Just wanted to share this page if you are DIY lighting type. I’m going to have my boss look at some of this and see if he can come up with a design (he was an electrical engineer for GE and designed radar test equipment for NASA for 20 years)
:BEER
LEDs are cool. but have you noticed , none have a peak at 420nm, like a good actinic. it’s still the holly grail.
Chlorophyl A and B, the primary chlorophyls of zooxanthalae, have peak absorption at about 420nm and 455nm respectively. so if your blue is mostly above 450nm you short change chlorophyl A photosynthesis. And some of B.
does that weaken the corals food source and color?
ken, try checking out this latest testing article by the famous sanjay, who compares various leds.
i haven’t had the time to go over it carefully.
let us know what you think
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/5/aafeature2
I haven’t seen those 5w LEDs before, any results on them? Almost everyone that does DIY LEDs runs the 3w Crees. I’m building a custom LED light if I ever have time to finish it. I have 13 XP-G days and 24 XR-E blues driven by 3 ELN-60-48D drivers. I’d love to get a GP on LEDs and other DIY materials.
Its about time Sanjay got to testing LED’s!
Wow how the other fixtures suck… AI has the best yet!
AI sure does 
I’ve been telling you that for a while there Tim! 
He also only tested 1 high intensity vs 3 low intensity, are there any other high intensity fixtures out there?
Both Vertex and Marineland have “reef compatible” LEDs.
Pretty sure the Marineland ones are either on or off, so no sun rise, sunset, storms, not even sure if you can control the actinics and day lights on separate timers, the unit I saw in person had two switches on the back, but only one cord! Could be wrong though they could have a newer model out.
Vertex look sweet and promising, but not easy to get in the US. If you want to get them you have to buy them from a Canadian company and have them shipped over the boarder. Their story is that the company that had the patents on this stuff hasn’t completely lost there patent at this point and could sue Vertex if they sold in the US. There are some sweet YouTube videos showing their features off.
im still hesitant to jump on the LED wagon…I want a unit that will compensate for the upgrades/growth that are sure to still emerge…CREE just came out with a new 3w bulb that im guessing trumps the older version…i believe there is a LED out a little better than the XP-E? not sure if thats it, ill have to check
last i saw, at the orlando show in october, marineland has a LONG way to go still. even their “reef” led strip was just a bunch of 1w led’s. 52 bulbs on a 48" unit. and ONE cord. 3 way rocker switch, so u can control independantly… but no timer work. and thats the first thing i told the guy. what do i tell the first person who looks over this light when he asks me how he can control day/night lights with a timer? response was " uuuuhhh, these r still pretty new, im sure upgrades are coming" didnt sound too promising to me… lol
aqua illum wasnt at the show. but wavepoint had a pretty sweet setup. 3.5w led’s. i personally passed myself simply for the $$$ alone. 4’ system is 300w, dual cord, and retails for around 1600! holy crap! and nowhere near as programmable as the ai lights.
i think after the 1st, im going to start buting some retro pieces from current. they have 10" strips, w/5 3w leds per. 10k, straight blue, and 50/50. whatever u prefer. link 3 strips per ac adapter… and this way i can piece it to my specific needs. will post up some results as soon as i get some installed.
Mike Aqua Illuminations can be taken apart and upgraded, so new tech and probably go into it unless it is different wattage. That being said AIs are too much PAR for many tanks and need to be turned down, so I doubt you’ll want more. But when they come out with some red LEDs or purple(like the KZ Fiji bulbs or ATI Purple Plus), you can take the fixture apart on your own fairly easily and add in the new bulbs.
AI also just expanded their programming options to include some new features. No extra money down, FREE download.
Not sure about the other companies.
