Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

[rtparty]

I really hope you're not serious guy. It doesn't take a par meter to realize if i'm looking into a dark box filled with water. After all, don't we set up a fish tank to make it pleasing to OUR eyes?

Again, I strongly suggest you look into PAR, PAR meters and the human eye.

I can create an extremely ''bright'' light and have very little PAR and no PUR. How? Mix the wavelengths just right and trick the human eye into thinking it is bright. What benefit is the brightest light going to do if you photosaturate and photoinhibit your corals?

I've seen ''dim'' tanks where the PAR was much higher than you would ever think and vice versa. I've seen tanks extremely bright and the PAR/PUR was terrible.

I am in this hobby to care for and raise animals. The beauty is a bonus and what keeps me going but first and foremost is the health of my creatures. Blasting them with a ton of light and possibly causing them to bleach does them no good.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[megadeth72]

edit nevermind

 

[kc350twin]

I agree with the PAR meter suggestion. My SOL Blue was very deceiving how much light it was putting out. Crazy high PAR but the spread and missing spectrum was the killer for me.

 

[rog2961]

Been following this thread for a bit since I will be starting my tank from scratch. The issue with the LED's is the lack of full spectrum. If you look at the guys tank below he supplements his lights with DIY leds that account for the other parts of the spectrum.

A member on this forum has documented his LED tank from start to finish.


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2177054

 

[biecacka]

Agreed. I ink my corals are upset now because of my lack of spectrum in my LEDs
Corey

 

[curthendrix]

Just switched back to Radiums from AI SOL blues. The limited light angles
(No reflectors) and spectrum were the two things I missed most. Corals have responded well to the change especially the sides and underneath. The tank appears much brighter to the eye but experience tells me the PAR and PuR of the AIs were likey greater. Added a fan in the hood to account for the added heat. Very happy with the change thus far.

 

[125mph]

I ditched my 4x AI sol blues for an ATI PM 8x54... Much happier corals now

 

[Goldcoastreefs]

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I posted but wanted to give you an update. I dumped the led's on the frag tank. I had 2 radions on it so its not like I cheaped out on the LEDs. It is a 48x24x12 tank and I replaced 2 radions with a 6 bulb tek light with gmann bulbs. The difference is night and day. All sps colored up to some eye popping colors compared to what they looked like under the LEDs. On my main tank I have 3 250w radiums and have never changed because the tank looked so good. I experimented with the LEDs on the frag tank but results weren't what I had hoped for. Ya the dimming and storms and other features are cool but th corals just don't seem to stay colorful. I know you go to any lfs now and they are running LEDs on their frag tanks and they look great but that is because they move the corals so quick. It makes sence for them to run LEDs for the cost savings and the color pop. But I have found long term halides or a good t5 fixture are un beatable. I have some connections in the lighting industry and I wanted to let you all know that they are working on t5ho bulbs with a 50,000 hr lifespan. Not available yet for the consumer but will be soon.

 

[Goldcoastreefs]

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I posted but wanted to give you an update. I dumped the led's on the frag tank. I had 2 radions on it so its not like I cheaped out on the LEDs. It is a 48x24x12 tank and I replaced 2 radions with a 6 bulb tek light with gmann bulbs. The difference is night and day. All sps colored up to some eye popping colors compared to what they looked like under the LEDs. On my main tank I have 3 250w radiums and have never changed because the tank looked so good. I experimented with the LEDs on the frag tank but results weren't what I had hoped for. Ya the dimming and storms and other features are cool but th corals just don't seem to stay colorful. I know you go to any lfs now and they are running LEDs on their frag tanks and they look great but that is because they move the corals so quick. It makes sence for them to run LEDs for the cost savings and the color pop. But I have found long term halides or a good t5 fixture are un beatable. I have some connections in the lighting industry and I wanted to let you all know that they are working on t5ho bulbs with a 50,000 hr lifespan. Not available yet for the consumer but will be soon.

 

[power boat jim]

After 18 months with LEDs I can say I will put my Halides up for sale. I have coral that sat under halides for months that didnt grow at all. They are now more colorful and larger then they have ever been. The trick to the LEDs seems to be putting them up 14-16 inches above the water, and not running them above 70%. Sorry to see so many of you guys havnt had good results with the same stuff Im using.

 

[BigAl2007]

Thanks for posting Jim. Congrats on your success with LED and I am pretty sure you're one of many who are already seeing the positive results of Long-Term LED on coral.

Here's an interesting thread where more and more reports, pictures and testimonies are coming in from people who have adopted the high-end LED and their SPS tanks are thriving.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2220972

Here's a quote from Rotknee

Thanks folks! I'm more impressed with these lights everyday. I'm getting good growth and if you let me tell the story, I'm seeing red on the tips on a Bali deepwater acro Vivid Aquariums sells as a "Tri-Colored" Acro. I've always had LED's and all of the others (Ai Sol Blue and Pacific Sun Metis Hyperion) could not bring out the new colors I am seeing in this acro. We should all have some awesome tanks in a few months.

