AquaStyleOnline Club

[Yaman]

After running some numbers and looking at the results of my own testing (in combination with uglybuckling's calculations), here's my most up-to-date information about using these LEDs.

 

Each Bridgelux 4500k from Aquastyle outputs less than 150 lumens at 700ma. You might say "but on the site it says 180-200 lumens!", but checking here, here, here, and here, you'll notice that the 10,000K, 6,500K, 4,500K, and 2,800K all have identical specs, which just doesn't happen. As you go down in color temperature, more phosphor is added to the LED diode (which is where you get the colors from) and you lose efficiency and total output. I would imagine the 10,000K chips probably do put out 180-200 lumens, but that would mean that the 4,500K are much lower, at most 150 lumens at 700ma, using 2.6w of power. There is no datasheet on these LEDs to be able to back up any of these numbers, however, so we will take these with a grain of salt.

 

I see similar numbers for the royal blue chips. For those, there actually is a datasheet available (here), and it proves something that I've been wondering for a very long time now, but have never researched 100% - the royals blues seriously lack total radiant output (measured in milliwatts of radiance versus lumens, unlike white LEDs are). The F2 bin that Aquastyle sells is 360-380mW of total radiant output at 350ma. The graph on the datasheet shows that at 700ma, the chips emit 170% of the light versus 350ma, so that brings them to 612-646mW of radiance, while using 2.5w of power. So that comes to 258mW of radiance per watt of power used.

 

 

 

In practice:

For a 29g Biocube tank, the recommended base LED values for Cree and Luxeon are 6x neutral white and 12x royal blue (a 1:2 ratio) at 1000ma, so that totals to 1,920 lumens of white and 19,440mW of royal blue. To match this using Bridgelux from Aquastyle, you'd need 12x NW and 30x RB (a 2:5 ratio), over a 50% increase. You can use less, but this is what would give you the most PAR without running into issues of having too much light after all is said and done.

 

 

Now, I have been saying for some time now that a 2:3 ratio of 4500k and RB should equate to roughly 14K. After seeing this in person now, without dimming the whites, it just doesn't look like it's that way, looks closer to 10K. Dimming the NW string and measuring the amperage and calculating output, I can say that it is very close to the 2:5 ratio via calculations.

 

 

If anyone has any questions or anything to add, please let me know and I'll try to address it.

 

Im happy whit the light so far, the starpolyps, gorgonia and zoas doing well.Thinking to upgrade size on tank later on. After this input about aquastyle leds its seems better to go cree all the way?

[jedimasterben]

Im happy whit the light so far, the starpolyps, gorgonia and zoas doing well.Thinking to upgrade size on tank later on. After this input about aquastyle leds its seems better to go cree all the way?

According to the output that Bridgelux gives, it seems that way. I'm all for cheaper arrays, but to get the same amount of light and it actually costs more, and then takes up way more power? Idk. I'll get a PAR meter at some point in the future and truly test this out, but if the datasheet is correct (which, since it is from Bridgelux, I assume it is), then it should match up.

[kenziesnano]

So my kit came yesterday!!! Decided to add a few extra LEDS. After laying out the leds I placed them in groups of 3 royal and 2NW(4500) with 5 Violet spread out. to wire them with two drivers could I place 6 RB with 12NW and the (5)violets with 12RB sting; if I have to dim the NW any. Or should I just remove some of the NW?

Can I connect the two drivers to one power cord? they will be in same project box with separate on/off switches.

18RB, 12 NW 5 actinic violet, 2 max. 12-20 drivers.

 

Thanks for the reassurance, I am planning on using 10 NW for 15RB. Adjusting or adding for color as needed after that, The extra NW are going to be used for a different fishie project in my daughter's classroom. They have a FOWLR and wanted to see how solar power can light the tank with LEDs

[jeffblly]

Here are some of my par numbers over my 40 breeder. I have bridgelux leds mixed from Aquastyle and Led Group Buy using inventronics and aquastyle drivers.

 

The light has warm whites, royal blues, and ocean coral leds.

 

The whites are not nearly as bright as crees at 80-90% but my sps are growing.

 

The blues, purples and greens really pop, but the red and yellow coral colors are faded. I have been running them over 7 months.

 

[bugby]

Hi !