Sanjay’s article doesnt address my question. he evaluates the par readings and distribution patterns. it doesnt address the spectrum of light for the corals. just the intensity. most higher kelvin MH lamps have their blue peak shifted to 450-465nm also with almost no light in the 420nm range. but we have always supplemented them with 420 actinic flourescent lamps. that gives a wide continous blue curve from 410-475nm. the sweet spot for both types of chlorophyl.
ken, i feel like your avatar, shat upon. sorry. i didn’t notice that.
try this one from glassbox, which seems to have peaks around 460-465
this from cree itself
http://www.cree.com/products/xlamp_xpe.asp
seems as if the
Min. Flux @ 350 mA on the royal blue
is
425 mW
350 mW
but the dominant wavelength is
450-465 nm
do i now understand it right?
Looks like Mac is carrying a couple different types of LEDs now:
http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/LED-Lighting-Prodlist.html
Well Paul, it seems that 450 still works for many corals with the B type chlorophyl. but it cuts out the A type from adding much energy or food to the coral. so maybe that makes it weaker, vulnerable? a little too specialized? still, if you add actinic, 420nm you round out the blue curve . those peaks for A ad B show the wavelength that each typ is most productive at converting photons to food.
Check Sanjay’s spectral charts for MHs in the 14K - 20K range, and you will notice the blue end peak is about 455nm not the 420 we have used in flourenscents. I think a combo of the two makes a better light spectrum for the corals. should grow better and show better color. but as yet, no LED puts out a 420nm light. I guess they cant use the same phosphors as VHO.
Im using a 14K Phoenix and 20K reefluz 150 HQI on my new frag tank, but also adding two T5 UVL 420 actinics to boot. since ive straightened out my chemistry and bio filter, the corals are really perking up and getting their color back again. they get a full spectrum blue from 415-475 nm. which i think really helps. I should be growing equally healthy amounts of chlorophyl A and B to keep the corals better balanced. Or thats my theory , anywhoo.
Does that make sense?
here you go, everything you wanted to know about LEDs. Old Craig does spectral charts for every type LED he gets his hands on. you can find charts under DESCREET LEDS BY wavelength range.
HJack Well i gotta say its refreshing to see that ppl are doing their home work b4 jumping on that perverbial band waggon … PBJ! the info posted in this thred is remarkably accurate …I feel better knowin that people are running into the same ?s that i did when reserching leds im in the proceses of manufacturing my on line of leds and im just curious to no what futures are most important to fellow hobbiests …With the exception of the lightning…For ne of u that like that feture i apolligize but i will never include the scare the s#!T outta the fish feture to ne of my lights lol…but ne and all other suggestions will be concirdered and greatly appricated…thank you guys n gals in advance
When you want to add a new fish they often times tell you to turn off the lights and rearrange the rocks. If you have healthy fish in the tank and simulate lightning it isn’t like it is something the fish haven’t had to evolved to deal with and doing so will probably get the aggressive animals to chill out and hide right before adding a new fish.
I like to deal with companies that are skeptical, but open minded. 
PBJ! 2shay…lol i was open minded till i saw a demo of the lighting feature and a tang took a leap of faith…i am a very small hands on company with close relationships with my custermers…their are many great leds lights on the market rite now my agenda is to bring a quality user friendly light 2 the market thats customiseable and affordable not tryin to do ne harm just wut i can for my fellow hobbiest slap-stick
OK OK OK enough of the infomercials >LOL<
Now I have a question - I’ve heard criticisms that some of the lights on the market are only 2 watt and not 3 watt LEDs. But at the same time I hear that you have to dial down the power as 3 watt crees are just too bright for the fish. In fact I’m not sure I’ve talked to anyone yet running 3 watt LEDs at full power.
So is it as important to have 3 watt LEDs if you can only run them at 75% - or are 2 watt at 100% just as good?
I think its about the focused intensity, the lower watt fixtures also don’t have reflectors focusing the light downward. So the 3 watt ones are higher power AND focused which is much more intense but has a much more narrow PAR spread needing more units over a larger tank.
They are dialed down because of their “laser” like focus points, if you will.
Thats what I get out of it all anyway.