Reef Brite LED's

DRC Archive General Saltwater Discussion
1

So I am looking at supplementing my 6 bulb T5 fixture with some LED for shimmer effect. I tried out the aquatic life LED strip’s over a tank with 4 T5’s and it got completely washed out, couldn’t see any shimmer. I looked up the specs and they only use 0.5 watt bulbs. No problem, I’ll go find higher watt fixtures right?

After looking and looking I found that Reef Brite LED’s both their strip light and their full fixtures advertise they use all 3 watt Cree LED’s. This is good news to me, the higher intensity (by 6x the ones I tried) should be fantastic. After all I can get amazing shimmer with just my iphone 4s LED with the flash light app.

So I wanted to know a bit more, and if they have tested it with T5’s so I emailed them. These are the responses.

thier site (which advertises “Utilizing only 3 watt LED’s for maximum performance and output, our LED strip lights produce the same amount of light as a T5 or VHO Fluorescent lamp”

http://www.reefbrite.com/reefbrite-tech-led/

To Reef Brite:

I am interested in supplementing my 6 bulb T5 unit with 1 tech led for the shimmer effect. I have tried lesser led strips and they all get washed out so you see no shimmer. I’m thinking about getting the all white 48" unit for maximum effect. What are the bulbs used, 3watt each? Are they Cree brand?

I saw your video of the 4 bulb t5’s with the tech led, impressive, but how does it stand up to 6 bulbs? I really don’t want to spend $240 to find out it has minimal effect.

-Tim

Tim

You do use a Cree led in our fixtures. They are a 3 watt led that we underdrive at appprox. 1.5 watts.
If you feel it will not be enough light with the Tech led we do offer our XHO model which is a higher output.
The 48" Tech led has 24 leds at 36 watts The 48" XHO led has 36 leds at 54 watts.

Thank you
Joy Meadows
Reef Brite

Thank you for the reply. Is there anyway to drive them at the full 3 watts? Any kind of power source you might be able to provide? I don’t have the room for another full fixture, as I have a 6 bulb t5 system but I really want to add intense led supplement. I am really interested in this product if it can achieve its full potential.

-Tim

Tim

I am sorry but we do not drive our leds at a full 3 watts.

Thank you
Joy Meadows

I can’t help but ask, why do you use 3 watt led’s “for maximum performance” … And then NOT maximize their performance ?!

-Tim

Awaiting reply.

Am I missing something, do other companies only drive their LED’S at 50%?! Maybe there is a reason people don’t see coral growth with alot of LED’s eh?

2

[quote=“TimH07, post:1, topic:5124”]

Am I missing something, do other companies only drive their LED’S at 50%?! Maybe there is a reason people don’t see coral growth with alot of LED’s eh?[/quote]

My only thought is that they are using smaller drivers, which must be cheaper. I guess.

If people don’t see coral growth with alot of LEDs, then they are not really looking!

3

Tim if you are at all handy with a solder gun, I would suggest a DIY, If you are looking for just shimmer, you could get 12 LED kit which should be able to provide shimmer with ease.

4

well, they dont drive them at max watts because it burns them out faster. and perhaps the efficiency ramps down lumens per watt as you push it to the max. that last watt may not be as strong as the first. not sure. but could be. more heat generated that needs to be sinked away too.

do you drive your truck at it’s Red Line all day long everywhere you go?

5

[quote=“kaptken, post:4, topic:5124”]
do you drive your truck at it’s Red Line all day long everywhere you go? [/quote]

hahahaha… yeah… HEMI!

6

I didn’t really know they did that with LED’s. A 70 watt iridescent bulb uses 70 watts, a 28 watt CFL uses 28 watts, a 54 watt T5 uses 54 watts, I figured a 3 watt Cree used 3 watts.

7

Not 100% sure but not driving them the full amount may change the light spectrum to what they are advertising

8

But you are not buying a bulb you are buying a already pre-made unit.

