question for the LED guys

[NYPDFrogman]

I put up my 450 for sale my electric bill is out of control and my big draw is the lights!
I have researched the feasibility of going LED but the sheer size of the tank makes it financially difficult to recoup the investment in the switch over to LED
I stumbled upon the cannon LED pendants and that seems to be a feasible alternative
http://www.ecoxotic.com/products/modular-led-lighting/cannon-led-pendants.html
what I would like to do is build a pot light myself I have done some research and I am unable to find or spec out a light of that sort
any help would be appreciated. I am trying every which way I can to justify keeping my tank some fish in the tank are 10 years old and I hate to part with them
Thanks

 

[NYreefNoob]

frank is the tank mainly sps ? asking cause you could hang the leds higher for more coverage and lose a little par farther down

 

[NYPDFrogman]

frank is the tank mainly sps ? asking cause you could hang the leds higher for more coverage and lose a little par farther down

it's a mixed reef mostly SPS
I was planning on hanging them about 18" above the tank most of the SPS is up high in the tank no deeper than 16 inches below surface

 

[NYPDFrogman]

found this not sure what country this is but at that price I can do 4 for my tank
http://www.ledstok.com/product.php?id_product=35

I can lose my T5 for some Blue bars

 

[strgazr27]

Frank,

You could use 5 of these kits from RAPID to cover the tank.

http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-57/48-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail

You should have no problem keeping almost anything you'd want if you paid attention to placement.

In practice you need about 196 3w Crees for your tank. It would be a hell of a DIY but could be done.

I'm thinking you'd need at least 6 of the Cannon's to correctly cover your tank.

 

[NYreefNoob]

you could do multiple of the diy kits and hang like pendents with 60 or 70 degree optics, either or way you look at it your gonna be several grand into lighting for a tank that size. the canon's ive read some reviews and seen a few things on RC with them. just hard to see the price at $500 per and would still need atleast 8 of them

 

[NYPDFrogman]

Frank,

You could use 5 of these kits from RAPID to cover the tank.

http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-57/48-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail

You should have no problem keeping almost anything you'd want if you paid attention to placement.

In practice you need about 196 3w Crees for your tank. It would be a hell of a DIY but could be done.

I'm thinking you'd need at least 6 of the Cannon's to correctly cover your tank.

at 2K take me too long to recoup the investment
according the claims made by the manfacture they replace 250 MH and i am having good sucess with my 2 250's in lumenarcs

 

[ming]

When I switched over to LED's, I cut my electric from about 780W to little over 300W, covering the same square feet and similar intensity. Although I spent like $2k for that savings and I used the the CREE 3W LED's. I don't know how efficient the cannon LED's are... and I'm mostly SPS as well.

 

[Alex]

frogman, I have a 200 gallon and I've made the switch so many times that the other half wanted to switch me, LOL.

I went from MH to T5 and now to LED. with each switch I lost money. but in the long run I gained other things. I went from three MH 250w to 12 bulb T5 diy, I can say that the heat decrease was about 4 degrees. then I went to AI fixtures and the save in electrical is significant. the decrease in heat was amazing. My tank stayed at about 73 degreases. and so I needed another heater.

Bottom line and the answer to your question, yes it is an initial large sum of money but the savings in the long run make it more affordable. for me this savings came right away having to purchase 12 T5 bulbs every 7-8 months.

 

[NYreefNoob]

you could also look into the 120w pendents. this way for 4 of them your initial cost isnt bad around 800 for the 4 units shipped and 4 should cover your tank alibana i think is the site that has a ton of different one's from china

 

[qy7400]

If you're still running the 3 250's over an 8 foot tank even LED is going to be hard pressed to save you anything, 5 of the 48 LED kits is still going to draw 720 watts plus fans.

Whats the total lighting over the tank? Depending on the bulb choices you may be able drop to 175 and get similar PAR to 15/20K bulbs.

