Marineland. LEDs
- Thread starter villasman
- Start date
Jackalope
Member
it wont work. it will put out about 5 par. ive tested a few leds out and the only thing that can get you the par you need is CREE led's. and LOTS of them. i looked into taking my 180 to leds, looked up some par measurments from other companies like solaris, and estimated something in the range of 6 X 48" tubes containing 72 crees ea. .... was going to make something like current usa has right now. its a led tube strip instead of square boxy things.
catran
Well-Known Member
Seriously, reef capable doesn't mean coral capable. Apparently, Marineland kind of stretches the definition of "capable". If you are willing to spend that much on a "reef capable" light, go ahead and look for the less expensive LED's on the market. They're not much more than what you're willing to pay for the Marineland one that will not work on a reef tank. Here's one: http://eshinesystems.com/aquariumlight/60w-cree-led-aquarium-light.htm
A few points...
What is the brand and model of your existing MH lighting? Many MH systems use coil and core ballasts. These create a lot more heat than the same bulbs on electronic ballasts. An electronic ballast will also use much less power. You might be OK with just a ballast upgrade.
As you can see LED lighting, while it's a lot better now, still has a huge initial investment. You really need one of those "expensive" LED units to get good light. The reason is simple, the good LEDs you need for good lighting are expensive.
I'd say your best all around value for reef lighting is T5 using HO bulbs and individual bulb reflectors.
What is the brand and model of your existing MH lighting? Many MH systems use coil and core ballasts. These create a lot more heat than the same bulbs on electronic ballasts. An electronic ballast will also use much less power. You might be OK with just a ballast upgrade.
As you can see LED lighting, while it's a lot better now, still has a huge initial investment. You really need one of those "expensive" LED units to get good light. The reason is simple, the good LEDs you need for good lighting are expensive.
I'd say your best all around value for reef lighting is T5 using HO bulbs and individual bulb reflectors.
chipmunkofdoom2
Well-Known Member
All the replies here are correct.
There's nothing wrong with the Marineland LED lights.. they work. Marineland isn't lying either.. their fixtures are "reef capable" in the same way compact fluorescent based fixtures are. They use 1W LEDs, meaning their output is on par with PCs. The worst part about PCs is they waste electricity and run hot, so LEDs eliminate those issues and still put out the same light. The problem? It's PC-intensity light.
These lights can certainly fill a niche in the hobby.. for those keeping soft corals in a smaller tank, these lights could do great. As far as replacing a MH fixture on a 125? No way. Not even a chance. If you want LEDs, save up and get a few AI Sols or comparable fixture. Be sure to factor in 1/3 of the electricity used, 13+ years of no bulb changes, and practically no heat (read: no chiller) when doing a cost analysis.
There's nothing wrong with the Marineland LED lights.. they work. Marineland isn't lying either.. their fixtures are "reef capable" in the same way compact fluorescent based fixtures are. They use 1W LEDs, meaning their output is on par with PCs. The worst part about PCs is they waste electricity and run hot, so LEDs eliminate those issues and still put out the same light. The problem? It's PC-intensity light.
These lights can certainly fill a niche in the hobby.. for those keeping soft corals in a smaller tank, these lights could do great. As far as replacing a MH fixture on a 125? No way. Not even a chance. If you want LEDs, save up and get a few AI Sols or comparable fixture. Be sure to factor in 1/3 of the electricity used, 13+ years of no bulb changes, and practically no heat (read: no chiller) when doing a cost analysis.
Higher End units have an almost infinite amount of "Color Choices" you can make the tank go from 10k (approx) Daylight up to a 20K crisp blue look. Now if you mean like purples and pinks that's a whole other ball game.
I agree with Al - with my Sol Super Blue LED unit and controller I can control white, blue, and royal blue LEDs independently for intensity and timing of each. I have infinite color combinations from all white to all blue actinic, or anything in between. Try doing that with T5 bulbs! I'll never go back to replacing T5s again, trying to get the look I want - I just tune in the look that I want now, and use a lot less electricity, and no tank heating at all. I can't even run my Sol at even close to 100% intensities or I'd bleach my corals. I agree that with no controller you're stuck with the look of a lower end LED fixture, but with a fully controllable one that's not a problem.
I'm talking exactly about color rendering! I can choose any % combination and intensity of white/blue/royal blue LEDs to get exactly the color rendering I want, at any time, and can change the timing (14 timers) to get a truly sunset to sunrise effect, and changing colors at sunset/sunrise. That's what a good controller is for. The best LED units let you choose the exact color rendition you want, and a whole lot more! I don't think you realize what's available out there these days - not cheap, but these aren't simple LED units like a lot of the low cost stuff out there.
