LED Aesthetics: What do you really think of your color?

[Genj]

I'm still suffering from Pandora depression. Thanks for bringing that subject up Blaster.. really helpful!

 

Why can't you help me AstraZeneca! *shakes fist at the sky*

[paal]

Best thread ever

I’ve got a 20G cube and might try a single PAR38 just to see how I like it, and then maybe buy more later on.

If I am to follow the “trend” and try the NW, would 2 of those, and 3 RB end up being too yellow? Would I be better off swapping one of the NW with a CW?

 

How about something crazy like RB, CB, NW, CW, and the new TV?

[evilc66]

blasterman, awesome mushroom pic. I think I have that same one, and it doesn't look that good even under halides.

 

You won't be seeing the TV LEDs in the PAR38s just yet. The current that the lamp runs at is almost double the limit of the LED, so I have to get creative to get it to live long enough. It's in the works though.

[paal]

Yeah, I noticed that

It's no problem though; need to spend some time looking for a nice fixture anyway

[mrg02d]

Im wondering whether or not I should replace a few of my CW xr-e 6500k leds with some neutral whites. Any thoughts? I have 12 leds over a 7.5g rimless cube. Right now its an even mix of royal blue and 6500k whites. Maybe I could swap out two of the 6500ks for neutral white and see some improvement?

 

Matt

[blasterman]

Always worth a shot trying a couple and seeing how you like it. Problem is you need to increase the ratio of RB a bit.

[beeker]

blasterman, awesome mushroom pic. I think I have that same one, and it doesn't look that good even under halides.

 

You won't be seeing the TV LEDs in the PAR38s just yet. The current that the lamp runs at is almost double the limit of the LED, so I have to get creative to get it to live long enough. It's in the works though.

 

 

i sure hope it is evil, so that when your done you'll make that stop out to my house so i can put it to full use over my tank, lol

 

 

Stay tunned to the orange setosa shot i take next, it will blow your mind i promise

 

i've never seen an orange setosa be so bright as the one i have in my tank under 4 different colored leds

 

maybe i'll take a teaser pic tonight and post it up tomorrow

[Mr. Microscope]

Oldie but a goodie. This is what happen when you combine 1 warm-white with 4 RB's:

 

Okay. So, what about Warm White? From a purely aesthetic standpoint, would it be even better to use a ratio of WW:RB=1:4 instead of NW:RB=1:2 or CW:RB=1:1? (I'm avoiding the topic of CB vs. RB for this one)

[beeker]

IMO you will want a combo of both

 

the main thing you are trying to replicate with LED's is the spectrum of a T5 or MH bulb

 

Thus you want leds that cover those Peaks and color ranges

 

Neutral white hit's some peaks that cool white doesen't and vice versa

 

Same with Royal blue and Cool blue

 

IMO it is important to use all the spectrums you can get to offer the widest variety for any type of coral

 

but the only way to tell which each led offers for a particular piece of coral

 

is to place 5 of the same pieces of sps coral (IE: red planet)

 

Under only 1 of each type of led, this IMO would be able to indicate which type/color of led has more influence on color than growth

 

it's something i'd love to try but at the moment don't have the funds to do

[blasterman]

So, what about Warm White? From a purely aesthetic standpoint

 

If you want LSD induced colors in softies and LPS without a deep blue cast, it's a fun color combo. Again, the warm-white LED simply cancels out the high kelvin of using all those RB's but leaves actinic intact. Not a color combo I would ever advise somebody to use unless they tested it first. 2:1 RB anything produces actinic almost over the top anyways for most tastes.

[Machupicchu]

so evil, do you think you guys at nanocustoms will ever get Cool Blues or Reds?

[Genj]

I know Nick is currently calling their supplier in order to fulfill my order which includes CB, NW, Cyan and TV in addition to RB and CW.

[evilc66]

so evil, do you think you guys at nanocustoms will ever get Cool Blues or Reds?

Cool blues and neutral whites should be in on Monday. I don't think we will be stocking reds though, unless demand is there for them. As it stands right now, I feel that neutral whites will provide the necessary red component. In my testing, and others have found this also, discrete red LEDs are horribly distracting in the tank. The effect is minimzed the lower the drive current, but at that point, the neutral whites will do just as good a job, but with a much more subtle effect.

 

I know Nick is currently calling their supplier in order to fulfill my order which includes CB, NW, and TV in addition to RB and CW.

Keep in mind that TV's won't be in until early November. Hopefully earlier.

[Genj]

What about the Cyan? I'm hoping to get binned 505 nm.

 

I'm ok with the TV, I plan on having to take the hood off and adding those when they come in. I am hoping you guys have 3 to spare for my build when the heatsink is ready.

[evilc66]

We would have to source non-Cree LEDs for cyan, as they no longer make them. If we see the need/demand, we may start stocking Rebels.

[DeePDiSHeD]

Cool blues and neutral whites should be in on Monday.

 

Will the neutral whites be XP-G's?

[evilc66]

I know we ordered them, but I'm not sure if they will be in on the first batch. XR-E's for sure.

[DaveFason]

For people who just want to test I have some LED's that I used for testing on the Hardware FS forum. Used but still get the job done!

 

-Dave

[Genj]

We would have to source non-Cree LEDs for cyan, as they no longer make them. If we see the need/demand, we may start stocking Rebels.

 

 

I'll let Nick give me a heads up when he figures everything out. I'll pick up the LEDs Dave was testing probably, and/or I could pick two up from a 3rd party if needed. Still prefer to single source based upon the fact that doing what's right is buying as much as possible from the guys that make a difference!

[blasterman]

Before I popped my Cyan rebel I did have it over my tank briefly, and didn't quite see much improvement (unlike CB, which did help if leveled right).

 

'Cyan' LEDs can be pretty green. I sure the heck wouldn't incorporate them into a design without testing first.

[thewire]

So, what's the general consensus?

 

I am thinking setting up a 12 LEDs setup with 4 RB, 2 blue, 2 neutral white and 4 CW

[Miami797]

A friend of mine that lets me use his workshop to play with my LEDs has a tank with Blue and Royal Blues. I personally don't like the look of the blues, and they really take away from the look that the royal blues give.

 

You're only talking about using 2 blue LEDs though, so you might as well test it for yourself and see if you like them.

[blasterman]

Standard blues, or 'cool blues' I guess we are calling them, need to be added at a fraction the power levels as royals. Just enough to pop the colors of oranges, reds and burgandy's. I posted some shots a few weeks back in this thread that showed they do make a difference. I'll have some more shots in a week or so when I add them officially to my light.

 

However, they can easily over-power a tank.

[DaveFason]

Like blaster said. Adding to many can really have an ill effect. I'm sure blaster can back me up but the guys wanting to mix 4-6 different colors LED's really need to play around with them first. Your tank will look like it has a party going on with all the colors not mixing.

 

-Dave

[redfishsc]

Would it not be more economical and effective if you used a smaller (say, 1w) LED for these 'color up' type LEDs-- and just use more of them? Run them on a separate driver. Color would blend better and you'd have a lot less chance of irritating color spotlights.