Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
SPotter
Active member
Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
I run 3 x 250w mh's and 8 x 54w t5's on my system and don't need a chiller. I also don't need a heater for that matter. Did you add the body of running a heater with your led costs??? But once again if i was concerned about saving $40 a month I'd get rid of my tank and become a coin collector.
I'm also curious about how you're calculating the energy costs.
What you're also missing is that saying 3 radions will give you the same coverage as 3 mh's is not accurate. I was told by ecotech that would need 6 radions to properly light my tank.
I run 3 x 250w mh's and 8 x 54w t5's on my system and don't need a chiller. I also don't need a heater for that matter. Did you add the body of running a heater with your led costs??? But once again if i was concerned about saving $40 a month I'd get rid of my tank and become a coin collector.
I'm also curious about how you're calculating the energy costs.
What you're also missing is that saying 3 radions will give you the same coverage as 3 mh's is not accurate. I was told by ecotech that would need 6 radions to properly light my tank.
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I get the feeling that you do not understand this is not the thread to try and sell people on LEDs. This thread was started by people who went from traditional light sources to LEDs then back to traditional light sources. It was suggested earlier that you actually read the thread, so you will understand, especially since the title of the thread wasn't enough of a clue.
I think it is great that you are participating, but consider for a moment if this is the thread to try and convince people LEDs are better?
markalot
...
Cost savings might be a valid opinion, but my view of this thread is coloring up acros, not saving energy. I am mostly LED, I have no plans to run Halide, but I'm not going to make a cost argument.
1. I do not know the maintenance costs on my LED fixtures yet.
2. Replaceable bulb technology, be it T5 or Halide, has the advantage that the key part is easily replaceable, and a known cost.
3. I don't care about energy costs, but I am concerned about ambient heat. My LED fixtures heat up our basement, I can't imagine what Halide would do.
If my LED fixture pays for itself in 3 years and then needs $500 worth of replacement parts in year 4 then I really haven't saved any money, but I'm not out to save money otherwise I would not have a reef tank.
Original post that started this thread:
1. I do not know the maintenance costs on my LED fixtures yet.
2. Replaceable bulb technology, be it T5 or Halide, has the advantage that the key part is easily replaceable, and a known cost.
3. I don't care about energy costs, but I am concerned about ambient heat. My LED fixtures heat up our basement, I can't imagine what Halide would do.
If my LED fixture pays for itself in 3 years and then needs $500 worth of replacement parts in year 4 then I really haven't saved any money, but I'm not out to save money otherwise I would not have a reef tank.
Original post that started this thread:
d2mini
Premium Member
Yup, I ran 4 radions and that was pushing it lengthwise. 5 or 6 would have been ideal for better coverage. Luckily my tank was narrow front to back.
Now I'm running three 250w mh.
You guys are right, there are no good looking LED lit tanks.... http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1852268&page=24
Ill just leave that there..
Ill just leave that there..
SPotter
Active member
Not that I want to prolong this but since the stock markets are ruining my day again today I needed a diversion for a few minutes. Here is my analysis that I made when making my decision on lighting. I compared buying (new not used) 3 x hamilton cozumel sun pendants, 3 x galaxay select a watt ballasts, 3 x 250w 20k radium bulbs, LET 8 x 54w t5 retro kit and 8 x 54w t5's to purchasing 6 (ecotechs suggestion for my tank) Radion Pro G3's. The hard part with calculating energy cost on LED's is the ramp up/down periods so to make all things equal I calculated both MH and LED at full power for 7 hrs, 4 x 54w t5's at 12 hrs and 4 x 54w t5's at 9 hrs. For my energy cost I looked at my electric bill and in SC we pay about .13 per kwh. I wanted to include the cost of my t5's because I dont see many tanks that just run mh without any other lighting. Im not including the need for a chiller on a mh tank or the argument that you will need a heater with leds and not mh.
Obviously everyones tanks, electrical costs, photo periods, bulb choices and any other variable that can play into this will be different. But you can see that even after 5 yrs LED's still cost me $1300 more than LED's. I spent $5k for a fancy led fixture on my last tank and struggled with sps loss after sps loss for a year. I truly believe it was an issue with the spectrum shifting from me playing around with the colors so much that damaged the tissue of the corals. Ultimately I sold it for $2k a year later. Even if my cost comparison came out different and LED's proved to be cheaper I still would have gone with MH's. I just wanted something that turns on and off and grows corals.
Obviously everyones tanks, electrical costs, photo periods, bulb choices and any other variable that can play into this will be different. But you can see that even after 5 yrs LED's still cost me $1300 more than LED's. I spent $5k for a fancy led fixture on my last tank and struggled with sps loss after sps loss for a year. I truly believe it was an issue with the spectrum shifting from me playing around with the colors so much that damaged the tissue of the corals. Ultimately I sold it for $2k a year later. Even if my cost comparison came out different and LED's proved to be cheaper I still would have gone with MH's. I just wanted something that turns on and off and grows corals.
SPotter
Active member
Again another person that has not read the entire thread or even a small portion of it. No one in here has said that there arent good looking LED lit tanks.
It would seem you haven't read the thread either, or if you did, you failed to understand. There are plenty of gorgeous LED lit tanks, and most of us do not have our heads hurried in the sand. How would you explain the numerous people who have noticed better coloration after dumping their LEDs and going back to conventional lighting?
Hardly anybody uses LED panels that are 5 years old - some probably just want to upgrade, but it is still real for some reason. I am not saying that they will be worn out, only that they don't seem to stay on tanks that long. I think that a 3 year CBA is a better estimate of how long they might get used. Also, you will see significant savings in heater cost with the MH, if indeed you need heaters a lot - heating the tank is the biggest cost for me in Colorado.
DavidinGA
Active member
What are the dimensions of your tank?
Mine is a standard 210gal (6ftx2ftx29) and I figured 3 radions would be enough....? I'm sure it would still be underlite compared to my 3 250w mh but wouldn't 3 radions be enough? Not that I have any plans for radions lol.... (I'd go Hydra 52's before eco-junk myself)
SPotter
Active member
my tank is 8x3x2. I had hoped that 4 would do the job but Ecotech said it wouldnt be enough. they suggested that I start with 6 and that there would be a possibility of needing 8 if i got heavily into sps.
d2mini
Premium Member
4 minimum on a 6 footer.
I had 4 on my 7' tank and they were hanging lengthwise over the tank. Hanging front to back I would have needed 5-6.
DavidinGA
Active member
Screw that....
d2mini
Premium Member
It's daunting when you see a giant thread like this, the thought of going back to the beginning. But it's actually a pretty good read. Of course a lot of it is the same arguments that get beat to death, LOL. But in between the bickering there is some really good info, pics, links, etc. Definitely worth a read no matter which direction you take with your lighting.
muttley101
Never go full retard!
d2mini
Premium Member
And some Hijinks too
Shenanigans.
Hijinks are not quite there yet. Maybe some day. But for now I'm sticking with tried and true shenanigans. :lol:
SPotter
Active member
:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:
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