Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
gcarroll
Active member
almost!
power boat jim
Well-known member
Jack,
I dont know how you did it but thanks. I wish I could get pics that actually showed the tank the way it really looks.
I dont know how you did it but thanks. I wish I could get pics that actually showed the tank the way it really looks.
reefgeezer
Active member
Great tank Power Boat Jim. Don't feel bad, I'm picture challenged too!
The overall color temperature of your tank looks a lot like mine. I WISH THE REST OF MY TANK LOOKED THAT GOOD! Thank you for sharing and thanks for helping us see the photos Jack.
The overall color temperature of your tank looks a lot like mine. I WISH THE REST OF MY TANK LOOKED THAT GOOD! Thank you for sharing and thanks for helping us see the photos Jack.
chadfarmer
Premium Member
color wasnt there and par reading were close to old t5 setup
djkms
Fish Freak
Hello all,
I want to throw in my experience.
I had AI SOL blues for almost 2 years over my mixed reef. Zoa's, softies and lps all did fine. Grew well and had good color except for reds/pinks. SPS did grow and did show decent color, but nothing like Halide.
About a year into my setup a buddy of mine setup a 90ish gallon bowfront. After a couple months of his tank cycling we went in on a frag purchase here and ordered 2 of every sps frag the seller had (about 20 unique pieces). I am very anal about keeping my parameters spot on, he on the other hand is very busy and sometimes things go astray. For the first six months from the purchase of the frag packs I had no spike in any parameters, however he had 2 alk spikes and at least 2-3 temp spikes due to the AC in that room going out. His SPS frags lost a bit of color during the spikes but within a week they were doing fine again. My corals on the other hand did not look nearly as colorful and the growth rate was not even close to his. The real, only difference between the systems beside size (and his spikes in chemistry) were lighting (for the most part). I had 3 AI SOL blues, he had 2 150watt Phoenix bulbs with t5 supplements. I did have a alk spike previous to our purchase together and it literally took months for my corals to recover, some never did.
From my experience with LED, after 2 years, not impressed. I did love the gradual ramp up and ramp down, LOVE the blue's and the glow it gives coral however, where it really counts, growth and color, it just didnt do it for me. I also firmly believe that corals are more resilient under MH/T5 than they are under LED. Nothing factual about any of my statements, just my observations with my experience with LED.
Can LED grow and color SPS? Yes. Can MH grow and color SPS better? IMO, Yes.
I am in the process now of upgrading my 125 to a 225 and have since sold my AI SOL's (I even built DIY fixtures to compliment my AI's with violet, green and red leds) and now have Radium 250's with soon to be 8 t5's over my 125 and things are growing better than they ever have with LED.
Here is the fruits of my labor with LED:
This pic was taken right before I moved my 125 to its temporary place (at a friends shop), this is with the SOL's over it, all LED.
I dont have a pic of my system yet with the halides over it, when I get the tank moved back into my house I will try to get pics.
I want to throw in my experience.
I had AI SOL blues for almost 2 years over my mixed reef. Zoa's, softies and lps all did fine. Grew well and had good color except for reds/pinks. SPS did grow and did show decent color, but nothing like Halide.
About a year into my setup a buddy of mine setup a 90ish gallon bowfront. After a couple months of his tank cycling we went in on a frag purchase here and ordered 2 of every sps frag the seller had (about 20 unique pieces). I am very anal about keeping my parameters spot on, he on the other hand is very busy and sometimes things go astray. For the first six months from the purchase of the frag packs I had no spike in any parameters, however he had 2 alk spikes and at least 2-3 temp spikes due to the AC in that room going out. His SPS frags lost a bit of color during the spikes but within a week they were doing fine again. My corals on the other hand did not look nearly as colorful and the growth rate was not even close to his. The real, only difference between the systems beside size (and his spikes in chemistry) were lighting (for the most part). I had 3 AI SOL blues, he had 2 150watt Phoenix bulbs with t5 supplements. I did have a alk spike previous to our purchase together and it literally took months for my corals to recover, some never did.
From my experience with LED, after 2 years, not impressed. I did love the gradual ramp up and ramp down, LOVE the blue's and the glow it gives coral however, where it really counts, growth and color, it just didnt do it for me. I also firmly believe that corals are more resilient under MH/T5 than they are under LED. Nothing factual about any of my statements, just my observations with my experience with LED.
Can LED grow and color SPS? Yes. Can MH grow and color SPS better? IMO, Yes.
I am in the process now of upgrading my 125 to a 225 and have since sold my AI SOL's (I even built DIY fixtures to compliment my AI's with violet, green and red leds) and now have Radium 250's with soon to be 8 t5's over my 125 and things are growing better than they ever have with LED.
Here is the fruits of my labor with LED:
This pic was taken right before I moved my 125 to its temporary place (at a friends shop), this is with the SOL's over it, all LED.
I dont have a pic of my system yet with the halides over it, when I get the tank moved back into my house I will try to get pics.
mordibv
Active member
Yep, something like that .:lmao:
BTW thanks for the tip on the HexArc Blue t5's . It cut my costs down for bulb replacement around 45% + - .
This thread is a good read
mussel and hate
New member
Why do pictures validate a theory or opinion? Is this argumentum ad pictura? Is an argument correct if it comes with pictures?
I see this a lot and it's not at all the kind of reasoning I'd expect in this hobby.
MedRed
Active member
I see far more cases of people giving questionable or bad advice backed by personal anecdotes laced with words like "thriving" that don't hold water when pics of the person's tank are dug up. A picture is worth more than a thousand words in this hobby.
You totally missed the point.
shred5
Premium Member
Hello all,
I want to throw in my experience.