 

excuse me for my bad English as I'm French speaking

 

I have a tank 55inch length and 14 width. mix of all sort of corals , hard and soft. a total of 240w T5

After studying led's for several hours and still not knowing what was good and bad....., i ordered my leds from aquastyleonline.

1 time the 36 dimmable : 18x 10000k and 18 x blue

1 time the extra 10 led kit : 5 x uv and 5x actinic.

 

But a few minutes after i did the order i found this tread !!

I now know what i did was wrong........

 

Can you help me out what i should have ordered ? Then i can try to change this order asap !

I have to put all the led's on 1 row or i have to try to put them 2 together without creating the disco feeling.

Any suggestion on the sequence of the led's ?

 

Thank you !

[jedimasterben]

Hi !

 

excuse me for my bad English as I'm French speaking

 

I have a tank 55inch length and 14 width. mix of all sort of corals , hard and soft. a total of 240w T5

After studying led's for several hours and still not knowing what was good and bad....., i ordered my leds from aquastyleonline.

1 time the 36 dimmable : 18x 10000k and 18 x blue

1 time the extra 10 led kit : 5 x uv and 5x actinic.

 

But a few minutes after i did the order i found this tread !!

I now know what i did was wrong........

 

Can you help me out what i should have ordered ? Then i can try to change this order asap !

I have to put all the led's on 1 row or i have to try to put them 2 together without creating the disco feeling.

Any suggestion on the sequence of the led's ?

 

Thank you !

Email Aquastyle and tell them to hold or cancel your order until you figure out exactly what you need.

[bugby]

done !

[bugby]

how many leds should i need for a tank 55inch length and 14 wide ?

I was thinking on the advice i found from Jedimasterben a while back in this tread.

 

12x white

18x royal blue

6x violet

4x deep red

4x cool blue

4x cyan

 

You would need the following drivers:

white - 7-12 maxwellen

royal - 12-20 maxwellen

violet - 7-12 maxwellen

red/cyan/blue - 7-12 maxwellen

 

This makes a total of 50 leds . I think it is way to much , or i dont know how i would fit them over my tank .

 

Anyone advice ?

Thx !

[jedimasterben]

how many leds should i need for a tank 55inch length and 14 wide ?

I was thinking on the advice i found from Jedimasterben a while back in this tread.

 

12x white

18x royal blue

6x violet

4x deep red

4x cool blue

4x cyan

 

You would need the following drivers:

white - 7-12 maxwellen

royal - 12-20 maxwellen

violet - 7-12 maxwellen

red/cyan/blue - 7-12 maxwellen

 

This makes a total of 50 leds . I think it is way to much , or i dont know how i would fit them over my tank .

 

Anyone advice ?

Thx !

How tall is the tank?

[bugby]

How tall is the tank?

 

Waterlevel 20inch

[jedimasterben]

Waterlevel 20inch

You'll need more than 12x whites to cover it, then.

 

 

18x 4500k

27x royal blue

8x cyan

8x deep red

8x cool blue

12-24x violet (however much you can afford

 

Use 80 degree optics on the white, royal blue, and violet LEDs, leave the rest without optics. Cluster the colors as closely together as possible to avoid color spotlighting, and group the whites and royals together, two whites and three royals.

[bugby]

Thank you Jedimasterben , your answer is very much appreciated.

[hung8489]

In practice:

For a 29g Biocube tank, the recommended base LED values for Cree and Luxeon are 6x neutral white and 12x royal blue (a 1:2 ratio) at 1000ma, so that totals to 1,920 lumens of white and 19,440mW of royal blue. To match this using Bridgelux from Aquastyle, you'd need 12x NW and 30x RB (a 2:5 ratio), over a 50% increase. You can use less, but this is what would give you the most PAR without running into issues of having too much light after all is said and done.

 

 

Now, I have been saying for some time now that a 2:3 ratio of 4500k and RB should equate to roughly 14K. After seeing this in person now, without dimming the whites, it just doesn't look like it's that way, looks closer to 10K. Dimming the NW string and measuring the amperage and calculating output, I can say that it is very close to the 2:5 ratio via calculations.

 

 

If anyone has any questions or anything to add, please let me know and I'll try to address it.

 

I've been lurking for sometime now and I'm considering this vendor for my LEDs but I want to price everything out so I can compare it with my other options (RapidLED and Steve's) is this still the recommended setup for a Biocube 29?

