looking to get LED for my 6 gallon.......to cree or not to cree tat is the question

[MPevine11]

so i plan to get LED lighting for my 6 gallon fluval edge picco reef.....


i plan to get Maxspect G1 60w << Click to view

here are my options:
Maxspect G1 60w = $230
Maxspect G1 60w CREE =$330



my question: what makes the CREE model $100 more and is it worth it? what is the diffrence between CREE and regular?
i plan to keep Zoas, and acan's and simmilar corals in this tank.


please any input here is great


thank you for any help BRS
Mike pevine-

 

[Royalty]

I think that's over kill for a 6g fluval I'm upgrading mine with these LED's http://cgi.ebay.com/BLUE-9-LED-FLEX...871?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5889efac5f and these MR 11 bulbs with the fluval edge heater
http://cgi.ebay.com/MR11-G4-12-SMD-...066?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d2b2fe6b2
_____________________________________________________________________________
The motivation for me, Is them telling me what I can not be o'well...
"I felt so inspirited about what My teacher said, said Ill either be dead or be a reefer head".

Active tanks
72 bowfront non RR mixed reef rebuild -29g sump 5g refugium /100g Euro-Reef skimmer /Phos ban reactor/upgrading the lighting..
6 Fluval edge rebuild -heater/LEDs /nano skimmer

Non-active Tanks
125 gallon
46 bow front frag tank
40 G Breeder

 

[sciknen]

You could easily light it with a few cree LEDs. And save a ton of money and have it the exact way you want it.

Steve

 

[MPevine11]

I think that's over kill for a 6g fluval I'm upgrading mine with these LED's http://cgi.ebay.com/BLUE-9-LED-FLEX...871?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5889efac5f and these MR 11 bulbs with the fluval edge heater
http://cgi.ebay.com/MR11-G4-12-SMD-...066?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d2b2fe6b2

i'd like something that will support coral's, that doesnt seem like it will support coral life but to only add a blue tint.

plus i have already modded the hood by extending it.......

You could easily light it with a few cree LEDs. And save a ton of money and have it the exact way you want it.

Steve

what makes crees better?


im not good with starting from scratch, alot of people on another site had mooded the maxspect g1 unit into the fluval edge hood. i have already extended the stock hood.
i just know i would need heatsink, leds, power source, wire etc....... all that must add up fast...



im not sure if i can do this (posting this link) but if theres any problems please remove it.
but heres one of the people who have modded the Maxspect G1 into their fluval edge.

i did the same mod extending the hood and adding hinges.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=241557&st=0

 

[sciknen]

Cree are 3 watts. Those are a bunch of 1 watts really close together so regular get hotter and have shorter life. Cree is better because you can build your own and provide better air flow yourself. You can space it out better. You use less of them so you can save ok electricity and you can add optics if you need more power . Optics cost pennies BTW. And its really not that hard to do. Hardest part is the soldering, hut I'm sure people here would help you out big time.

I plan on building one for a frag tank.

And those blue strip LEDs are the same wattage as the maxspect LEDs

Steve

 

[MPevine11]

i can solder....had a class on it in electrical school...

what would i need?
could i buy a DIY kit?

also i dont know what angle LED's i would need etc...

i'd love to build my own, but i have no idea how to mount LEDS to heat sink and etc. and i'd like to get this dont soon sick of the stock fluval edge lighting it sucks





also i could buy the maxspect g1 cree version...rather then the regular one?

 

[sciknen]

It's very easy to mount. Drill holes in aluminium panel. Attach cree with screws with thermal paste in BTW to disperse the heat better. Solder together. The end. Well much moe than that but that is the jist of it.
No need for a heat-sink if you keep them spaced about 1.5" away from each other with a small fan on em.

You probably don't even need optics. They are 130 degrees standard. And the way your tank is setup that's probably perfect.

At the last meeting the speaker had a 12x12 aluminum panel cover a 24x24 tank. I think he had like 36 LEDs on it. I forget exact number.
He did this for 300 not sure how much the maxspect cree version costs. And you wouldnt need as many Leds.

Ledsupply.com has strips of cree which are easier to wire, but if one goes out you have to replace the entire strip not just the single led.

Steve

 

[MPevine11]

can i buy like a 7X7 heatsink?

i'd like a heat sink and i would mostlikely also use a small fan....

could you post some links to stuff i would need, im having a hard finding stuff......




i would like to do DIY, it would be more custom and probaly fun to do.......i just dont know what i would need

 

[sciknen]

Ledsupply.com has everything you need

LEDs
Drivers
Power supply
Thermal paste
Wires
Take a look through nano reef there a lot if led builds. Also you can contact Ledsupply and they will help you out big time.

Not sure where to get a heating.

Steve

 

[MPevine11]

i may of been talked into DIY

this outta be fun!


should i email them?

 

[sciknen]

Definitely.

Steve

 

[Cheetos]

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=223261&st=0&gopid=2642640&#entry2642640

This is one I built for a 3 gal JBJ picotope. I am currently running it on a 7 gal cube. If you have any questions or need any help shoot me a pm!