growing.
    Photobucket
  • liquidg
    liquidg Member Posts: 44
    Which crees do you use Brengun, wattage, degree,model and are they fan cooled?

    One of the guys requested a mix of xp-e blue and xm-l cool white diodes at 60 degrees at 120 watt in each of his three fittings, he hasn’t picked them up yet so i am keen to hear how that one goes over time, his tank is 6 by 2 by 2,these are much more modern and efficient diodes than mine.

    I tried his light over some corals for a minute or five and tested the lumins at depth, it was nearly 30 percent better at the floor of the tank, better than my old xr-e diodes.

    Oh well they do what I want them to do.
  • 321clayt
    321clayt Member Posts: 766
    I'm using cree leds on my 80L tank, 2ft tank, and 3ft but they are all freshwater and the plants are thriving under them.

    The 80L tank leds have fans on them as they are in one of those all in one tanks (The leds there are a home made job).
    http://forums.livefish.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7411&p=43101&hilit=321clayt#p43101

    The 2ft tank has 11 leds but no fan and just sit in a hood with lots of air flow the temp only reaches 32c at the hottest (Again home made job)
    http://forums.livefish.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6799&p=41010&hilit=321clayt#p41010
    1 led stopped working not long after that photo so its only running 11 not 12 and I can't tell the difference so didn't bother fixing it.

    The 3ft light I bought and has fans on it set to come on at 45c. (When running with all leds there it has 36 leds running)

    All the leds are cree 3w. The other thing is I have taken the lense caps off now as I found them to be useless on freshwater.
  • liquidg
    liquidg Member Posts: 44
    Good to know about your results with freshwater plants mate,i was curious about how the LEDs would handle that!

    I must admit i use them over algae,so they are essentialy plants as well and except for the short time for the algae to get use to them they give perfect results.

    Do you know whar the degrees and models of the diodes you are using?
  • 321clayt
    321clayt Member Posts: 766
    For some reason the links in the last post didnt work properly but you can just copy and paste them.

    For the bought 3ft light not sure what diodes they used now cant remember <!-- s:laugh2: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/lol-1.gif" alt=":laugh2:" title="laugh2" /><!-- s:laugh2: -->

    The 2ft light I used 2 kinds
    6 CREE XR-E Q5 Cool White 3W LED on Star with 80 degree lens
    6 CREE XP-G R5 Cool White 3W LED with 65 degree White Lens

    Reason for 2 kinds of LEDs there was just to get a better cover of the light spectrum (Just what I thought no research there though <!-- s:laugh2: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/lol-1.gif" alt=":laugh2:" title="laugh2" /><!-- s:laugh2: --> )

    The 80L tank I used
    4 CREE XR-E Q5 Cool White 3W LED
    1 Osram 660nm 3W Red LED
    3 CREE XP-G R5 Cool White 3W LED
    Again I didnt bother with any lenses

    I got all my parts from here www.rapidled.com I know you can get cheaper stuff from china but at least if you need help they speak english.
  • liquidg
    liquidg Member Posts: 44
    Whats with this thing <!-- s:laugh2: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/lol-1.gif" alt=":laugh2:" title="laugh2" /><!-- s:laugh2: --> <!-- s:laugh2: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/lol-1.gif" alt=":laugh2:" title="laugh2" /><!-- s:laugh2: --> oh well.

    The lights sound cool, any LEDs are better than resistance lighting and the mix of LEDs, couldnt hurt, in fact I would throw in a few other coloured LEDs of the same model if I was to do a buy up again, the XR-Es I use do a wonderful job, but the newer models are far more efficient.

    The colours under just blue and white diodes are not the best for encouraging photosynthetic algae for the acro corals to use in the yellow-orange-red variations.

    I hear the new XTs are something special,it will be good to see how they go.
  • Brengun
    Brengun Moderator Posts: 1,985
    Not listed on ebay any more. Must have been on container of them at the time and I bought 4 x 3fts for my tanks.
    Here is a smaller one which looks like the sort I got only its a 2ft. Mine also had no fans but the lights were on two leads so it didn't require a fan.
    Scroll down for the details.
    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/180809420520
    Photobucket
  • Brengun
    Brengun Moderator Posts: 1,985
    Hmmm not sure the link is working at all. Will try copy and paste. Mine was 75W.
    0.6M 50W LED aquarium light
    Power(W)
    50W
    Led quantity
    16PCS/3W

    Input voltage(V)
    AC 85-265V ±10%
    Size
    600*136*36mm

    Frequency(HZ)
    50-60
    Shine angle(℃)
    60°±5

    Luminous energy(LM)
    1850-1900
    life(H)
    ≥50000 h

    Working environment temperature(℃)
    -20°~40°
    Wavelength/colour temperature
    450-455nm

    12000-15000K

    Shell material
    Aluminum
    Shell color
    black/silver sandblasting

    50w LED Aquarium Light
    No fans, no noise, quiet and cool
    Aluminum and black casing
    Adjustable brackets mean you can mount either horizontal across length of tank or vertically across width of tank - gives you greater range and flexibility
    Energy efficient and environmentally friendly
    Unique patent design with lightweight and elegant appearance
    CE & RoHS approved

    Features:
    * Better chip: USA Briglux and Taiwan Epistar, Long life span (50000 h).
    * LED and LED interval is suitable for marine creatures with cold light sources
    * Super heat sink tech, no fans, no noise, and quiet.
    * 100% lighting effect, no lighting loss. Add a 60°lens on the light to avoid the astigmia.
    * Easy laying or hanging, suitable for any aquarium.
    * Easy operation, any plug is available, plug and play.
    * External power Super heat sink tech adopted:
    low input voltage ensures safety, reduces the main light’s weight and heat, without additional burden on the tank
    * Cold light and no radiation, suitable for aquatic creatures.
    *Promotes a non-UV, non-harmful substances.
    * Emits the wavelength of light which can be fully absorbed by the coral.
    * Energy efficienct, save 85% power consumption,
    * Unique design, lightweight
    * Choose blue & white light
    Photobucket
  • liquidg
    liquidg Member Posts: 44
    Cool,LEDs are the way to go,i was just curious as to the didoes degrees in your lights as in how narrow or wide the beam is.

    30 degree is very narrow and extremely powerful in depth penetration but the degree is so narrow it makes lighting spots on the bottom of the tank,more or less,then right up to 180 degree that has no beam of light at all,its just like a standard house hold bulb in its strength,no direction to power the light content deeper into the water,it just lights up the room.

    One other thing i have found out about LEDs,if they are not fan or other ways cooled in any fitting,they dont last as long as they could have,the colder they are the longer the impurities in the multi level waffers that give them their quality last,with any temps they degrade!

    No worries,i hope they work out nicely for you.
  • Brengun
    Brengun Moderator Posts: 1,985
    Most of the time I have a fan cooler blowing in the tank direction anyway to disperse the chillers exhaust heat around the room and out the windows in summer.
    Photobucket
  • 321clayt
    321clayt Member Posts: 766
    I found If you have a large heatsink source and dont put to many led's on them they don't get to hot.

    The 2ft heatsink with 11 led's running on it sits on 32c with no fans running.

    The 80L tank with the led's built into the hood I'm not sure what temp they run at but to place your hand on the hood its cold to the touch where as when it had the PL bulb in it it was always warm.

    I did add an extra 2 fans inside the hood though so that could make the difference.