Any electrical/led light experts out there?

[reefwithareefer]

Hey everyone,

I got my hands on a strand of Phillips Icolor flex lmx gen2 led lights and was wondering if it is possible to use them on a reef tank. Do I have to use their controller etc or can they be made to use any controller?
I believe the light spectrum is certainly good enough for a reef tank, just not sure how to do it all etc. Willing to pay someone for their time.

http://colorkinetics.com/ls/rgb/flexlmx/

http://colorkinetics.com/ls/guides-b...IntelliHue.pdf

http://colorkinetics.com/support/whi...rs/UVandIR.pdf

http://www.colorkinetics.com/support...ght_Output.pdf

http://colorkinetics.com/support/whi...ew_Optibin.pdf

http://colorkinetics.com/support/tut...y_Overview.pdf

http://colorkinetics.com/support/whitepapers/


http://www.colorkinetics.com/support/colorplay3/


This is a link to a site that explained reef lighting requirements pretty well.

https://reefledlights.com/ledmytank/

[canadianbudz604]

Looks like they would run at 1w Max power, so you would need a whack of them to make them work. They do look cool, but how many lumens do they put out. How much par?

[reefwithareefer]

You can apparently see these things from 15kms away, so I assume extremely high. they are the lights that light up Rogers arena and the new Bay bridge in San Francisco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOXlkajGuLY

There are 50 modules per strand and I think there are 8 leds per module

17,004 cd / m2 lumens per module. Can not find par and I have no idea what lumens I should be at for a reef tank etc , hence why I need advice.

One strand of these lights are around 1200.00 bucks, willing to part with enough for someone else to make a light themselves in exchange for helping.

[KrazyKuch]

You can apparently see these things from 15kms away, so I assume extremely high. they are the lights that light up Rogers arena and the new Bay bridge in San Francisco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOXlkajGuLY

There are 50 modules per strand and I think there are 8 leds per module

17,004 cd / m2 lumens per module. Can not find par and I have no idea what lumens I should be at for a reef tank etc , hence why I need advice.

One strand of these lights are around 1200.00 bucks, willing to part with enough for someone else to make a light themselves in exchange for helping.

For those lights you will need to use the controller made for them..
Each light is individually addressed, so if you provide power they will not light up until they receive a control signal.

[CM125]

you need to be able to control the UV output on these, not sure if its worth the time invested, im sure you could just buy a setup for cheaper

[KevinK]

in the spec it tells: Each node produces full-color, daylight-visible light output of up to 11 candela. -

1 candela = 12.57 lumen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_%28unit%29

A full sphere has a solid angle of 4·π steradians,[1] so a light source that uniformly radiates one candela in all directions has a total luminous flux of 1 cd·4π sr = 4π cd·sr ≈ 12.57 lumens.[2]

so if you have 50 nodes, you have 628 lumen,
I might be missing something, but this is not much

again, unless I miss something

[reefwithareefer]

Thanks guys
I know nothing when it comes to electrical, but if you are right. then it does not seem like much. Then again, what about Par and PUR...

You can get controllers that fit in a outlet box all the way to a 24 volt controller made by phillips. There are other brands that can control them as well. The controller is not really my issue. My issue is tryiong to find out if it give the right amount of "intensity" and "Pur". Do they have the right spectrum etc...

An Electrician I am not. You figure for a grand a string they would be good for a tank....

[reefwithareefer]

Spec sheet shows 30 lumens per node

http://colorkinetics.com/support/datasheets/iColor_Flex_LMX_gen2_SpecSheet.pdf

[mike31154]

These LEDs are designed for a purpose other than specifically lighting up a reef tank. It doesn't matter how much they cost originally, without actually measuring PUR/PAR & knowing exactly what spectrum & intensity each node puts out, you're working with an unknown. Wouldn't be advisable to experiment with a tank full of valuable specimens. May be great at lighting up buildings or bridges at night, but perhaps not a reef tank.

FWIW, 30 lumens per node is diddly. Depending on the colour spectrum, the cheap Chinese 10 watt multi chips I used for my DIY fixture put out anywhere from 200 to 900 lumens each at their rated maximum current & I have 27 of these babies mounted over my 77 gallon tank. Mind you I don't run them at full power, but definitely get more than 30 lumens. I have mostly softies in my tank, but also a BTA & several monti caps that are doing very well.

By all means, if you have the controller & can get your rig working over a tank, give it a try, but as at least one other responder has mentioned, you may be better off looking for a fixture built for our hobby.

EDIT: After having a look at the link you provided, I see that each node is a simple RGB LED array running at 1 watt max each. No UV, or some of the other colours provide by quality reef fixtures these days.

[reefwithareefer]

It seems that it is not worh finding out. I was hoping it would work, but no biggie. I will use them as patio lights. I could use them for red and green, since those colors are useless for corals other than making them "POP".

Thanks for all the input.

[mike31154]

I should mention that I run a couple of low power RGB strips to supplement the more powerful 10 watt multi chips. My build thread shows them near the end I think. My lights are on timers, not a controller or drivers able to ramp up/down the main LEDs, so the RGB strips are good as a rudimentary dawn/dusk substitute. You could do the same with a few of the modules you have. They'd also be good as fuge lights to grow algae (red & green spectrum), so not a total loss. Patio lights are cool too.