Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

[DavidinGA]

A good hybrid fixture cost almost double.. No issue with them except right now they are more than I want to spend..

What too buy me one? :bounce2:

How about this one:
http://www.coralvue.com/giesemann-aurora-hybrid-led-t5-fixture
Looks like a awsume fixture:

I just bought this to replace my ATI fixture and love it.
http://www.coralvue.com/giesemann-matrixx-ii-t5-fixture

Lol no I wasn't referring to an overpriced combo unit; that's idiotic.

Whatever led unit you want/have plus a separate retro T5 unit.

 

[JPMagyar]

I am not a firm believer in "stable" temperature, in fact I could care less about reasonable temperature swings. In fact, I would argue that reasonable daily swings make for a more hardy coral.

I think that's fascinating because I'm the complete opposite, and it just goes to show how many different ways there are to be successful in this hobby. I actually set my Apex to keep temps between 79.5 and 80.5 degrees F. I adjust up one degree in summer since no heating is required just cooling. Only been doing that for about a year so can't say how much of a difference it makes given all the other troubles I went through over the last year. Anyways, just interesting :thumbsup:

 

[shred5]

Forget it I read his statement wrong.

I thought he said " I am a firm Believer in stable temps" I missed the not

I myself think stability is key for other things other than temps too... But there is the exception: Some coral end up baking in the hot sun during low tide and can handle large swings. Also some corals can adapt over time.

But overall I believe in stability since we keep corals from all over and we only dont keep corals.

 

[sirreal63]

Something to consider...if your tank has a temp swing of 5 degrees daily, and it doesn't change radically from that, that IS stability.

 

[Scorpius]

Something to consider...if your tank has a temp swing of 5 degrees daily, and it doesn't change radically from that, that IS stability.

Unless something horrible happens most temperatures in most tanks are stable.

 

[greaps]

Just wanted to say, I have been following this thread for what feels like a year, thank you everyone for your contributions, best thread on this board.

 

[redwhiteandblue]

Greetings,

I have not given up on led, currently running hydra 52s on my display,

However, I had purchased a Hamilton cayman sun hqi 250 watt to play around with on my frag tank. If all goes well, I will swap it with a hydra on the display. Any tips for a first time halide user potentially leaving led?

This will complete my cycle and I will have had experience with the big three led,t5, and now halide

 

[mussel and hate]

That is not at all what I said. I said the base wavelengths are very different and therefore the required phosphors are very different. FL phosphors have both decades of development and came at a time where quality where there was a need for pleasing output. LED phosphors are in their infancy and due to the ease of RGB mixing (among other things) there is less drive to produce true full spectrum phosphors for the emitters.

no just making sure the point is not lost. It is repeated in many of these threads. Most folks mistake (with the help of vendors) Some combination of RGB for "full spectrum" light.

I am not going to address the rest of your comments, as they are outside of the scope of my point.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm sorry, I misunderstood what you were getting at. It's been a while since I've had time to read this thread and I was moving quickly.

Regarding T5 vs LEd, the base wavelengths certainly are different. Mercury arcs peak much lower than InGaN diodes(~404nm in a fluoro vs 450ishnm in a typical RB LED) the phosphor coatings to produce "white" must clearly differ resulting in different spectral plots. Still they are very similar when compared to, MH, plasma or sunlight which are also each very different from one another. I guess I'm saying that LED is about the closest thing to fluorescent in contemporary lighting technology.

Lower base wavelength LED emitters are manufactured. I have in my collection four varieties with different claimed spectral peaks between 405nm and 430nm. These diodes don't seem to rate phosphor coating. They are not only more expensive but also have lower claimed efficiency. I do not believe this is a coincidence.

"Full spectrum" LED is subject to a variety of definitions here, on other similar forums and at the LFS. I can't claim any sort of definitive authority but if such a wide band as that produced by InGaN YAG white emitters were omitted there's no way you could claim the product was full spectrum. We can certainly have a full spectrum of Emitter frequencies that include all those available within the range of both human vision and the photosynthetic response curve of the animals we keep, at whatever ratio's are demonstrated to appropriate. As LED(especially white) technologies progress I expect we'll see "full spectrum" require more emitters due to increased variety. Increased efficiency will be a bonus.

Sure lighting technology trickles down into our hobby. There's no way this tiny fringe hobby and it's associated industries have a significant impact on junction design. We used to run Phillips TL actinic T12s along side "daylight" tubes. Neither was designed for the hobby, they just happened to work really well and look pretty good. Iirc the Phillips TL03 actinics were a medical bulb.

There is enough diversity in commercial LED offerings that I'm certain some people have had poor results and so returning to a prior technology is a slam dunk. I've experienced the same sort of thing when changing MH or Fluorescent lamp variety. If you don't select the correct spectrum at appropriate intensity it will not matter if unicorn farts fuel your lighting.

 

[oreo57]

If you don't select the correct spectrum at appropriate intensity it will not matter if unicorn farts fuel your lighting.

