Buildmyled.com

[jcali10]

My Catalina T5HO fixture on my 75G died. I probably used it less than 2 yrs, one ballast died early in the first year, the other a couple of days ago. I was looking at Buildmyled.com's 10000K planted tank light and Dutch 6300K light. I don't recall who I spoke with, but he said the Dutch has better color rendering, but the 10000K has higher light quantity, (i.e. the par charts). So I think I'm gonna go with the 10000 Planted Tank Light. And if I ever get a second light in the future, it will be the dutch 6300K.

[tug]

Hi Julie,
Do you know which lights were used for the #1 and #11 in your test?

Thought you all might be interested to see my analysis of the various lights from Buildmyled.com. My husband and I were able to compare the lights nicely since I have three almost identical 5.2g tanks sitting side by side, so I was able to put a different light on each of the three tanks. I evaluated each light based upon how it made the wood (cholla), green plants, and red plants look (refer to the column headings).

As always, double click the image below to expand it.

[jweis]

Hi Julie,
Do you know which lights were used for the #1 and #11 in your test?

Thought you all might be interested to see my analysis of the various lights from Buildmyled.com. My husband and I were able to compare the lights nicely since I have three almost identical 5.2g tanks sitting side by side, so I was able to put a different light on each of the three tanks. I evaluated each light based upon how it made the wood (cholla), green plants, and red plants look (refer to the column headings).

As always, double click the image below to expand it.

I think "1", which was my favorite, is their "dutch" bulb. You can call Nick and ask him. He would know for sure.

Also, they just came out with a new light that has an even higher output of light.

[tug]

Thanks Julie,
I saw the high output light. Has anyone taken a PAR reading for their standard light? If not, I might need to use the PAR meter again. I just received BML's custom 30" light.

I'll contact BML but my first observation is that the PAR is about the same as the 36" Finnex FugeRay I have.

My concern is a 3" space in the middle of the light with no LEDs. It has a bank of 15 LEDs, then about three spaces over another bank of 15 lights. I wonder if this is because of the length, fitting two 12" fixtures into a 30" light leaves a blank space of about 3" in the center of the light. I would rather it was that then find out it broke in transit.

[jweis]

My concern is a 3" space in the middle of the light with no LEDs. It has a bank of 15 LEDs, then about three spaces over another bank of 15 lights. I wonder if this is because of the length, fitting two 12" fixtures into a 30" light leaves a blank space of about 3" in the center of the light. I would rather it was that then find out it broke in transit.

I just temporarily blinded myself looking to see if my 30" fixtures had the same missing LEDS in the middle and they do, although I think it is closer to 2" than 3". I have a black stablizing bar that runs along the top of my tank, so I didn't notice, although I am not sure I would have noticed anyway. The other leds are so bright that they compensate for the small blank space.

[tug]

Too funny. Yea, you should have worn sunglasses.

I talked to BML and it's as I thought - two banks of 15 LEDs are in the 30" fixture. It could mean more PAR relative to their 24" fixture but the light is plenty bright. I just didn't want to find out later mine broke in transit. Considering how well it was packaged I can't imagine how that would have happened anyway.

I have it suspended about 5" over the tank, about 2 inches higher than where the FugeRay was hanging and the PAR seems to be about the same. I'd like to know for sure but the color rendition is a lot more pleasing, reds and browns in particular and it seems to be plenty bright.

The suspension system is a little tricky. I'm hanging mine from the ceiling. Fortunately, I placed some cardboard over the tank or it would have dropped into the tank during the bump test. One of the wires slipped loose because the set screw wasn't properly set. Seems ok now.

Overall a very nice light and great customer service. But you already know that.
http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-report- ... SAPAOAPAMC

[tug]

BuildMyLED strip lights are one of Reef Builders 10 best products of 2013.
http://reefbuilders.com/2014/01/06/reef ... z2pf88quIw

[krisw]

Thanks for posting this, Mike. There are some other neat products in their list as well.

[DelawareJim]

Has anyone talked with Nick about BML's new XB line of LEDs? The extra brightness should be great for foreground plants in larger tanks I should think.

Cheers.
Jim

[krisw]

Viktor has these fixtures. We measured the PAR at the last meeting, and they are about 30% brighter than the original line.