I think partial reasoning of going to a 3watt and under powering could be as simple as this.
If they would have used a 1 watt and fully driven the bulb it would cause more heat in the simple design they wanted but to keep it cooler as to make it last longer it would only run at half power .5watts.

Kind of like RMS and MAX for your home theater or car speakers. Many speakers say Max 1000watts Hook them up to a true 1000watt amp and you got a cooked Subwoofer, hook them up to 500watts and you have clean sound and nothing is over heating( as long as you buy the good stuff).

So if you run a 3w cree which gets very hot and run it half power the life expectancy grows, less heat is generated. Oh yea and cost its more expensive to use drivers meant for the 3watts

If you wanted to bypass its power limiter open it up disconnect the led strand from the power and put your own driver on there. Or just buy your own cree leds and make it yourself. It is a lot cheaper then you think.

9

[quote=“TimH07, post:1, topic:5124”]
I can’t help but ask, why do you use 3 watt led’s “for maximum performance” … And then NOT maximize their performance ?!

-Tim

Awaiting reply.

Am I missing something, do other companies only drive their LED’S at 50%?! Maybe there is a reason people don’t see coral growth with alot of LED’s eh?[/quote]

Do other companies drive at 50%? Yes and no. Reputable proven, long lasting recommend LED brands of LED fixtures are dimmable, so they can cook your corals at 100% or grow them at often less than 50%. Paul lowered the intensity of his lights and hung them real high. Bill keeps raising his fixture higher and higher. If you look around most people who have AI, Vertex, and many of the other brands proven to work run them at 50% or less.

Why has it only been the last couple of years LED fixtures have worked over coral reef aquariums? Why can’t you just put Christmas lights over your tank, they’re often LEDs. Why is it the first generation of reef LED fixtures failed(not meaning their modules failed, the company failed, or anything but the fixtures simply did not grow corals)

There are certain LEDs that are proven to grow corals. These are mostly 3 W LEDs. Too many of these and you’ll cook your corals. Too few spread out and you end up with super bright spots where corals will cook and dark spots where corals won’t grow as quickly.(you wouldn’t end up with even growth on large Montipora capricornis like you like to grow :wink:
Just like with T5s not every actinic has the same par or spectrum, not all LEDs are created equal.

To add to what Hudzon said… if you are not great with a solder gun I would avoid DIYS. Make a mistake and blow out some LEDs and have to order more and you’ll quickly shell out a lot more than if you buy a premade fixture. If a bulb goes out on a DIY your SOL, bulb goes out on a brand that stands behind their products and you will be just fine. Time + risk… I buy fixtures even though I am broker then broke.

10

I’ve noticed variations in the reported specs. from one manufacturer to another. there is no standard for reporting or describing LED lights. Its still a little bit of the wild west. you can buy one with 3W LEDs driven at various or variable wattage on demand. or fixed. its important to determine what wattage they are driven at and compare that to their maximum watts limit. and also the reported lumens per watt. then we get a clearer comparison between products. unfortunately for us, few if any producers list all of these atributes on the same page. they list some and omit others. and universal spectrum charts would be good.

It would be nice to have a standard for comparison of apples to apples, but there is none enforced. So take your best shot.

11

Well, where I am at with it is… I am not buying them for coral growth, but accent lighting for my 6x t5’s.

The Reef Brite seem like the most powerful as far as a single 48" strip is concerned. They offer a 8000K white, and a royal blue. Now I figure I will go with one or the other here, but my dilemma now is weather to get the 8000K white that will produce the most shimmer but perhaps add too much white where I could remove the 1 white t5 I have and run all actinics with the LED. Or I can go with the blue LED which puts out crazy blue and color pop and switch my T5’s to mostly aquablue+ 14000K whites for more PAR and let the LED’s show me some blue. Problem is I think the blue LEDs might be too blue on the rocks.

This guy seems to have more white and added Reefbrite blues, but its not alot of shimmer either and I think he has a 4 blub T5.

12

Are you getting an anchor too?

::rofl::

it is cool though ::thumbsup::

tough call on the lighting Tim, i have shimmer envy as well buddy, you’re not alone :-("