LED lighting

[JimmyR1rider]

As I said it depends on how long your running your lamps for. When I had a TEK 6 bulb only 4 of the bulbs were on for 8 hours. 9 months is not that long in that situation. Depending on your fixture and at what temp the bulbs run at 9-12 months is far more common than switching out at 6 months but hey if money is no object have at it. And with a 6 bulb fixture your looking at $120 for bulbs. Not just a single bulb. Your method would cost me an extra $120 over an 18 month period.

Usually one see's a 20-30% drop in par in the first 3-4 months with very little change in par up till the 8-10 month time period. You do need to watch for color shift issues more so than par loss. You can easily lower your fixture most times to make up for par loss but it won't correct a color shift.

Interesting read on the subject here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1641235

As I said you can change them whenever you feel you need to but to say they have to be changed out is a stretch.

I was more saying along the safer that everything will stay the same route. I understand completely about how many bulbs. I'd rather tell someone the more frequent number and let them decide when they want to change them. I'll be changing my 6 bulbs every 6 months.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread Danny--I'm out.

 

[dannyny]

I was more saying along the safer that everything will stay the same route. I understand completely about how many bulbs. I'd rather tell someone the more frequent number and let them decide when they want to change them. I'll be changing my 6 bulbs every 6 months.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread Danny--I'm out.

all good. just want to hear everyone's opinions and see other people's experiences

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Absolutely, you're doing it the right way.

 

[dannyny]

does anyone know about the cree 60watt fixtures? i have a guy selling me 2 fixtures for 400$ used what do you guys think should i go with that or 1 new ai sol?

2 used ocreef cree 60 watt @400$

1 new ai sol w/controller @ 470$

 

[ecvernon]

I had purchased the same lights 60 watt Cree. It's produced by a company in china and rebranded by different manufacturs over here. I had picked up 2 swc Cree fixtures for my 65 gallon tank from tb aquatics for about 500. I returned them because of a few minor issues. The lights looked good and worked. I did want more control over the dimming of the blue And whites. The dimmer knob was not as accurate as I liked. I returned it to get two ai sol blues and could not be happier. The color is wayyyyy better and the light spread is way better also. It seemed that the swc fixtures were "dim"Over my 65 gallon tank which is 24" tall, definitely could not say that about the ai sol blue. Also the customer support for the sol blue is better than the swc. For that alone it would be more worth it.
Any other questions let me know if I could help

 

[dannyny]

I had purchased the same lights 60 watt Cree. It's produced by a company in china and rebranded by different manufacturs over here. I had picked up 2 swc Cree fixtures for my 65 gallon tank from tb aquatics for about 500. I returned them because of a few minor issues. The lights looked good and worked. I did want more control over the dimming of the blue And whites. The dimmer knob was not as accurate as I liked. I returned it to get two ai sol blues and could not be happier. The color is wayyyyy better and the light spread is way better also. It seemed that the swc fixtures were "dim"Over my 65 gallon tank which is 24" tall, definitely could not say that about the ai sol blue. Also the customer support for the sol blue is better than the swc. For that alone it would be more worth it.
Any other questions let me know if I could help

thank you for the feedback! i appreciate it alot.

if i went with 1 ai sol do you feel my tank can thrive? my tank is about the same as you just more shallow. what do you think can you get away with running one unit with your current setup?

 

[ecvernon]

No I would not be able to get away because I have a center brace. Even still I wouldn't do it I would have to raise it really high. When I had one installed it was really dark on the sides that were not covered you can get one to start. I am almost sure that you would get another one after a while. Only Wat I could see it work is if you have mostly one island in the center and lower light corals at the end. But there would be a large shadow on the end

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

To go AI, your tank requires 2 units

 

[dannyny]

No I would not be able to get away because I have a center brace. Even still I wouldn't do it I would have to raise it really high. When I had one installed it was really dark on the sides that were not covered you can get one to start. I am almost sure that you would get another one after a while. Only Wat I could see it work is if you have mostly one island in the center and lower light corals at the end. But there would be a large shadow on the end

thanks, i will have to keep researching.

 

[dannyny]

To go AI, your tank requires 2 units

i think that's the majority vote at the moment.

saw your lights in pacific aquarium this week... Looks good! i like it alot!

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

i think that's the majority vote at the moment.

saw your lights in pacific aquarium this week... Looks good! i like it alot!

Thanks.

You have not seem the programmable one yet. You will love it more.

 

[dannyny]

Thanks.

You have not seem the programmable one yet. You will love it more.

i love them already...