Here are 30 days worth of growth under the Mitras. The frag was remounted and secured to a new frag plug.

November 27, 2012

December 28, 2012

 

[Kaporeef]

After reading through this entire thread, I have noticed a stronger pull towards comparison between Radiums, T5's and the 3 most popular LED solutions (AI, Radion and DIY). I have only noticed a few people mention some of the alternative LED solutions such as Pacific Sun's LED lineup. Now I personally own one of their units (Metis Hyperion R2-an 8ch lamp with the ever so desired 420nm LED) and although I am biased towards my decision, I was very impressed with what the company has done with their lights. This includes research of light spectrum on a coral reef in BALI, as well as the development of a program that replicates the results found during the research that can now be implemented on their LEDs. I am currently running the BALI program on my lights and find the spectrum very pleasing to the eye.
Now I know that this thread is aimed at coloration and growth of SPS, something I cant comment on since my tank is only 3 months old. I feel this is too young for a new tank to support the needs of a tank full of SPS so I haven't filled my tank with them yet. The purpose of this post is to open the eyes of some of those who haven't heard of the lesser-known LEDs.

Best regards,
Nick :beer:

 

[Big E]

Nick,

Brand doesn't matter much as they are all using the same Cree Leds. A lot of the newer units that have come out in the last few months now carrry 420nm lamps, so over the next 6 months or so we'll see how much that helps.

It's all about lamp performance......... most of the software is frivolous.

 

[Bobbofin]

Sick of my red acans looking orange and a muted look. When from MH/T5 to Radion LED. Going to a ATI dimmable SunPower 6 bulb. LEDS may be good for fo tanks or SPS tanks but for LPS acans with a lot of red they suck.

 

[megadeth72]

Sick of my red acans looking orange and a muted look. When from MH/T5 to Radion LED. Going to a ATI dimmable SunPower 6 bulb. LEDS may be good for fo tanks or SPS tanks but for LPS acans with a lot of red they suck.

my red acans look red with my led setup, I obviously have quite a bit different leds than you do, blanket statements are not wise

I see by your post history you went from leds to halide then back to leds and now back to t5

not sure if you will be happy with t5, I was not

 

[yeldarbj]

I've gone from PC's to T5's to LED's and finally about to try my first halide. I plan on reconfiguring my LED's to both supplement and provide side light b/c the MH pendant won't cover the full width of my tank. I had great success with both T5 and LED's growing sps. Colors weren't always ideal but some pieces had great growth and color under both systems. I'm just curious to see how the MH compare.

 

[power boat jim]

I've gone from PC's to T5's to LED's and finally about to try my first halide. I plan on reconfiguring my LED's to both supplement and provide side light b/c the MH pendant won't cover the full width of my tank. I had great success with both T5 and LED's growing sps. Colors weren't always ideal but some pieces had great growth and color under both systems. I'm just curious to see how the MH compare.

The differences between MH and LED regarding the coral color and growth will be subltle. All things being equal, you will probably only notice a spike in your electric bill.

 

[VegasMike]

Well, call me a sell-out.

Previous setup - Five AI sols over each tank. Tanks identical at 72'x24"x30". Lights sround 8" above water with max settings around 75%. Just wasn't getting the colors I thought I should be getting and very slow growth.

Current setup - One tank now has three AI units with two 250 watt pendants around 14" above water service. The MH are DE XM20k. Tank looks brighter and colors really pop. No temp issues at all, but I am running more wattage. Now have the AI units turned way down, but they fill in some shadows. The AI units have all 70 degree optics.

The other tank still has the five AI units, but I raised them up to about 14". Colors not as good as other tank, but we'll see how the experiment goes.

 

[Sazerac81]

All I know is I really love the programmability, the excellent PAR values, energy savings, and the incredible decrease in heat production of the LEDs when compared to MHs.

But MHs definitely look a lot brighter than LEDs. I wonder if they should mix in some LEDs that are there just for "show". Something to trick the eye or help approximate the significant PAR that the LEDs are really generating. Kind of like "canary LEDS", to give us reefers without PAR meters some visible danger sign so we don't go roasting our corals up.

Also, has anybody figured out a logical and reasonable ramp up schedule for LEDs when transitioning from different lighting sources?

 

[power boat jim]

Well, call me a sell-out.

Previous setup - Five AI sols over each tank. Tanks identical at 72'x24"x30". Lights sround 8" above water with max settings around 75%. Just wasn't getting the colors I thought I should be getting and very slow growth.

Current setup - One tank now has three AI units with two 250 watt pendants around 14" above water service. The MH are DE XM20k. Tank looks brighter and colors really pop. No temp issues at all, but I am running more wattage. Now have the AI units turned way down, but they fill in some shadows. The AI units have all 70 degree optics.

The other tank still has the five AI units, but I raised them up to about 14". Colors not as good as other tank, but we'll see how the experiment goes.

I think you will find that AIs at 14in above the water is a good height for them. Also Mine are maxed out at 50/68/68. Raising them and turning them down really helped improve the overall look of the coral. I would bet in time both tanks will look similar.