Anyone find a full LED light system???

[johnnybv]

I am looking for a lighting system to carry in the store.  There are soo many out there with all kinds of claims and bells and whistles.  I am looking for units that are tank ready to go, so like T-5 set up 24" 36" and 48"  complete systems that you are having SPS grow with great results.  Now I am not talking DIY, I cant build them and sell them and get them certified ULD.  SO please if you are running a commercially made complete LED system that is growing SPS, LPS and softies please let me know.  I found a unit at a clients house tonight that needed the tank completly torn down and all the sand vaccumed out, and the rock replaced because of crazy algae growth.  As we investigated, tank levels were all acceptable, water movement was good, skimmer was excellent, then to find out his LED fixture that is online and touted to be a good unit, well it had 3000k and 8000k LEDs in it!!  Gee I wonder why there was algae....

 

Help Please

[zygote2k]

How can light alone be responsible for excessive algae growth if all levels are acceptable and skimmer is working fine?

IIRC, algae needs 3 things- light, water, and food to grow. It doesn't make sense that you'd have to replace all that stuff because of the kelvin rating of the LEDs. 

Back in the day we used Venture 4300k halides on reef tanks and they grew corals nicely.... but I digress.

 

As to your main question- why not go with AI's, Radions, or Maxxspect Mazarras? All 3 of these are modular and can be adapted to fit in virtually any location. The Evergrow units are also fine. I use all of these and I have no issues with coral growth on any of the tanks that they are on. If you have a fish room and can suspend a track system, then you can use Par38's. My most successful coral growth regarding light is with P38's.

[Sharkey18]

Radions

[johnnybv]

I have AI, and have Radions coming so I will make my own decision.  BTW the tank that had all the algae was maxspect, there were two 3 foot units on the tank and one of them burnt out, so the client put his old 4 bulb 3' t-5 unit over the right side of the tank, and gues what, in two weeks no algae on that side.  So same tank, same waterflow, same parameters yada yada, but no algae on the right and crazy growth on the left under the maxspect with the 3000k and 8000k LEDs in them, pretty cut and dru to me that it is the lighting...

[roni]

I have AI, and have Radions coming so I will make my own decision.  BTW the tank that had all the algae was maxspect, there were two 3 foot units on the tank and one of them burnt out, so the client put his old 4 bulb 3' t-5 unit over the right side of the tank, and gues what, in two weeks no algae on that side.  So same tank, same waterflow, same parameters yada yada, but no algae on the right and crazy growth on the left under the maxspect with the 3000k and 8000k LEDs in them, pretty cut and dru to me that it is the lighting...

 

 

John, 

 

Not an LED guy but in terms of beauty of the fixture and growth, people really seem to like the Mitras GHL units.  The colors I've seen under them look great.  

 

Another stand alone larger fixture that seems to be pretty well liked are the Hyperion fixtures.

 

I personally like the look of the T5/LED hybrids myself.

 

Good luck

[swimmatte]

I know some people aren't high on them because of "lack of testing", but I love my Kessil's.  I've been getting nice growth and I love the look.  The fact that they use the gooseneck and don't need to be hung are a nice plus as well.

[johnnybv]

Thanks guys i will look into / consider them.

[JeffG93]

FWIW I have AI Vegas.  I upgraded from Sols - in the last month or so I've seen a lot of color come to the tank and every single SPS I have is growing.  Some faster than others but these things definitely grow Monti's, Stylos, Birdsnests, Millies.  Some of the acro's I have took a while but I'm seeing explosive growth now.

 

As far as LPS and softies these lights - and the Sols I had before it - grow and look *fantastic*

 

Video quality isn't the best but this is my tank from two weeks ago.  I just re-watched the video, and I can see growth has happened on almost everything...

 

[swffan]

For the people that want the new high end equipment all of the above are great.  BUT for the rest of the people who don't want to spring $500+ for an LED fixture the Evergrow are the way to go.  As far as a business standpoint I don't know the profit margins on the high end units, but I do know there is a pretty decent profit margin on the Evergrow systems and they would sell in volumes.  They are cheap and they work great.  You can design your own layout, get some fancy stickers and label them " the BRK custom LED".

 

I wish you much success in whatever direction you go with the LEDs! 

[ctenophore]

I have been using the Evergrows for about a year over my frag tank (and I just put 5 over my display tank last week).  They are basic (manual dimming of two separate channels) but they seem to be reliable so far.  They do grow sps, and I have my prize S. gigantea under them, which can be a touchy animal with high light requirements.  The fans are just as quiet as they were a year ago and no visible signs of rust or other saltwater + metal issues.  If you don't want to use low kelvin emitters, then you can customize a color layout that suits your reefkeeping philosophy.  Keep in mind that pretty much any LED setups shouldn't be kept in an enclosed canopy without some sort of extra forced air ventilation.  This is true for $900 radions or $130 evergrows.

 

For the customer who wants to spend a little extra for features and style, I'd suggest the Kessils- while I don't have any direct experience with them, I have heard good things about them from trusted sources and I've seen them over tanks and they do look very nice and sleek.

 

I think you could sell both options at a good profit margin and not have to worry much about warranty/reliability issues.  I'm not sure about the UL status of the Evergrows though.  Mine say CE but that isn't as meaningful as UL listing.  No idea about Kessil.