Diy led's for 75 gallon.

[DrAsTiC]

Hello everyone I am currently looking to go the led route and wanted to know what the right amount of led's would be sufficient in a mixed reef tank.
I plan on running dimming drivers for all of them.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

36-48 pcs of Cree XP-E would be a good choice
48-60 pcs of Bridglux/EPI would be also good choice

LENS is a must.

 

[thirty5]

I am in the same boat, just cant figure out what I want, whether to to DIY or buy ready made.

 

[DrAsTiC]

36-48 pcs of Cree XP-E would be a good choice
48-60 pcs of Bridglux/EPI would be also good choice

LENS is a must.

Thank you very much. What kind of lens would you recommend 80,55,40? Black,White?

 

[Mattl22]

Wingo why do u feel lense is a must?? I run mine about 6 months with out a lens and color is great my growth on sps is a bit slow but not horrible!
I also know that emmanuel used to run his with out the lenses
I have the lenses do u think I should put them on??? My fixture is 72 3w Cree LEDs the whites r dimmable not blues I don't have a par meter so don't really know what par they r giving but when I've raised the in the past I lost a few frags to what I believe was light shock!
Thank for ur help

 

[Mattl22]

Bump!

 

[qy7400]

Optics really depend on your setup and what your keeping, when I setup my fixture the PAR takes a big jump.

No optics my readings were 470, 390 and 109; @6 in, @12 in, @24 in

With 70* optics the numbers were 820, 606 and 242

 

[Mattl22]

I really need to get my hands on a par meter !!! I keep 90% Sps

 

[tosiek]

Wingo why do u feel lense is a must?? I run mine about 6 months with out a lens and color is great my growth on sps is a bit slow but not horrible!
I also know that emmanuel used to run his with out the lenses
I have the lenses do u think I should put them on??? My fixture is 72 3w Cree LEDs the whites r dimmable not blues I don't have a par meter so don't really know what par they r giving but when I've raised the in the past I lost a few frags to what I believe was light shock!
Thank for ur help

LED's will just focus the light better in turn giving you better par and luminance where you want it. Your getting alot of horizontal light spread off any of the LED's, why waste that energy going through the side of the tank when it could be focused more on the corals or where you want the light? Certain LED's have lenses and some don't and the decision on how many and at what distance apart and the amount of light your coral need ect comes into play. I can get more into the need for lenses if you want me to.

Also, just because your coral seem to have gotten light shock from the LED's doesn't mean its way more than enough light. Your old bulbs or light system might not have been up to "par" compared to the brand new LED's you put on your tank. You should have acclimated the coral to the new system as you would making any change in light setup which would have prevented them from getting light shock. =0)

I really need to get my hands on a par meter !!! I keep 90% Sps

Its a little more complicated than this but its not all about par, its about wavelength =0) all you need is the color spectrum analasys of your LED's and their Kelvin rating. If you shocked your coral with the LED's you should theoretically have more than enough light to grow and color them.