# LED Vivarium Lighting



## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

So i have been looking at a more reasonable but better LED fixture for taller/larger tanks, for a while i was desining my own but it ended up costing more than a jungle hobbies after it was all said and done, theni came across a company making these https://wholesaler.alibaba.com/product-detail/2PCS-DSunY-Aqua-Dimmable-200W-LED_60504034613.html so i inquired about this exact product and had them make me a custom lay out and i wanted to see what you guys thought here is the sight advertisement for the light, the adder to have it customized was 30$,it was originally a reeflight, ill share the link now to the light and when i get home tonight i will upload the diagram/ picture of the led layout that i think i want them to make and see what you us think of it, it is two fixtures that are 100watt each for right around 250$ shipped. let me know what you think i know alot of people want a better light for less money so this light ends up being roughly 125 each wich is nice, the measurements are 12 inch long 4 inch wide by 2.5 tall. tell me what you think and if you think it will work well, ill upload the diagram of the leds im having put on the board later.


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

here is the LED layout i was planning to do, any input would be great!


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

i guess for what it is worth i will post the light original led lay out as well,


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## Diesel (Jul 31, 2017)

That will be a beast of a light.
Over what kind of enclosure this is going to be?
I like the dimming feature.

I have been in rref keeping for over 35 years and have seen the evolution from T12 to LED's in that hobby.
Have tested many light fixtures but it's always like you get what you paid for.
Let me know after ordering it how long it took to receive it, I might give this a go as well.
For $250 you can't break the bank.
Just to make sure if I can use your picture when I place to order.


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

That is, indeed, a beast of a light. It reminds me of the Jungle Hobbies lights that Mist King sells. I have a couple of these and the one that is around the same size is 96w and it is as much light as I can ever imagine needing. Double that amount of light seems like overkill. Of course, yours are much cheaper and they are dimmable, so you will probably be fine.

One note on your LED array "map": I would mix things up rather than have zones of the same LEDs. This is because, if you have solid areas of the same color, you are much more likely to get the "disco effect" where you get separation of the colors around the fringes of where the light is being shaded by objects in the tank. The reason most people want all those colors is for a good blend that brings out all the different colors in the tank. You will achieve that blending best by having your colors mixed up with each other rather than the same colors next to each other. So, I would just mix them all up. I think you will be happier with the result. Just my opinion, though.

I am really interested in how these look and their longevity. If you get a good look and good life out of these, I would definitely be interested in trying them, but only for my 3 foot tall tanks. I think it would be too much for any of my other tanks.

Good luck!

Mark


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## Amagaeru (May 6, 2015)

Sounds along the lines of what Kurt Jensen is offering. I don't know his DB account, but he's on a couple fb frog groups. Also not sure on the max height restrictions of what he's building, but he's able to do a lot of custom stuff so may be up your alley. Dimmable, can be added on to for future needs, etc.


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

Diesel said:


> That will be a beast of a light.
> Over what kind of enclosure this is going to be?
> I like the dimming feature.
> 
> ...


I work in the electrical industry and have watched the evolution of lights a well and was pretty thrilled when i found this fixture, nd feel free to use any content i post, thats why i post it! too help everyone out, not just hoard this info to my self,i plan to order the lights today or tomorrow and i will keep this updated and will add pictures when the lights are recived, 

the tank i plan to use on over is a 24L x 24W x 36Tall if the one works good i will buy two more for my 36L x 18W x 18 H tanks,i currently use jungle dawns or current usa lights but want something better that can put more light to the bottom of my tanks.


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

Encyclia said:


> That is, indeed, a beast of a light. It reminds me of the Jungle Hobbies lights that Mist King sells. I have a couple of these and the one that is around the same size is 96w and it is as much light as I can ever imagine needing. Double that amount of light seems like overkill. Of course, yours are much cheaper and they are dimmable, so you will probably be fine.
> 
> One note on your LED array "map": I would mix things up rather than have zones of the same LEDs. This is because, if you have solid areas of the same color, you are much more likely to get the "disco effect" where you get separation of the colors around the fringes of where the light is being shaded by objects in the tank. The reason most people want all those colors is for a good blend that brings out all the different colors in the tank. You will achieve that blending best by having your colors mixed up with each other rather than the same colors next to each other. So, I would just mix them all up. I think you will be happier with the result. Just my opinion, though.
> 
> ...


i will definitely contact them and see if i cant get the leds mixed i just put them down that way to make it easier for them to understand what i wanted, ill re do the map and have them see if they can do that i suppose i never realized why they mixed the leds. i was buying these for larger tanks either 3 foot tall or very long/wide tanks since these are wide angle at 120* beam spread and being dimmable im hoping if it is too much ill be able to dial it back, i really appreciate the input, and i realized made a mistake on the size, the light is 4.7 inch wide not just 4 inches


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## Dr.Hoatzin (Jul 28, 2014)

I'd swap out two 660nm for 625nm or even 615nm, and then rearrange the positions of all diodes for better mixing. Were it me I'd also swap out the 520's for smaller wavelengths in the cyan range, maybe 505 or 510nm, and do fewer of them. Is there a diffusing lens over the diodes? Even being packed closely together, there's going to be some disco here. Doesn't bother some people, drives others up the wall.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


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## Diesel (Jul 31, 2017)

Smith463 said:


> i will definitely contact them and see if i cant get the leds mixed i just put them down that way to make it easier for them to understand what i wanted, ill re do the map and have them see if they can do that i suppose i never realized why they mixed the leds. i was buying these for larger tanks either 3 foot tall or very long/wide tanks since these are wide angle at 120* beam spread and being dimmable im hoping if it is too much ill be able to dial it back, i really appreciate the input, and i realized made a mistake on the size, the light is 4.7 inch wide not just 4 inches


^^^ +1 on the mix ^^^

I'm also looking forward with what kind of mix you come up with.

