Now that you guys have had the bars for a while, how do you like them? I'm at the point where I'll be pulling the trigger on a pair soon for myself. Just wondering how your experience has been so far.
Analysis Paralysis: LED Bars
- Thread starter LobsterOfJustice
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Now that you guys have had the bars for a while, how do you like them? I'm at the point where I'll be pulling the trigger on a pair soon for myself. Just wondering how your experience has been so far.
bishoptf
Valuable Member
I think they are fine, I am not using them at the moment but I purchased the uv versions, that have this version - https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...hDuvXvbQ&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:
Says it has 410,430,450 and 470nm and comes with a timer/dimmer. The bar itself seems to be fine and works like it should and puts out a good bit of par. What they do not tell you is the ratio of the leds used, at least to me it appears to put out a light cyan color, not deep blue but again more cyan. Does that mean it has more 470 leds in there vs the other, dunno, again I am unsure of the ratio. Thats the hard part with the bars is knowing how they are going to look, you can dim them up and down though.
bishoptf
Valuable Member
I posted in the reef-pi sub forum, took a picture for trying to figure out if I could dim them with reef-pi.
Here is the post - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/n-channel-mosfet-led-pwm-control.1026920/
Has a picture of the dimmer and power supply.
That's perfect for what I'm looking for! Thanks for the feedback!
Would they dim with a simple dimmer/timer like the Sunsetter or the cheap Nicrew one?
bishoptf
Valuable Member
Short answer is no, they do come with a dimmer and built in timer but it doesn't ramp up and down. The nicrew works off of 0-10v analog, never used the sunsetter so not sure but probably not. I was using them as additional lights, my other lights can ramp up and down and I just turned them on at peak time period and then used my other lights to ramp up and down. What is nice though is you can dim them so your able to easily dial them in vs having to change height etc ..
OP
OP
LobsterOfJustice
Valuable Member
I'm really happy with them. In addition to instantly making the corals "pop", I'm also seeing the corals continue to develop better color over time. They are just what I'm looking for in that when they are on in addition to the main tank lighting, they dont really cast a blue blanket over the whole tank, but the corals just "light up". For some, maybe that would mean they arent strong enough to make the overall look more blue, but thats exactly what I was looking for. Although I said I didnt need scheduled dimming throughout the day, in hindsight, it would have been nice, since the other lights are dimming, and running this at 100% is too strong towards the end of the photoperiod when the other lights are dimming to 10%, but running these bars at say 30% is too dim when the main lights are at full strength. So it would be nice to find a color ratio that looks good and be able to dim it to keep it consistent with the other lighting, if that makes sense. So, it took me a few weeks to get it dialed in, and I ended up changing some color and intensity programming on my main lights just to achieve a holistic color and intensity strategy that looked good as the lights dim at the end of the photoperiod. I would definitely buy these bars again, and may well end up doing that for the frag system in the garage. I dont have a PAR meter so I can't speak to that, but adding PAR wasnt really my goal anyway.
YOYOYOReefer
Valuable Member
I’ve been running the populargrow 460 bars for about a year as supplemental tom10k halides. They are just ok imo. Not great not bad but cheap and ok
This is the controller I mentioned...
SunSetter Aquarium Dual Timer 12/24V Reef Coral Ramp Sunrise/Sunset Thunderstorm reef saltwater salt water
SunSetter Aquarium Dual Timer 12/24V Reef Coral Ramp Sunrise/Sunset Thunderstorm. It is made to run any aquarium light fixture with 2 channels. Works perfect with our Reefbar and Reefbar Pro.
21ledusa.com
bishoptf
Valuable Member
Yeah I dunno, really hard to say without knowing how that sunsetter works, I know its geared to the led bars that they sell on 21ledusa, so not sure if it would work or not. @oreo54 may be abe to discern more but I am not sure.This is the controller I mentioned...
SunSetter Aquarium Dual Timer 12/24V Reef Coral Ramp Sunrise/Sunset Thunderstorm reef saltwater salt water
SunSetter Aquarium Dual Timer 12/24V Reef Coral Ramp Sunrise/Sunset Thunderstorm. It is made to run any aquarium light fixture with 2 channels. Works perfect with our Reefbar and Reefbar Pro.
bishoptf
Valuable Member
Agree, they are just 3w leds in series with 90 degree lenses on them, but I think its a fair price for what you get and they do add a good bit of par. As to the color, I know you can contact them and they will do a custom layout and that should get you what you want but again when mixing with existing lights hard to know what that should be, at least for me.
Honestly these are the inexpensive route, IMHO the Quanta bars are the ones to get if you really want some nice bars, they already have better color options and you have a much better idea of what you are getting. They really are probably the nicest bars out there at the moment, hands down.
Any of the inexpensive controllers used on constant voltage arrays should work.
As long as the power supply is a simple switching constant DC in the programmers range (between 12 to 24V) things "should" be fine.
Oh and the amperage doesn't exceed specs.
144 watts on one channel is probably max
There are dozens of the "type'
I'll only be running a pair of the 36" (27 LED) bars. I don't need anything too complicated, but dimming and ramping are a plus. Wifi/app would be nice, but these would probably do the trick.
bishoptf
Valuable Member
Update, just want to say a little more about the led bars at least the UV/Blue version that I purchased. The more that I have used them the more I think they are a great little bar. I have the 36" version and they call it the UV/Blue version, they state that the diodes are 410,430,450 and 470 and while I do not have a spectrum to analyze them here is what I was able to tell visually with the LED and the pattern. I saw three colors, blue, cyan and purple and if they have 2 different UV's like 410 vs 430 I would be hard press to tell the difference. The 36" bar has 27 led's and this is what I saw for the breakdown:
Blue (450) - 9
Cyan(470) - 6
Uv (410/430) - 12
Here is the pattern that I saw, again B-Blue, C-Cyan and P-UV:
BPCBPCPBPBPCBPCPBPBPCBPCPBP
The more that I have played with the bars the more impressed I am with them, I believe they are in the right spectrum needed and are dimmable with a manual dimmer included so you have the ability to dial back the power etc.