I had AI SOL blues for almost 2 years over my mixed reef. Zoa's, softies and lps all did fine. Grew well and had good color except for reds/pinks. SPS did grow and did show decent color, but nothing like Halide.
About a year into my setup a buddy of mine setup a 90ish gallon bowfront. After a couple months of his tank cycling we went in on a frag purchase here and ordered 2 of every sps frag the seller had (about 20 unique pieces). I am very anal about keeping my parameters spot on, he on the other hand is very busy and sometimes things go astray. For the first six months from the purchase of the frag packs I had no spike in any parameters, however he had 2 alk spikes and at least 2-3 temp spikes due to the AC in that room going out. His SPS frags lost a bit of color during the spikes but within a week they were doing fine again. My corals on the other hand did not look nearly as colorful and the growth rate was not even close to his. The real, only difference between the systems beside size (and his spikes in chemistry) were lighting (for the most part). I had 3 AI SOL blues, he had 2 150watt Phoenix bulbs with t5 supplements. I did have a alk spike previous to our purchase together and it literally took months for my corals to recover, some never did.
From my experience with LED, after 2 years, not impressed. I did love the gradual ramp up and ramp down, LOVE the blue's and the glow it gives coral however, where it really counts, growth and color, it just didnt do it for me. I also firmly believe that corals are more resilient under MH/T5 than they are under LED. Nothing factual about any of my statements, just my observations with my experience with LED.
Can LED grow and color SPS? Yes. Can MH grow and color SPS better? IMO, Yes.
I am in the process now of upgrading my 125 to a 225 and have since sold my AI SOL's (I even built DIY fixtures to compliment my AI's with violet, green and red leds) and now have Radium 250's with soon to be 8 t5's over my 125 and things are growing better than they ever have with LED.
Here is the fruits of my labor with LED:
This pic was taken right before I moved my 125 to its temporary place (at a friends shop), this is with the SOL's over it, all LED.
I dont have a pic of my system yet with the halides over it, when I get the tank moved back into my house I will try to get pics.
Question do those fixtures have just blue and white leds? T-5 had the same issues in the beginning till the red bulbs came out.. Again sps come from shallow water and are exposed to more colors like reds, green and yellow than lps which usually come from deeper water and are exposed to more blues.
Par is not a issue with leds, t-5 or halides they all have high enough par if using a decent fixture with decent bulbs.
Another thing about leds they are new for aquarium lighting. Leds will eventually be made for this hobby. When I first got into reef keeping there were no reef bulbs, we used plant grow lights and philips tl-03 lamps. When we started using halide lamps we just had 5500 lamps that were made for general use lighting. I think hamilton came out with the first halide geared for reef keeping.
I thinks that is the real problem with leds right now, they are evolving so fast that they are obsolete in a year. People say a advantage to leds is price because you dont have to replace lamps. Well the big problem is with most fixture if you lose a led you can not replace one unless you know how to solder. Another is are you even going to be able to find a replacement led with how fast the technology is changing. Most are going to have to replace the hole fixture and that don't sound too cheap to me.
mussel and hate
New member
I don't think I missed the point at all. You're skeptical of someone who doesn't post photos, right?
Not at all, but when someone ridicules people in just about very led thread for their choices in led fixtures, it warrants asking them to show their tank. I am sure he understands now why that is poor form and doesn't help, even if his points are valid, the delivery wasn't helpful. This technology changes rapidly, which is a good thing, but the early adopters do not merit ridicule, they should be thanked instead.
I have really enjoyed this thread. I've been struggling with lighting my current tank. The tank is young and is light by an aquatic life 6-lamp T5. While I like the T5, I miss the flourescence of LED that I had on my previous tank. What I don't miss is the browning I realized and I believe this to be due to inadequate spectral coverage because the light was a CW / RB light.
Most of the SPS I have in my T5 tank came from an MH only system lit with 400W 20k radiums. I can say, without question, that the colors and growth of the sps in that system are astounding. So as I strive to make my little slice of reef (36 x 18 x 15) as vibrant, healthy, and colorful as what I've seen in other tanks, particularly the one with the 400W 20k radiums, I find myself questioning my set up.
Right now, I'm torn. I have the ability to pick up an ATI Sunpower for a great deal. It's a 6-lamp Sunpower and the deal is hard to walk away from. That said however, I have a 150W hamilton laying around and a canopy for my rimless that's not currently being used. I find myself continually thinking that a hybrid build is the way to go using the 150W MH, 4 T5, with LED supplements in the blue spectrum vs. buying the ATI fixture.
I agree with most in this thread that while LED is proven to grow coral, it appropriate spectral mix is still not there.
Again, great thread!
Most of the SPS I have in my T5 tank came from an MH only system lit with 400W 20k radiums. I can say, without question, that the colors and growth of the sps in that system are astounding. So as I strive to make my little slice of reef (36 x 18 x 15) as vibrant, healthy, and colorful as what I've seen in other tanks, particularly the one with the 400W 20k radiums, I find myself questioning my set up.
Right now, I'm torn. I have the ability to pick up an ATI Sunpower for a great deal. It's a 6-lamp Sunpower and the deal is hard to walk away from. That said however, I have a 150W hamilton laying around and a canopy for my rimless that's not currently being used. I find myself continually thinking that a hybrid build is the way to go using the 150W MH, 4 T5, with LED supplements in the blue spectrum vs. buying the ATI fixture.
I agree with most in this thread that while LED is proven to grow coral, it appropriate spectral mix is still not there.
Again, great thread!
power boat jim
Well-known member
The LEDs with a little help from the t5s in 420nm spectrum work well for me. Since you have all the hardware, why not give that a try ?
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