OMG!!! THE LED's!! wowwwwwwwwwwwww

[ChouDawg]

Got my correct LED today, 5W Blue. Fired it up right away, its definitely really bright and nice actinic blue but to tell you guys the truth I noticed a very minor change but there was definitely a change. My Rics were more flourescent, my zoanthid skirts were brighter, my green w/ purple tip frogspawn contrasted out a lot more and my Royal Gramma turned a bright fluorescent purple. Its pretty cool but I want more! I'll try and get some comparison photos, there is definitely a color shift, more contrast in the colors and a dash of highlighting but nothing that will blow anyone away. It works amazing on its own though, wish it had this much fluorescence through my 14k Phoenix but cant have it all.

[barometer]

Sorry for the delay, I finally have comparison photos

I found these 24" LED fixtures (108 individual LEDs) in 460nm blue
http://www.led-mate.com/product_deta...id=305&pid=166

I placed 2 of them in the canopy, one on either side in the far corners and angled slightly toward the tank. I can see the color difference clear as day in person, but some others have not noticed as much difference. I'm very happy with the result so far, my tank is 30x30x24 and these have no problem covering the whole tank. Though they might be brighter if they were a more focused beam (these are 120 degree view angle.....big spread). I imagine on a smaller tank or standard long tank one fixture of the proper length would suffice for actinic supplementation. Some may think this is still expensive (2 ft are $70 each) but I would have had to buy 6 Powerbrites for the same coverage I believe which would almost double the cost. The pics are all taken with the same camera settings and pulled right off the memory card (sorry for the quality, I was only concerned with light color). Here are the results.

2 24" Blue LED fixtures only


2 24" T5 super actinics only


mix of the actinics and blue LEDs


175w Iwasaki 15k only


175w Iwasaki 15k with blue LEDs


175w Iwasaki 15k with T5 super actinics


175w Iwasaki 15k with T5 super actinics and blue LEDs


for Current Powerbrite comparison here are my hex light shots

Powerbrites only


175w 14k Hamilton only (old bulb)


Halide and powerbrites

[tom619]

THANKS ED!
that was very informing. i couldnt take those shots w/ my cheap camera

[sssmasss]

update 4/23/09: this is by far, the strongest LED in the market i've used from my experiments (link below). i would dare to say stronger then Current Powerbrite. it reaches the bottom of of my 30g tank without losing brightness.
i tried 1 and it blue me away. get it? hahaha, sorry lame joke. anyways, i asked the seller for a groupbuy and he knocked down the price to $11.50 each for 20+. someone should do a groupbuy, not me! i just got my first career job so now i can barely keep up the tank.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BLUE-Household-L...742.m153.l1262
if link doenst work, type in search: 350058396875

This is the company website: http://www.plasmaled.com/household_led_light_bulb.htm



power usage: 3w
life of bulb: 10 years
made in Minnesota, USA. NOT HongKong!




......................

old post:

Ed! remember when you came over with your PowerBrites and said you're looking for cheaper alternatives..? and how i told you i bought some of these on ebay to test them out...
well they came today and i plugged them in..

OMGGGGG... it was blinding me! comparable to the PowerBrite you brought over, if not stronger. it makes EVERYTHING pop, even with the strong MH light on.
this specific one is 24 led, but i also bought 18's to try, which should come in a couple days.

definitely a cheaper alternative.
ED! you GOTTA see this in person!

power use: 2w
cost: $9
socket: medium; regular household
life: 100,000 hours. (10 years)

PowerBrite: $59





WARNING WARNING!
this light is wayy too strong to be used as a moonlight; the fish and corals will not get a chance to rest.
but definitely could be used as an actinic supplement in the daytime.





just use a 99cent socket with extension cord or something.


+ this. $1



.

wait so u are saying that we can use this light for our reef tank? the intensity is enough? how many, if possible, will i need for a 125 gallon tank?? thanks guys

[Fink Ployd]

They are for actinic supplementation only. You will still need some sort of day lighting for your tank.

[SoCalBoo]

Tom/ed.

I looked up those bulbs, and they are 40 degree spots. If I did my math right, at 24 inches above the bottom, the bulbs would produce about 15" diameter light path. This seems pretty narrow. Any thoughts on this? Does the water help disburse? I've got two white bulbs on a 15 gallon fuge, and they are super focused. I love the look, and you can't get easier on install than a socket and plug.

Just curious...

[ALIFER]

Check out this LED spot, it's a PAR 38 - 21w Cree LED Lamp . . .
http://www.nanotuners.com/product_in...roducts_id=623

The bottom picture shows both the PAR 38 lamp and and an LED lamp with one Seoul 5 Watt 6300K LED just so you can see the difference.

The PAR 38 comes standard with 40 degree optics and I also have 60 degree optics which I think I'll swap out and use.

-Rick

[SoCalBoo]

Those are pretty cool, but the price seems kind of high. Maybe not if you factor in that it is the same as 7 of the 3w CREE, which are $6/per, plus buckpuck and transformer, which would run you another $4 or so per 3w bulb. so $70 vs. $110.

[ALIFER]

It would have been nice to DIY my own LED light setup and save some money, but I don't think that's an option for me right now. I'm planning to use the PAR 38 lamp on a pico, but it would work great to spotlight specific corals in a large reef tank. Check out the PAR plots from the PAR 38 - 21w Cree LED Lamp
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...post&p=2616086

-Rick