400 Watt for zoa too much?
- Thread starter tthnow
- Start date
A. Grandis
Active member
Unnecessary. Waste of money with electricity.
Get some T5s.
Grandis.
Get some T5s.
Grandis.
marvelousone
New member
They will grow under it if the light is not too close. I have 400w mh on a 40 breeder. I have rastas, blue hornets and others. some like lots of lights while others don't.
A. Grandis
Active member
That will also depend a lot on the time the 400W will be on.
I've had 2X 250W and 4 fluorescents over a 55gal in the past.
Halides were on for a shot period of time, like 4 hours a day.
Zoas were great!!
How long is your photoperiod for the 400W?
Grandis.
cloak
New member
400w over a 40 breeder, and 400 watts over a 12" cube are two different stories IMO. Not only can it be too intense & expensive, trying to compensate for this by raising it up would just be, well I can't think of the word to put here. Rediculous? I don't know. I sure as hell wouldn't do it. Good luck though.
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A. Grandis
Active member
Yeah, it's just not the way it should be done!
400W is way too much waste! Totally unnecessary.
To raise the fixture in order to give the tank some relief doesn't make sense at all.
Even my 2 X 250W for the 55gal I had was already waste of electricity and totally unnecessary (I didn't pay for electricity back then
!).
The zoas were doing so great though with the 250W, but 400W would be way too much!
Again, get some T5s! That would be more than enough!
Grandis.
400W is way too much waste! Totally unnecessary.
To raise the fixture in order to give the tank some relief doesn't make sense at all.
Even my 2 X 250W for the 55gal I had was already waste of electricity and totally unnecessary (I didn't pay for electricity back then
!). The zoas were doing so great though with the 250W, but 400W would be way too much!
Again, get some T5s! That would be more than enough!
Grandis.
A. Grandis
Active member
You're not the only one who loves the Radions.
Others also said their zoas love the Radions"¦
The point is that LEDs aren't any better than T5s for reefs yet.
Many people that actually said they love their LEDs, including Radions, went back to their old T5/MH fixtures. Why is that?
Just do a search and see for yourself.
Not trying to prove my point here.
People do what they want"¦
I respect all.
I'm just saying why I do not recommend LEDs yet.
There is no other advantage to have LEDs than less electricity costs and less heat.
They aren't BETTER than T5s and/or MHs in the long run.
Not yet"¦
Good you're happy with yours! :thumbsup:
I'm really happy with all my T5s here too!
Grandis.
charliet21
New member
I got 2x 150 of my 55g, they r about 2 above water. I still think is too much light. Im afaird to lower them any more then that. Maybe in time. About to move and have a 72 bow im gonna turn around to create a cove like rock worj. So maybe then ill lower it. As for a 400w i wouldnt do it
bazeball05
New member
I disagree. I have had both MH and now LEDs. I have not seen a stray in color and growth has been even better with the LEDs. The color pops. Especially when only blues are on. I loved my MH but LEDs are getting close to figuring it out.
A. Grandis
Active member
I disagree.
Well, about the color popping, that's just a reflect of the LED and it doesn't really tell us that the zoa is healthy at all!! Sorry to disappoint you, but that's the truth.
MHs are much better than any LEDs available today.
Time wil show you.
It depends much on what MH you had and how you lit your zoas with it.
In other words:
The best you can have from MHs or T5s just isn't the same of the best you can get from any of the LEDs available today.
Hope that helps to understand my point here.
The sellers will give you lots of talk. They need the money coming in.
There are many good reefers that already went back to their T5/MHs from expensive LED systems and they won't try any LEDs so soon"¦
Grandis.
bazeball05
New member
I disagree.
Well, about the color popping, that's just a reflect of the LED and it doesn't really tell us that the zoa is healthy at all!! Sorry to disappoint you, but that's the truth.
MHs are much better than any LEDs available today.
Time wil show you.
It depends much on what MH you had and how you lit your zoas with it.
In other words:
The best you can have from MHs or T5s just isn't the same of the best you can get from any of the LEDs available today.
Hope that helps to understand my point here.
The sellers will give you lots of talk. They need the money coming in.
There are many good reefers that already went back to their T5/MHs from expensive LED systems and they won't try any LEDs so soon"¦
Grandis.
I agree that MH and T5 are better, I just dont think it's such a drastic difference. I payed the same price for my 3 300 watt MH system and my LEDs. The trade off for LEDs are awesome like lower heat going into the water and not replacing light bulbs. They might not be as good as MH but the trade off for less stress is great my mind. They will be better in time but I understand that they do not grow some corals as well.
A. Grandis
Active member
There are some reasons why LEDs aren't the same as MHs and T5s.
Heat energy is transmitted by infrared electromagnetic radiation.
Light itself is electromagnetic radiation. The power of the bulbs (watts) is the transformation of energy from one form to another. So the LEDs could have the power (watts), but not so much heat. That we know...
The sun produces incandescent light, which is light energy converted from heat, and it's a source of electromagnetic radiation. MHs have similar properties, of course, and it's an incandescent source of light. T5s convert other types of energy (electricity through mercury vapor) to light, with less heat, but still have the heat.
How many people know that sunlight is the best light for the corals??
Besides the heat, some LEDs, not all of them, still don't have color rendition (CRI) like incandescent lamps either. The example used for the color rendition is the sun, as the model, and equals 100. Color rendering is the ability of a light source to show true colors as seen outdoors in sun light. LEDs aren't normally compared using CRI. It's mostly used for incandescent bulbs and tubes.
So, that said, the MHs and T5s are still, and probably will be for long time (until LEDs come with better CRI and some heat!!) the best artificial reef lights.
One of the properties of the LEDs (and the goal for many reefers) is to have almost no heat. That alone removes the LEDs of the list for better light for reef tanks, because that isn't simply what the sun is about. The organisms on the reef use the infrared electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, in a long period of time, the corals and zoas will begin to perish with the lack of such important light quality found on natural reefs.
Hope this will help many to understand why so many people are coming back to their MHs/T5s for better and healthier zoas and corals, besides their visual preferences, if so.
That's my point of view. I think no matter how much we want to pay less electricity and have those nice effects with fancy/expensive computer programs, the facts are that LEDs aren't as good as MH and/or T5s.
Lots of money for trials with a hype and some weekly announcements of those new updated versions and features. Another money machine?
Just one of my crazy opinions!
:thumbsup:
Grandis.