 

 

LEDs

8x NW

16x RB

3x cool blue

3x deep red

3x cyan

4x violet

 

37 LEDs seems like an odd number (OCD kicking in), should I add any to round it out?

 

Drivers

Three drivers: Whites on their own driver, the royal blue and violet on one, and the rest on a separate driver. I'd like to get a Typhon LED controller from Boost LED so would I need the ELN-60-48P drivers?

 

Optics

80, 60 or 45?

 

Thanks in advance.

[jedimasterben]

I've been lurking for sometime now and I'm considering this vendor for my LEDs but I want to price everything out so I can compare it with my other options (RapidLED and Steve's) is this still the recommended setup for a Biocube 29?

 

 

LEDs

8x NW

16x RB

3x cool blue

3x deep red

3x cyan

4x violet

 

37 LEDs seems like an odd number (OCD kicking in), should I add any to round it out?

 

Drivers

Three drivers: Whites on their own driver, the royal blue and violet on one, and the rest on a separate driver. I'd like to get a Typhon LED controller from Boost LED so would I need the ELN-60-48P drivers?

 

Optics

80, 60 or 45?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I'd go to 12x and 24x for NW and RB, and add as much violet as you can afford to (just be sure to run them on their own driver and acclimate corals accordingly). No optics.

 

Yes, you need PWM drivers to control them with a Typhon.

 

 

I'd still recommend you pay a bit extra and go for either Cree or Luxeon LEDs, however.

[vash028]

Here is my tank under the lights they have been going strong since last February when i built the fixture here is the tank now.

 

 

 

 

and this is the fixture im using at 11" off the water.

 

[hung8489]

I'd go to 12x and 24x for NW and RB, and add as much violet as you can afford to (just be sure to run them on their own driver and acclimate corals accordingly). No optics.

 

Yes, you need PWM drivers to control them with a Typhon.

 

 

I'd still recommend you pay a bit extra and go for either Cree or Luxeon LEDs, however.

 

Would 12 Violets be overkill? Do I need to add any red, cyan or cool blue for full spectrum? Can I run the LEDs with the PWM drivers if I don't get the Typhon right away?

[M@!]

My 20 long has been running just since October, 2011 on 16 Bridgelux LEDs. 8-6500k and 8 Royal Blue.

 

I tested the par before adding any corals.

 

This picture is 1/1/12

 

Not the best pic, but sometime in March 2012.

 

September 2012

 

I initially bought this kit for a 10G but I've been happy with my growth.

[albertthiel]

Thank you Jedimasterben , your answer is very much appreciated.

When it comes to LED's Ben is THE MAN to go to for sure

[ReefDiva]

Jedi and Zachts:

 

Thank you so much for the info. I want to first apologize for the huge delay....finally finished school and now I have time to actually live and breathe.

So, as I do have the LPF Meanwells, I checked each of the two pots I have hooked up to my lighting system you guys are helping me resolve and I noticed that the pots are labeled, "Th-1 100KA." I'm assuming this means that I do have the 100 volt pots. Could this mean that maybe the pot running the whites is malfunctioning---thus the reason that even though they work they are very dim and not at all like the blues in regards to intensity? I can go to Radio Shack today and grab whatever you guys recommend if we can get this all figured out. Thanks.

 

Well, I am back guys & this entire situation with my lights is driving me mad. I purchased the pot from Radio Shack as recommended, finally installed it and guess what: I got the same result. The white lights are not bright enough at all. My tank is doing fine, but it is truly too blue for me. I can't really analyze the coloring nor enjoy the beauty of my corals etc. without proper lighting balance. I can't seem to figure out what is wrong. Obviously the lights were soldered properly or they would not come on at all. The blues, which are on a separate driver are just fine. The whites, cyans and true violets all come on and are hooked together & ran on a separate driver, but the whites have and never looked bright. Just very dim where I can look straight at them, as indicated in this thread a page or two back with photos to show.

I am really about to give up. I really need to enjoy and further my Nano, but this lighting mystery is driving me crazy. I need to fix this fast or either purchase another lighting system (which would be crazy considering I have total success with my blues) or by t-5s or something to supplement the lighting dilemma I'm having. Guys, can you please help on this one. I'm almost there and had zero problems when I originally read, ordered and installed (including soldering for the first time) this kit. Help Me, please...for the Love of this Hobby.

[ALexpsycho]

What is the most easy way to remove the glued leds from the heatsink so I can add more RB and Violet I bought...?