LEDs can play and they can now beat the heck out of T5s !
Jackalope
Member
dont be sad. if you have a bit of money to spare to test it out, go to apogee.com
from there you can get a quantum sensor to utilize on say a true rms fluke meter or fieldpiece that has the mV DC capability, OR the entire quantum meter itself you are looking for at least 50 par to get a coral do do decent,,, in exception of sps. tried and true i have the gear for testing and know this as fact.
LOL! I'm not for a kill LOL! I've had PCs. then a T5/HQI, and lastly a 6xT5 fixture, and I'm sold on LEDs now.
Just to demonstrate what can be done with some of the higher end LED units - this is what I'm going to be readjusting my controller to soon. I'm running the unit at way below 100% levels of each color LED as it's mounted low, and I don't want to burn out my corals. I haven't used very many of the timers yet and want to graduate my lighting more than I have it currently.
All timers will be set for a gradual ramp time of 5 minutes between changes.
W-White 3 watt Cree LEDs (8)
B - 3 W Blue Crees (8)
RB - 3 W Royal Blue Crees (8)
W B RB
07:30 AM 0% 0% 10%
08:00 AM 5% 10% 10%
09:00 AM 10% 15% 15%
10:00 AM 20% 25% 25%
11:00 AM 25% 30% 30%
12:00 PM 30% 40% 40% (a very nice crisp blue-white lighting)
06:00 PM 25% 30% 30%
07:00 PM 20% 25% 25%
08:00 PM 10% 15% 15%
09:00 PM 5% 10% 10%
09.30 PM 0% 0% 10%
10:00 PM Lunar Cycle on - 6% max RB
Random Thunderstorm (Lightning) effect off
I've only had the LED unit about 2 months and really like it. It was easier to justify the cost considering it cost me $130+ to replace my 6 T5s every 9-12 months. I'm just happy that I have a small 24" tank - if I had to buy more than one Sol module I might still be using T5s!
Jackalope
Member
very nicely put. i apologize for for reading you wrong.
"I've only had the LED unit about 2 months and really like it. It was easier to justify the cost considering it cost me $130+ to replace my 6 T5s every 9-12 months. I'm just happy that I have a small 24" tank - if I had to buy more than one Sol module I might still be using T5s! "
thats the exact reason why i dont get them. i have read extensive spectrograph reports, par/pur reports, etc. on just about every LED lighting system available from Orphek to DIY's and it would cost me about 4 grand on my tank! lol
i completely understand what you are saying though, yes i know leds are on the path to the holy grail of lighting, but supply and demand from good true Diodes is outrageous, so so is the pricing.
"I've only had the LED unit about 2 months and really like it. It was easier to justify the cost considering it cost me $130+ to replace my 6 T5s every 9-12 months. I'm just happy that I have a small 24" tank - if I had to buy more than one Sol module I might still be using T5s! "
thats the exact reason why i dont get them. i have read extensive spectrograph reports, par/pur reports, etc. on just about every LED lighting system available from Orphek to DIY's and it would cost me about 4 grand on my tank! lol
i completely understand what you are saying though, yes i know leds are on the path to the holy grail of lighting, but supply and demand from good true Diodes is outrageous, so so is the pricing.
chipmunkofdoom2
Well-Known Member
That's not true. Supply and demand aren't the problem, the problem is these LEDs are difficult and costly to make. They're more related to computer chips than any form of lighting we have out there. They need lots of care and an advanced manufacturing process to produce diodes within the manufacturer's tolerance.
Take, for example, the IBM5100. It was largely considered the first portable computer truly for consumers (if you could call a 55lb computer portable...). The prices on these things ranged from $11,000 to over $20k, and that's in 1980's dollars. They weren't in high demand.. after the initial frenzy wore off, IBM had trouble selling the things... no, the problem with these things was they cost a lot to make, pure and simple. These things came with a 1.9MHz (yes, MHz) processor, 16KB of ram, and a 5 inch screen. You can walk into any Walmart today and pick up a cheap 15", 2.1GHz, 3GB RAM laptop for under $500. My point isn't to say that LEDs will be expensive for 40 years, but it's going to take a little while to improve on performance and price to where they become affordable and ideal for everyone.
Maybe at some point we'll find a way to use larger LEDs, or make the same LEDs work for a smaller space, but until then, the price for them will remain high simply because of the complexity and quantity needed.
PIMPALA
Well-Known Member
I have my 150DT cooking with 3 CREE LED fixtures that I spent less than $800 total for. you could EASILY light that 180 for around a grand. maybe a little more if you wanted to really do it up.
then all you need is a nice controller. what does the best controller on the market cost? not $3,000. so for less than 1/2 of what you thought you would spend, you could easily have a VERY nice LED setup.