IMO the Channels 1 to 4 is for the dimmer only to dim individual the colors up and down.
In the reef hobby that is more of a usual thing to do to ramp up with some blues and slowly mix in daylight for coral growth.
In this hobby you can ramp it slowly up all together till the desired LED output %.


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## nyskiffie (Mar 6, 2016)

Is there a reason you don't want to do the Jungle Dawn Spotlights? I have them on a 36" tall viv and while I only planted it a week ago my broms are already picking up a bunch more color than when I received them.


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

nyskiffie said:


> Is there a reason you don't want to do the Jungle Dawn Spotlights? I have them on a 36" tall viv and while I only planted it a week ago my broms are already picking up a bunch more color than when I received them.


only reason im not doing this is because i ant it to be more ascetically pleasing, and i do happen to like the ramp up in morning/ramp downs at night, its a nice feature. also mosty of my set ups dont have enough roomabove them to add 6" tall lights only 4" max on most.


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

Diesel said:


> ^^^ +1 on the mix ^^^
> 
> I'm also looking forward with what kind of mix you come up with.
> 
> ...


exactly, it should be cool to see how this light does once properly put together and dialed in, im pretty sure i will never run these lights at full capacity, probably 75% at most, 96 watts is a lot of light. but if need be i can max it out. im going to try and come up with some mixes and see what they say, i was thinking just mix the center colored led's i dont want to touch the two outside rows of 65k lights,


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## Diesel (Jul 31, 2017)

Imo, I would do a random mix even the 6500K LED's.
You always have a light spill and in this case you don't spill a lot of important 6500K.


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

this is what i was thinking and this is almost how a jungle hobbies is laid out in terms of leds, (jungle hobbies uses two large 40W leds with lenses to spread the light with colored leds in the center of the large leds) (0%0) like that if that makes sense. so this in a way will throw light the same with the lenses an even blanket of 65k throughout and colors mixed in the middle, (note i did not want to change all the lettering in the drawing i figure you guys would understand via color)


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Do I still see a bank of 4 x 410nm in the middle? The labels don't match the colors. This is much better. I think you will like it better, though, as Dr.Hoatzin said, you may get a little disco no matter what you do. 

Mark


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

Encyclia said:


> Do I still see a bank of 4 x 410nm in the middle? The labels don't match the colors. This is much better. I think you will like it better, though, as Dr.Hoatzin said, you may get a little disco no matter what you do.
> 
> Mark


i think no matter how i lay them out there will be some disco effect its okay in my opinion but we will see once i get the lights, hard doing anything because they only reply in the middle of the night. and yes the labels dont match the colors i just wanted to give an idea of what i was going for,


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

Dr.Hoatzin said:


> I'd swap out two 660nm for 625nm or even 615nm, and then rearrange the positions of all diodes for better mixing. Were it me I'd also swap out the 520's for smaller wavelengths in the cyan range, maybe 505 or 510nm, and do fewer of them. Is there a diffusing lens over the diodes? Even being packed closely together, there's going to be some disco here. Doesn't bother some people, drives others up the wall.
> 
> Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


i will see if we cant swap some leds out as well for some in these spectrum's, i think with how this light is made a little reflector up to the leds with a lenses on top it will have a little disco but i really dont think it will be so bad, if its that bad i will opaque the lenses and that will help spread the light more evenly, and if its still bad i will modify the light with a custom lense, something parabolic to force the light to be distributed evenly, i own a electrical supply store so i can order something to size need be.


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

NEW LAY OUT!! HOPE IT PLEASES EVERYONE!! hahahaha, i would like to note i told them to give me leds within your ranges Dr.Hoatzin i just gave them values so they knew where i wanted them placed, i appreciate the input and i hope that this is what you ment,


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Smith463 said:


> NEW LAY OUT!! HOPE IT PLEASES EVERYONE!! hahahaha, i would like to note i told them to give me leds within your ranges Dr.Hoatzin i just gave them values so they knew where i wanted them placed, i appreciate the input and i hope that this is what you ment,


I like it! I hope it lives up to your expectations. I would really like to see some pictures of a tank with one of these lights over it. Good work!

Mark


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## Smith463 (Jun 27, 2017)

Encyclia said:


> I like it! I hope it lives up to your expectations. I would really like to see some pictures of a tank with one of these lights over it. Good work!
> 
> Mark


i hope so too! haha we will see once i get them i will update this,there saying it should only take 2 days o build then ship time, so hopefully i dont have to wait for weeks,


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## Diesel (Jul 31, 2017)

Any news on the lights.
You should have received by now I would think


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## thaden (Feb 19, 2012)

Not the original poster here, but after reading this thread this past December, I decided to buy a set of these lights and went with the same LED customization. I must say I am very happy with this purchase. I am currently using the 2pcs 200W setup on my 36X36X18 Exoterra tank and they are working great. My plants are thriving and the wifi app to control them is really cool and easy to use. I am in the process of buying another set from them to add another light on this tank and also for a smaller one I am going to start building in the late summer. If anyone has any questions about them I would be happy to answer what I can. I dont know if the original poster is still around or active, but if they happen to see this, thank you for making this thread. I never would have known about these lights without you.


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