 

[reefs4life]

Yeah from the sounds of it, it doesn't seem like it is your lighting that is making up most of your electric drain. I used to run 3-250w MHs and since I switched to LEDs and bought a more efficient skimmer I think I have saved at least $50 a month on electricity. What pump and skimmer are you using? And also, it could be that you have the tank in a basement where it may be cold and your heaters stay on a lot. Just a guess

 

[strgazr27]

If you're still running the 3 250's over an 8 foot tank even LED is going to be hard pressed to save you anything, 5 of the 48 LED kits is still going to draw 720 watts plus fans.

Whats the total lighting over the tank? Depending on the bulb choices you may be able drop to 175 and get similar PAR to 15/20K bulbs.

The fans are of no significance as they are 12v. The LEDs would be driven at 750Ma so your looking at about 4-500W total.

I'm not sold 100% on growth with LED's but the cost savings CANNOT be argued.

Another thing to consider is $50 a bulb on average for your MH's every 10-12 months. That's $150 per year.

One thing to consider is the LED you buy today will be outdated in less than year at the current rate of technology improvements.

 

[qy7400]

The fans may not draw a lot but 5 of them will add a little. Yeah you can lower them to 750mA but in doing so you'll lose that punch for a deep tank. I've seen a few LED tanks over the course of 2-3 years now and have yet to see growth issues because of the lights; LIRAs next meeting is Friday April 1st in Commack so close by for you to see James 4 tanks with all LED that have been running LED for 3 years now.

 

[batt600]

Your best beat is to go to reedledlights.com there kits are cheaper then rapidleds and alway have stuff in stock unlike rapidled that doesnt have nothing in stock right now . call them or email them the size tank you have and what you keep and there let you know what kit and how many you need for you tank. Thay have par reading with every optics thay sale so you can see whats best nice guys.

 

[ming]

Wait...are you only using 3x250w mh? No supplements? If so, you can probably get away with a lot less then 5 of those kits from rapidled cause that really isn't much light on a 400g.

 

[strgazr27]

Your best beat is to go to reedledlights.com there kits are cheaper then rapidleds and alway have stuff in stock unlike rapidled that doesnt have nothing in stock right now . call them or email them the size tank you have and what you keep and there let you know what kit and how many you need for you tank. Thay have par reading with every optics thay sale so you can see whats best nice guys.

As I am getting ready to order a lighting setup for my 65 your post caught my interest. But..

Part for part the kits offered through your link are not cheaper than Rapid and are actually $35 more expensive and don't come with Thermal Paste.

Unless I am missing something...

 

[NYPDFrogman]

Wait...are you only using 3x250w mh? No supplements? If so, you can probably get away with a lot less then 5 of those kits from rapidled cause that really isn't much light on a 400g.

I have great growth! using 2 250 MH 12K reeflux, and I have 4 39W t5 pure actinics over it. I only run the MH 6 hours aday and actinics for 8hours
as far as pumps I have a super dart for circulation, 4 large tinze streams
and my skimmer is a reefoct with bubble BLaster pump
MRC calcium reactor with the small blue line recirculation pump

i have one 300w heater in there just in case temp is 76-77 winter 78-80 summer

 

[ming]

I took a look at some of your pics in your tank thread and my honest opinion is your savings on electric would be minimal because you're actually using the luminarc reflectors pretty efficiently over a wide tank since your tank is 3 feet front to back. Especially since you're getting good growth with it already. You're probably using only slightly more electric then most people with 120g tanks, and you have more then 3x their volume.

 

[batt600]

As I am getting ready to order a lighting setup for my 65 your post caught my interest. But..

Part for part the kits offered through your link are not cheaper than Rapid and are actually $35 more expensive and don't come with Thermal Paste.

Unless I am missing something...

yes it comes with it if you skroll all thay down the page it give you a list of what the kit comes with thats part of kit here this is part of there page i copyed


Description:
36 Cree 3watt XP-E LEDs
Cool White is Bin WG1-R3
Royal Blue is Bin D316
Includes:
Thermal Adhesive
Wire Caps
Choice of Drivers with Plugs
Choice of Optional Optics
Instructions and Build Guide