Upgrade LED Lighting

[coderabit]

I currently have a 120g that has two diy led fixtures that I made over 12 years ago. I’m looking at upgrading either to a non diy such as a radion or changing/adding less to my fixtures. The fixtures are a mix of Cree blue, Royal blue, warm and cool white leds. Half are blue. I still get great growth but the color of the corals isn’t great. There are 36 leds per fixture driven by 3 meanwell drivers per fixture.

 

[CasperOe]

Hello - welcome to R2R! We're happy to have you.

As I am sure you are already aware given that you're considering an upgrade, non-DIY LED fixtures are not cheap. Not cheap at all in fact!

What sort of tank are you running? What coral do you keep?

Might be worth adding a picture of your tank for proper guidance as well as an estimated budget.

 

[coderabit]

Hello - welcome to R2R! We're happy to have you.

As I am sure you are already aware given that you're considering an upgrade, non-DIY LED fixtures are not cheap. Not cheap at all in fact!

What sort of tank are you running? What coral do you keep?

Might be worth adding a picture of your tank for proper guidance as well as an estimated budget.

Here is a photo of my tank. It is a mixed reef that has been setup for many years. No budget specifically but don’t want to spend $2k on the latest radion G6s if I can get something just as good either diy, used or new. I plan on having the fixture for a long time.

 

[coderabit]

 

[MrGisonni]

I have AI Primes on my 30 mixed reef, but when I set up my frag tank, I think I'm going to use a Reefi uno 2.0 pro. Lots of power, good spread and 9 individual spectral adjustments. Good price also. FWIW

 

[PeterErc]

If it were me, I would mess around with the LED’s and swap out the cool whites. There was a very popular light for nano tanks and I did diy with the similar diodes on bio cubes.
I had the cw/rb set up from back then on an 150g. Ended up ditching all the cool whites and putting T5 tubes in. . I have been using the blues as supplemental since. Recently added some violets 420nm to the blue, royal blue and it helps brighten up the heavy blue and brings out colors in coral.
There are many more experienced reefers on here than me with DIY LED. I am not an LED fan boy and would not spend the money on a fixture. Your DIY are 12 years old and still going. Browse around the forums and see how many “high end” high priced fixtures are no longer functioning under half the time as your DIY.

I like your tanks too.

 

[FUNGI]

If it was me....I would just buy this (again as I have)

Maxspect Razor X 300w LED Lighting Fixture (CLOSEOUT)

Effective Coverage: 64in x 22in | Maximum Coverage: 72in x 26in Dimensions: 47.2in x 10.2in x 1.25in (LxWxH) | Suited for tanks: 47in - 59in

store.coralvue.com

Cant beat the price nor the light output

 

[PeterErc]

Here’s another push from me towards DIY. From the link of the fixture above.

 

[AKReefing]

I still get great growth but the color of the corals isn’t great. There are 36 leds per fixture driven by 3 meanwell drivers per fixture.

Why switch? Just because they're DIY doesn't mean they're sub-par compared to commercially made systems. If anything, I'd suggest replacing the old LEDs with new ones to increase your PAR to the original level. The general rule is that LEDs degrade 3% each year. It'll also give you an opportunity to switch out a few of the whites with violet to increase the number of pigments that fluoresce.

 

[LPS Bum]

I have 3 ReefLED 90s over my reef. They've been great. I've had zero problems over the 13 months I've had them, love the blue spectrum and get great coral growth and color. They're not cheap but they're not as expensive as the Radions and Kessils.

 

[coderabit]

Why switch? Just because they're DIY doesn't mean they're sub-par compared to commercially made systems. If anything, I'd suggest replacing the old LEDs with new ones to increase your PAR to the original level. The general rule is that LEDs degrade 3% each year. It'll also give you an opportunity to switch out a few of the whites with violet to increase the number of pigments that fluoresce.

I'm open to continuing with my current setup but I would want to upgrade the LEDs. Its just a question of what do I swap out such as all the LEDs for new, do I add more LEDs, switch drivers, etc. Where would you buy the LEDs?

 

[AKReefing]

I'm open to continuing with my current setup but I would want to upgrade the LEDs. Its just a question of what do I swap out such as all the LEDs for new, do I add more LEDs, switch drivers, etc. Where would you buy the LEDs?

What type of LEDs do you have? Are they the old egg type with two leads like this?

 

[AKReefing]

I'm open to continuing with my current setup but I would want to upgrade the LEDs. Its just a question of what do I swap out such as all the LEDs for new, do I add more LEDs, switch drivers, etc. Where would you buy the LEDs?

Where to get them? Google "3W royal blue LED" and you'll see a number of suppliers like Temu (cheap), Amazon (cheap), LEDsupply.com (more expensive but higher wattage LEDs are available).

I think your drivers would show the current rating, so if you want to use the same drivers you need to find LEDs that are rated for that current or higher.

If you replace the drivers I'd avoid the cheap Chinese ones. They're not what I'd call safe. MeanWell is great and fairly cheap.

In the past 12 years items like single LEDs really haven't changed much, other than the output ratings (linked to current (mA) ratings. The downside of that is the need for more efficient cooling. I tend to under-drive mine to make them last longer. You just need to run some extra ones to make up for it.

 

[coderabit]

What type of LEDs do you have? Are they the old egg type with two leads like this?