I will be sending a unit to @telegraham and have him shoot the spectrum to see what it really comes out to be but I think these are a good bang for your budget bar for sure. When I get those results back I will post them or get @telegraham to post them here for posterity.
Blue (450) - 9
Cyan(470) - 6
Uv (410/430) - 12
Here is the pattern that I saw, again B-Blue, C-Cyan and P-UV:
BPCBPCPBPBPCBPCPBPBPCBPCPBP
The more that I have played with the bars the more impressed I am with them, I believe they are in the right spectrum needed and are dimmable with a manual dimmer included so you have the ability to dial back the power etc.
I will be sending a unit to @telegraham and have him shoot the spectrum to see what it really comes out to be but I think these are a good bang for your budget bar for sure. When I get those results back I will post them or get @telegraham to post them here for posterity.
Update, just want to say a little more about the led bars at least the UV/Blue version that I purchased. The more that I have used them the more I think they are a great little bar. I have the 36" version and they call it the UV/Blue version, they state that the diodes are 410,430,450 and 470 and while I do not have a spectrum to analyze them here is what I was able to tell visually with the LED and the pattern. I saw three colors, blue, cyan and purple and if they have 2 different UV's like 410 vs 430 I would be hard press to tell the difference. The 36" bar has 27 led's and this is what I saw for the breakdown:
Blue (450) - 9
Cyan(470) - 6
Uv (410/430) - 12
Here is the pattern that I saw, again B-Blue, C-Cyan and P-UV:
BPCBPCPBPBPCBPCPBPBPCBPCPBP
The more that I have played with the bars the more impressed I am with them, I believe they are in the right spectrum needed and are dimmable with a manual dimmer included so you have the ability to dial back the power etc.
I will be sending a unit to @telegraham and have him shoot the spectrum to see what it really comes out to be but I think these are a good bang for your budget bar for sure. When I get those results back I will post them or get @telegraham to post them here for posterity.
I'm getting ready to order my 36" pair. I'm just trying to decide on a few different dimmer/timer options to order to try out. They'll also be coming from AliE, so trying to do it in one order for shipping reasons.
telegraham
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@bishoptf...got them done yesterday. The bar looks to be a custom AliE populargrow bar with dimmer that's putting out almost triple the average PAR of my 24" bar. I've misplaced my Kill-A-Watt (cleaned the garage...grrr), so I didn't grab wattage, but it's running warmer than a stock 24" populargrow bar. I expect to see more energy from the bluer spectrum, but not triple. I'd be concerned that the bar is being driven hard, and that the diodes might take a beating, but I sure do like that 420ish. Given that you shared it's running maybe 60W, that's double than expected. I also might be remembering wrong, so please share when you grab the wattage data.
The PopBloom offers a very basic spectrum. I tested with all channels at 100%, and as you can see, it really doesn't offer anything exciting in terms of spectrum. Regarding your settings, I don't think it matters too much. Turn up the blue and midnight, then bring up the whites so it looks nice.
I can't explain the 102 measurement. Checked it several times, and am assuming it was a diffuser anomaly.
Running them together would give you decent coverage and I'd expect the color to be nice.
Both were tested over the same grid and the face of the lights were measured at 24" above the meter. I used the Apogee MQ-500.
The PopBloom offers a very basic spectrum. I tested with all channels at 100%, and as you can see, it really doesn't offer anything exciting in terms of spectrum. Regarding your settings, I don't think it matters too much. Turn up the blue and midnight, then bring up the whites so it looks nice.
I can't explain the 102 measurement. Checked it several times, and am assuming it was a diffuser anomaly.
Running them together would give you decent coverage and I'd expect the color to be nice.
Both were tested over the same grid and the face of the lights were measured at 24" above the meter. I used the Apogee MQ-500.
bishoptf
Valuable Member
According to the specs its supposed to be 35w, I will take a measurement later today after work.@bishoptf...got them done yesterday. The bar looks to be a custom AliE populargrow bar with dimmer that's putting out almost triple the average PAR of my 24" bar. I've misplaced my Kill-A-Watt (cleaned the garage...grrr), so I didn't grab wattage, but it's running warmer than a stock 24" populargrow bar. I expect to see more energy from the bluer spectrum, but not triple. I'd be concerned that the bar is being driven hard, and that the diodes might take a beating, but I sure do like that 420ish. Given that you shared it's running maybe 60W, that's double than expected. I also might be remembering wrong, so please share when you grab the wattage data.
The PopBloom offers a very basic spectrum. I tested with all channels at 100%, and as you can see, it really doesn't offer anything exciting in terms of spectrum. Regarding your settings, I don't think it matters too much. Turn up the blue and midnight, then bring up the whites so it looks nice.
I can't explain the 102 measurement. Checked it several times, and am assuming it was a diffuser anomaly.
Running them together would give you decent coverage and I'd expect the color to be nice.
Both were tested over the same grid and the face of the lights were measured at 24" above the meter. I used the Apogee MQ-500.
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