I have a dremel and thought to use the diamond disc to cut them...but if there is any more easy way I would be glad to hear it...

Thanks in advance.

also a question to Jedimaster

I have 16RB and 16whites(10.000k)+ 4 UV (395nm) and I am pleased with the progress of my tank so far but.....as an enthousiastic reefer I bought 6 cree RB and 4 Violet (425nm from e-bay...)

I am thinking to remove some whites (about half of them) and to add all the new leds....without optics..i never used optics in my RSM130(also to avoid spotlight effect).I found out that I run my RB at 80-90% and the whites at 40-50% to get the color I want...so I am powering the white string with more RB...

[jedimasterben]

Well, I am back guys & this entire situation with my lights is driving me mad. I purchased the pot from Radio Shack as recommended, finally installed it and guess what: I got the same result. The white lights are not bright enough at all. My tank is doing fine, but it is truly too blue for me. I can't really analyze the coloring nor enjoy the beauty of my corals etc. without proper lighting balance. I can't seem to figure out what is wrong. Obviously the lights were soldered properly or they would not come on at all. The blues, which are on a separate driver are just fine. The whites, cyans and true violets all come on and are hooked together & ran on a separate driver, but the whites have and never looked bright. Just very dim where I can look straight at them, as indicated in this thread a page or two back with photos to show.

I am really about to give up. I really need to enjoy and further my Nano, but this lighting mystery is driving me crazy. I need to fix this fast or either purchase another lighting system (which would be crazy considering I have total success with my blues) or by t-5s or something to supplement the lighting dilemma I'm having. Guys, can you please help on this one. I'm almost there and had zero problems when I originally read, ordered and installed (including soldering for the first time) this kit. Help Me, please...for the Love of this Hobby.

Oh dear. Give me a day or so to go back over all the issues you had and we'll go from there. I can't remember if you tested the amperage of the string with a multimeter, did you?

 

What is the most easy way to remove the glued leds from the heatsink so I can add more RB and Violet I bought...?

I have a dremel and thought to use the diamond disc to cut them...but if there is any more easy way I would be glad to hear it...

Thanks in advance.

also a question to Jedimaster

I have 16RB and 16whites(10.000k)+ 4 UV (395nm) and I am pleased with the progress of my tank so far but.....as an enthousiastic reefer I bought 6 cree RB and 4 Violet (425nm from e-bay...)

I am thinking to remove some whites (about half of them) and to add all the new leds....without optics..i never used optics in my RSM130(also to avoid spotlight effect).I found out that I run my RB at 80-90% and the whites at 40-50% to get the color I want...so I am powering the white string with more RB...

Just pop them off with a hammer and chisel, then scrape off the old adhesive. I used a Dremel once, but this last time I just used a pair of scissor to scrape it off, both worked just as well.

[jedimasterben]

After looking through, Reefdiva, you never did measure the current with a multimeter. Do you have access to one?

[ReefDiva]

Oh dear. Give me a day or so to go back over all the issues you had and we'll go from there. I can't remember if you tested the amperage of the string with a multimeter, did you?

 

 

Just pop them off with a hammer and chisel, then scrape off the old adhesive. I used a Dremel once, but this last time I just used a pair of scissor to scrape it off, both worked just as well.

 

No I did not test with a multimeter. I guess I can go get one, just need to know what it looks like.

[jedimasterben]

No I did not test with a multimeter. I guess I can go get one, just need to know what it looks like.

Sears and Radioshack will both have them and someone there can tell you where they are. Then I'll have you clip one of the wires going to the LEDs from the driver and figure out what's going on.

[kenziesnano]

ALGAE ALERT!!!

 

 

 

I have had my 36 LED dim-able running for about two months. I built it with the 4500K whites, RB's and Violets. I have been battling hair algae for some time, not a big outbreak, just small patches.

 

I soon found that algae grows best in the light range of 3500K and 5100K. I was researching algae scrubbers and that was the light range they were now using to see fast, large growth in their scrubbers. YES! I am now pulling hair algae out of my tank daily instead of bi-weekly. I just can't seem to find the reason GHA started growing in the first place. Now it is in heaven and growing like the weed it is all over the place.

 

If you have any algae problems I would avoid the 4500K lights till you get rid of it. If not, your in for a longer battle then you have now.

 

on the plus side: I do love the color control and corals are growing great as well.