They are the 1 up star 3W leds from CREE

 

[coderabit]

Where to get them? Google "3W royal blue LED" and you'll see a number of suppliers like Temu (cheap), Amazon (cheap), LEDsupply.com (more expensive but higher wattage LEDs are available).

I think your drivers would show the current rating, so if you want to use the same drivers you need to find LEDs that are rated for that current or higher.

If you replace the drivers I'd avoid the cheap Chinese ones. They're not what I'd call safe. MeanWell is great and fairly cheap.

In the past 12 years items like single LEDs really haven't changed much, other than the output ratings (linked to current (mA) ratings. The downside of that is the need for more efficient cooling. I tend to under-drive mine to make them last longer. You just need to run some extra ones to make up for it.

I currently use meanwell drivers 1 per 12 3w LEDs. I’ll probably stick with those. They run well but die every few years. I’m continually replacing one a year I’d say.

Would you stick with the 36 3W LEDs per fixture? It looks like the radions have 100 LEDs. What colors would you use? Would you replace all at once?

 

[AKReefing]

I currently use meanwell drivers 1 per 12 3w LEDs. I’ll probably stick with those. They run well but die every few years. I’m continually replacing one a year I’d say.

Would you stick with the 36 3W LEDs per fixture? It looks like the radions have 100 LEDs. What colors would you use? Would you replace all at once?

I have little need for whites. I run them no higher than 5%. I run all blue and violet.

Depends on which Radions you're referring to. The G6 Radions are shifted more toward violet than G5. https://ecotechmarine.com/radion . Ecotech seems to be chasing some ideal, whatever that is. There are really only 3 factors: spectrum, intensity (PAR) and physical distribution. Nobody seems to agree on any of it, and never seem to have.

It's really up to you as far as how many to replace ad with what. I would get a good set of PAR readings before replacing with new. You don't want to overexpose your corals all at once, so I'd dim them at first.

Your old LEDs work fine, so I'd just refresh them and adjust the spectrum to your liking.

 

[PeterErc]

How many milliamps are your drivers? Also depends on heatsink thermal management. I run 700ma on drilled and tapped heatsink. Also have strips of 1” heatsink with COB attached with JB Weld quick cure. Using inexpensive diodes from Amazon/Ebay

Heatsink USA 1” extruded sink cut to whatever length needed. I have 9 led on 14” length, 350ma no thermal issue.

1.000" Wide Extruded Aluminum Heatsink

We provide businesses and individuals with high-quality aluminum heatsinks extruded and shipped in the USA. Visit HeatsinkUSA and shop our heatsinks today.

www.heatsinkusa.com

These are decent especially for price

5-10pcs 3W Ultra Violet UV 365nm 380nm 385nm 395nm 405nm 420nm High Power LED | eBay

Wavelength classification:365NM is 365-370NM, 375NM is 370-375NM, 395NM is 390-395NM, 400NM is 395-400NM, 405NM is 400-405NM, 410NM is 405-410NM, 415NM is 410-415NM, 420NM is 415-420NM, 425NM is 420-425NM.

www.ebay.com

Used these as well
25 Pcs LED Chip Bulb, LED Light Bulb LED Diode 3W High Power LED Lamp Beads Emitter Diode Chips for DIY Lighting Fixtures Light Emitter Components Diode 3 W Bulb Lamp Beads DIY Lighting(Royal Blue) https://a.co/d/5m2UD3R

Meanwell drivers

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/mean-well-usa-inc/APC-16-350/7702569

Hope this helps, tons more options as well

 

[oreo54]

I currently use meanwell drivers 1 per 12 3w LEDs. I’ll probably stick with those. They run well but die every few years. I’m continually replacing one a year I’d say.

Would you stick with the 36 3W LEDs per fixture? It looks like the radions have 100 LEDs. What colors would you use? Would you replace all at once?

If you look up some vids with therman you will see he has some diy w/b led fixtures which I believe are over 12 years old.

zoa's and LED's

Dose anyone here keep there zoo's under LED's? I will have LED on my new reef tank when i set it up. Plain on having a lot of zoas in the tank. Was wondering the pro's and con's about having LED's. And any helpfull advice anyone can give me that currently use LED's on there reef with zoas.

www.reef2reef.com

As long as one didn't push max current
or crowd the LEDs ( or use cheap ones) they
last a long time overall
How to predict how much they may have lost over time.
So much friends on environment both electrical and environmental.

Curious as to what drivers you use and why.

If you have no need for 10v dimming and can live w 5v pwm going Meanwell ldd-h's and switching power supplies wrl, for me that combo lasts pretty much forever.
The weakest link is the ac/ dc power supply but I tse those iron frame ones that also seem to last forever.
Only catch is you may need shorter strings and more ldds. Going lower voltage but higher wattage power supplies can save a few bucks.


Cost for the 2 types ( ac/dc or ac/dc then dc). Is similar.

Colors and brands are a personal choice really. Like whitish, bluish or purplish.


If your not burning your own boards Steve's is a good source of quality LEDs.
I'm more of a Luxeon person anyways.
And viosys.

 

[Nonya]

( or use cheap ones)

How would you determine this?

 

[oreo54]

How would you determine this?

When they are 10 for a dollar... .
For mission critical colors I've stuck with Stevesled.
If I wanted to reflow a board Mouser or Digikey.

And right or wrong avoid anything that looks like a sunny side up egg.
Just an odds thing.

See the "egg" is just a package. Any brand/quality led die can be put inside it.
Or actual nm, efficacy, ect.