That is funny.. Just for enjoyment...
Some interesting observations:

https://youtu.be/Pbb8uhNGpCc

 

[BeanAnimal]

I had an extremely long response crafted but alas:

You indicated you were holding your own until you were told to take a step back... Umm no, really you were not.

It is impossible to debate a moving target - police officers hating HPS to some youtube guys opinion about import LEDs to a fully mis-interpreted white paper on phosphor technology to canned fake-study-press-release marketing to a grossly incorrect view of the lighting technology industry. You can't just string fun-factoids together and derive your own version of science, fact or reality.

The thing I really don't get is that you are overtly attempting to tell people who have TRIED and DID NOT LIKE LEDs (for whatever reason) that they are simply either too stupid to understand the error in their ways or the technology they tried to use or too biased to have a valid opinion.

I think you mean well and are attempting to carry on a conversation, but please understand that the rest of us pretty much see signature "fan boy" behavior and an inability to yield to fact, not enthusiasm and the willingness to participate in an educational conversation.

As you will note: I am an LED user and proponent for many reasons and applications. At the same time, I am a realist and can articulate what issues I have with the technology and/or articulate why. When the PFO Solaris hit the market, I was called a "hater" because I said:

• the spectral output REALLY sucked
• the fixture was a piece of crap
• the "as bright as a X Watt halide marketing was a lie
• the published efficiency numbers were hogwash
• just about all aspects of the marketing was BS
• Solaris was bestowed many magical traits that defied known physics

In fact, anybody who held ANY of those opinions was brutally attacked with nonsense from the "fan boys" (and early adopters that spent a fortune). Many a thread was closed and many a member (on both sides of the debates) was banned. We all now realize that the bullet points above were all 100% true.....

Not all of us are as ignorant as you appear to think.

 

[sfbayview]

I will not be changing my BML led' arrays; 200 watts on my 180 with 4 bulb t5 about to go when reefbreders come in ... I just have to be careful in placement not to toast things ... about to add some more LPS and SPS

 

[BigCountry74]

Any tips for a first time halide user potentially leaving led?

They give off heat. And it is no joke So perhaps put your heater on an opposing timer so it shuts off while the MH are on. That's what I learned at least.

 

[jackson6745]

IME if you're ambient room temp is more than 72 degrees, you will have heat issues. I run 400w halides with no chiller. I have a desk fan that blows across the halide and water surface when water temp gets above 78 (I maintain 77-78 degree temps all year). I actually never needed a chiller with 400w halides on any tank by keeping room temp lower than 72, and having a desk fan on temp controller.

 

[BigCountry74]

man I wish I could keep my house at 72. I live down south, and my house is an old farmhouse that is close to 100 years old. it's a beautiful home, but in the summer, 76 is the best i can do upstairs without running the AC 247...lol

it's definitely going to be a challenge this summer with the MH. this will be my first attempt. i welcome the challenge though, without challenges, this is not really a hobby

 

[jackson6745]

man I wish I could keep my house at 72. I live down south, and my house is an old farmhouse that is close to 100 years old. it's a beautiful home, but in the summer, 76 is the best i can do upstairs without running the AC 247...lol

it's definitely going to be a challenge this summer with the MH. this will be my first attempt. i welcome the challenge though, without challenges, this is not really a hobby

Strong fans + a lot of evaporation is your friend :thumbsup:

 

[Wazzel]

man I wish I could keep my house at 72. I live down south, and my house is an old farmhouse that is close to 100 years old. it's a beautiful home, but in the summer, 76 is the best i can do upstairs without running the AC 247...lol

it's definitely going to be a challenge this summer with the MH. this will be my first attempt. i welcome the challenge though, without challenges, this is not really a hobby

I had to fight heat on the tanks I ran Mh on. Never had a chiller. I had lots of fans, had to open the canopy and stand and run a creative lighting schedule to keep the temps reasonable.

 

[power boat jim]

I had to fight heat on the tanks I ran Mh on. Never had a chiller. I had lots of fans, had to open the canopy and stand and run a creative lighting schedule to keep the temps reasonable.

This is part where Running the Radions with MH will come in handy during the summer. I can choose to turn down or even turn off the halides on hot days and just let the LEDs run by themself until the heat wave is over.

 

[Wazzel]

This is part where Running the Radions with MH will come in handy during the summer. I can choose to turn down or even turn off the halides on hot days and just let the LEDs run by themself until the heat wave is over.

During the summer months I had the Mh on reduced schedule and only one on at a time. That tank was 52" long and lit with 2-250's.

 

[jminick2]

I had to fight heat on the tanks I ran Mh on. Never had a chiller. I had lots of fans, had to open the canopy and stand and run a creative lighting schedule to keep the temps reasonable.

Sounds like a PIA

 

[Wazzel]

I was. It happened when I lived in New Orleans and when I lived in Houston. I know that not everyone with Mh has those problems with heat, but for some it can be a real issue.