Any serious SPS collectors use LED?

[MisterP]

Masterp - You said that "Jda nails everything I am saying home with respect to actual power usage". That is what I am referring to about not telling the entire story.

Say what you will, people need to take everything into account and decide for themselves what their priorities are.

Can you have a nice SPS tank with LED's. My OPINION is yes.

And, my opinion about your analysis is that it is flawed as well. Not every variable has or can be factored in such as how much more work your home mechanical might or might not do to handle the extra heat that MH throw off. Everyone's case is different. I don't want to even deal with that issue, so I chose to take that option out of the equation.

What are the flaws then Mack? Point it out instead of just saying its flawed. Correct me sir.

Of course everyone's case has variables that others don't my house is probably a lot smaller than some but bigger than others so throwing out 800W of MH heat is different in my 2000 sq ft home is different than your 8000sqft home.

I'm simply trying to get as close as reasonable with what everyone can simply calculate like wattage and chiller use or bulb use.

I mean even everyone has different air units that are more efficient. There are just to many unknowns to be cookie cutter when doing energy analysis.

Keep it simple here.

 

[MisterP]

Also, my idea of nice may be your idea of suck and vice versa....see where that plays in too?

My Hydra 52 leaves a lot to be desired for my taste. Especially coming from a nice Radium bulb.

 

[Wazzel]

Here is my list, fairly generic if you ask me. I do not know many of the proper names, just the trade names. Top down left to right as in my tank, more or less.

Myagi tort
set to stun
Blood red milli
reverse sky parade
pink birds nest
green slimmer
Sunset milli
teal acro
wonder melon milli
Copps Hulk milli
miss scarlet
hot pink milli
GARF bonsi
an orange milli, forgot trade name
pineapple tree
monti setosa
Green acro
reverse sunset milli
Raspberry lemonade hyanthicus
gremlin turoki
crazy bananas milli
blueberry field
Sunset acro
Ausi delicate
Battle corals efflo
goonies
X-mas stag
the shag (green millli)
orange, Christmas and purple rim m. caps

5- euphilla, 6 - acan lords, 1 - acan welosi, 1 - brain, 2 - maxima clams

sorry about the bad spelling

 

[doctorwhoreefer]

Seems to be a lot of passionate opinions in here, but from my personal experience, I would have said MH had the game point in color enhancement only. Now I'm afraid I can't say that since receiving and using the 3rd gen radions. (my previous fixture was also cree but a blue/white combo; missed the mh look until I powered these on) Growth is toss up, but I think water parameters matter more than lighting to growth when comparing base generic values and scenarios against each other.

 

[VegasMike]

MisterP, I have said it before, we know where you stand. I am sorry for your buyer's remorse.

My point, which you appear to support, is that there are many factors involved in making this choice and that they all cannot be evaluated in such a simple manner as you suggest. I do believe cost was merely one factor in a long list to consider. I certainly did not make my decision solely based on cost, nor would I suggest that be anyone's primary driver.

I have no buyer's remorse. If I wanted to go back to radiums, I can. All the equipment is sitting in a bin in my garage. I choose not to because I cannot, at this time, say that my LED's do not work, which is what I think the original question was.

In fact, I believe the original question was whether anyone has high end SPS using LED's. I personally think that question is somewhat premature given the timing and experience level with these lights, especially the last generation. LED is still basically in it's infancy. I also believe that stable tank parameters and flow are equally as important as lighting in the equation. On the flip side, I think many do have these designer SPS using LED's, but no one has the maturity under longer term stable conditions to make a complete evaluation.

 

[VegasMike]

MisterP - One last item of note. I would be happy to trade you one of my MH setups (250 watt DE pendant with adjustable ballast) for your Hydra 52 if that would make you happy.

 

[jda]

PM me if you want to sell any of those Radium setups. No interested in the DE stuff.

 

[MisterP]

MisterP - One last item of note. I would be happy to trade you one of my MH setups (250 watt DE pendant with adjustable ballast) for your Hydra 52 if that would make you happy.

What kind are they?

 

[MisterP]

MisterP, I have said it before, we know where you stand. I am sorry for your buyer's remorse.

My point, which you appear to support, is that there are many factors involved in making this choice and that they all cannot be evaluated in such a simple manner as you suggest. I do believe cost was merely one factor in a long list to consider. I certainly did not make my decision solely based on cost, nor would I suggest that be anyone's primary driver.

I have no buyer's remorse. If I wanted to go back to radiums, I can. All the equipment is sitting in a bin in my garage. I choose not to because I cannot, at this time, say that my LED's do not work, which is what I think the original question was.

In fact, I believe the original question was whether anyone has high end SPS using LED's. I personally think that question is somewhat premature given the timing and experience level with these lights, especially the last generation. LED is still basically in it's infancy. I also believe that stable tank parameters and flow are equally as important as lighting in the equation. On the flip side, I think many do have these designer SPS using LED's, but no one has the maturity under longer term stable conditions to make a complete evaluation.

Also...I don't have buyers remorse. I buy lots of things to try them. I have yet to see satisfaction from the Hydra 52 Led like the Radium...the radium is simply better but I agree it throws out to much heat for small Tanks and that is why I tried Led.

When my 95g tank is built Led will be up for sale with a director so keep your eyes peeled in the classifieds if you want it.

If you have any 250 Radium stuff I would buy it for a fair price.

 

[Wazzel]

I have yet to see satisfaction from the Hydra 52 Led like the Radium.

Something else to think about in the great light debate is how you want your tank to look. If you want the radium look I would suggest not going LED, especially AI or Ecotec. To get that blue look you have to drop out lots of non-blue channels and you loose lots of power.

If the radium look was what I wanted I would not have gone LED either. Just not going to get there with the hydra.

 

[Volcano1]

Kessil LED's

Kessil LED's

I like to add a quick reply.
I currently use 4 400 watt Reeflux 12K, in Large Lumenarc reflectors , on a 96 x 36 x 28 tank.I switched over to these bulbs and reflectors after using 250 Phoenix 14k de's.They gave me better coverage with the same color temp I preferred.
I thought I would try the Kessil 360we . I got my order today and pulled one unit out.I pulled one of my Lumenarc off my canopy and held one Kessil there , at full intensity, in it's place.It couldn't come close to filling the area the lumenarc was.I don't know if 2 would do it or not. There was a lot of shadowing with one.I had planned on using 5 over my tank to replace the lumenarc's and see how it would go.I'd say just from my brief observation I would need a minimum of 10-15 Kessils for coverage. Again , this was a real quick comparison, but the difference was that dramatic..
I will echo what Wazzel says.If you like the look of a 12-20K MH,you will not like these.They will not cover near the area of a large reflector in a MH set-up.I could not justify the cost the replicate the 4 MH I would have to replace.These may work for smaller tanks, or if you want a lot less light, but for me , it wasn't close.
I did like the more intense glitter/shimmer lines, and how compact the fixture was.If you have the budget, limited space and need to get rid of alot of additional heat MH's give off, they may be the route to go.They just won't work to replicate anything close to what I have now at a reasonable price point.I don't have any other brands to comment on, this was my only experience.

Quick vid I had of tank and lighting.

 

[MisterP]

i like to add a quick reply.
I currently use 4 400 watt reeflux 12k, in large lumenarc reflectors , on a 96 x 36 x 28 tank.i switched over to these bulbs and reflectors after using 250 phoenix 14k de's.they gave me better coverage with the same color temp i preferred.
I thought i would try the kessil 360we . I got my order today and pulled one unit out.i pulled one of my lumenarc off my canopy and held one kessil there , at full intensity, in it's place.it couldn't come close to filling the area the lumenarc was.i don't know if 2 would do it or not. There was a lot of shadowing with one.i had planned on using 5 over my tank to replace the lumenarc's and see how it would go.i'd say just from my brief observation i would need a minimum of 10-15 kessils for coverage. Again , this was a real quick comparison, but the difference was that dramatic..
I will echo what wazzel says.if you like the look of a 12-20k mh,you will not like these.they will not cover near the area of a large reflector in a mh set-up.i could not justify the cost the replicate the 4 mh i would have to replace.these may work for smaller tanks, or if you want a lot less light, but for me , it wasn't close.
I did like the more intense glitter/shimmer lines, and how compact the fixture was.if you have the budget, limited space and need to get rid of alot of additional heat mh's give off, they may be the route to go.they just won't work to replicate anything close to what i have now at a reasonable price point.i don't have any other brands to comment on, this was my only experience.

Quick vid i had of tank and lighting.

+1

 

[Volcano1]

Try it again.

 

[Coelli]

I'm not a serious SPS collector and am still pretty new to the hobby but wanted to say after a lot of research I went with 2 Kessil A360Ns for my new tank (36x18x24). I was advised to go for the Ns rather than the Ws by my local coral store - a store with a really good reputation in the L.A. reefing community. Heat is definitely a consideration when choosing lighting in SoCal with our blistering summers. The low profile, shimmer, and controllability were other factors. We keep our house at 80 during the summer and have a huge electric bill already; I can't imagine having lights that give off so much heat in the house during our hot months. I'd rather have slower coral growth, if that turns out to happen. Everyone has the things they prioritize.

 

[Peter Eichler]

Yes, but to ignore heat and it's associated costs is also not telling the entire story.

Even if the two light units themselves consumed the exact same wattage, the cost of the additional added heat to the environment (both to the tank and its' surroundings) and what it takes to deal with such heat cannot be completely ignored.

It has been said that "watts are watts", but what watts. It is not as simple as comparing only the light units themselves.

I see the heat as an advantage. My heaters kick off and my temps raise a couple degrees every day and night. I welcome that fluctuation and that the heat is being used by the tank.

 

[dantdodge]

i've bought corals from him before he has a nice tank. but it's a smaller cube. I have a 48x24" tank and I have SPS all over the place. I would have to buy a bunch of radians going turned front to back to light my whole tank. It's just not worth spending $4000+ in LED when I can use halide or T5 to cover whole tank.

I have a 48 x 24 x20 lit with two radions

http://1drv.ms/1yzy3Nz

Also my color of tank over all is identical to radiums how do I know because I got rid of mine and the four t-5s

 

[williewilliams]

Huh? Dantdodge that pic looks like LED and nothing like a radium/T5.

 

[VegasMike]

The pic is LED and it has lots of nice SPS. I think that is right on point with the original intent of this thread.

 

[Volcano1]

Agreed Mike
Kinda got off track.
I just wanted to say there WAS a difference.

 

[yudruln8]

what do you guys who have leds have your blue and whites set too? percentage wise. how many hours are they each on and how high off the water are they?