Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
reefgeak
New member
Only leds I have had any luck with is kessil 350 tuna blue wide angle.it had the same growth as my radium 250w halides.but I added rgb panorama strip just to add more spectrum.there's been independant studies showing that multichip leds are the only real halide replacements.
Really? Could you link to some of them? I've never heard this factoid before, and I doubt there are any such studies.
Tank2379
Active member
The next time I take my canopy off I will add back the Ecoxotic 445nm LED's so I will have MH, VHO amd LED all under the hood.
Yup going to get my old Stunner Strips and mount the Blues up
Tank2379
Active member
I felt the same way when I switched from MH to LED after a year I'm back to MH and will not be going back to LED
I was using a sunlight supply 6 bulb T5 setup over my 90 gallon. Upgraded to a 180 about 4 months ago with 3 gen2 radions and so far I love them. Better growth and color. I had some slight bleaching but I had them set to acclimate up to 75% over 4 weeks. Then someone on reefcentral told me to set them to 45% max and I couldn't be happier. Colors and growth are looking great. It's a little bit of a pain to have to hook them up to a computer to change the settings but it's not like I change them very often.
So I am looking to upgrade the lighting on my Biocube 14, and have been doing some research on LEDs when I came across this thread.
Everyone seems to agree that you have to have FULL spectrum LEDs - not just 50/50 RB and NW. Can someone please tell me what the proper ratio would be?
Typical LED upgrade for Biocube 14 would be 7 RB and 7 NW (per Steves LEDs). What color would need to be replaced, and at what quantity? i.e. 6 RB, 6 NW and 2 Cyan, etc. What combination of 14 LED lights would be best for my tank that would also be asthetically pleasing to the eye? No SPS or clams in my tank.
Thanks in advance as i realize my nano isn't in the same realm as large reef tanks :frog:
Everyone seems to agree that you have to have FULL spectrum LEDs - not just 50/50 RB and NW. Can someone please tell me what the proper ratio would be?
Typical LED upgrade for Biocube 14 would be 7 RB and 7 NW (per Steves LEDs). What color would need to be replaced, and at what quantity? i.e. 6 RB, 6 NW and 2 Cyan, etc. What combination of 14 LED lights would be best for my tank that would also be asthetically pleasing to the eye? No SPS or clams in my tank.
Thanks in advance as i realize my nano isn't in the same realm as large reef tanks :frog:
... and the debate rages on LOL. Just want to share my experience re: Leds lights. After being out of the hobby awhile, I returned 8 years ago with a vengeance (so my wife says !) . I read about LEDS back then and against all the naysayers ordered my first Ai's. Pre Sol blues. I used them on a tank that was 30" tall. Sps to Lps all did well. Frags grew into colonies quickly. Then I had a stupid thought ... more should be better ... wrong ! Added more lights and bleached the hell out of everything.
Turned the hobby into a business and strictly use Ai's. Sole Blue and Vegas . Will be adding 3 - 10 ' raceways soon and will use the hydras on them.
I do not have experience with MH or T5s and don't plan to. All I can say it that Led lighting has come a long way in 8 short years. The color and light spectrum has become more versatile . The key is acclimation ! Leds are powerful. You need start at a modest level and then slowly increase over time. Strategically situating the corals in your tank can allow you to keep a variety of different corals and keeping them happy too. The Ai's have been upgradable and very reliable. And with the Hydras selling for under 400, how can you beat that.
Now for those that are happy with their MH-T5-Led combinations ... that great. Whatever works. To say one is better than another is being narrow minded. Because we have all see great tanks using all these different lights. I think that there are other factors contributing to how well a tank is doing. Whether its husbandry, feeding habits or just plain luck, using lighting as a reason for success or failure is just wrong.
Turned the hobby into a business and strictly use Ai's. Sole Blue and Vegas . Will be adding 3 - 10 ' raceways soon and will use the hydras on them.
I do not have experience with MH or T5s and don't plan to. All I can say it that Led lighting has come a long way in 8 short years. The color and light spectrum has become more versatile . The key is acclimation ! Leds are powerful. You need start at a modest level and then slowly increase over time. Strategically situating the corals in your tank can allow you to keep a variety of different corals and keeping them happy too. The Ai's have been upgradable and very reliable. And with the Hydras selling for under 400, how can you beat that.
Now for those that are happy with their MH-T5-Led combinations ... that great. Whatever works. To say one is better than another is being narrow minded. Because we have all see great tanks using all these different lights. I think that there are other factors contributing to how well a tank is doing. Whether its husbandry, feeding habits or just plain luck, using lighting as a reason for success or failure is just wrong.
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For full spectrum, you use a ratio of:
6RB: 3NW: 3HV: 1DR: 1CB: 1C. (CB is cool blue, C is cyan, DR is deep red).
Whites are not full spectrum. They have a wide spectra, but are not "full-spectrum" in the reef sense.
LED is the wave of the future. Let the Betamax MH's go. Do the due diligence and get the right color mix for the corals that you want to keep. Then I think all with Metal Halides will be happy with the colors and strength of the leds. Not mention there may be a rash of chiller for sale out there after that and no buying bulbs every 6 months or so. Plus infinite control.
So true. Toys. I am really excited that I can do a thunderstorm over my corals that don't look as good as they used to, or can.
xlayedoutx
Member
Just my theory.
I think that colors are all dependent on light output. Lets say your MH bulb is a 14k and you are running your LED's at 14.8K then your going to have some different colors. I bought some flowers for my garden. The same flowers look different at different parts of the house. I noticed that the flowers that are getting more sun are a bright red and dark purple. The same flowers in a area that doesn't get as much sun are a light pink and violet. Too me this would be like an Acro being a deep red under MH but a pink or violet under LED's.
I think in order for the colors to be exactly the same the light output would have to be exactly the same which would be extremely hard to do with the adjustability of the LED units.
I think that colors are all dependent on light output. Lets say your MH bulb is a 14k and you are running your LED's at 14.8K then your going to have some different colors. I bought some flowers for my garden. The same flowers look different at different parts of the house. I noticed that the flowers that are getting more sun are a bright red and dark purple. The same flowers in a area that doesn't get as much sun are a light pink and violet. Too me this would be like an Acro being a deep red under MH but a pink or violet under LED's.
I think in order for the colors to be exactly the same the light output would have to be exactly the same which would be extremely hard to do with the adjustability of the LED units.
Twistofer
New member
This is an interesting discussion. I've run T5's and agree that they were a PITA, changing bulbs, uneven burns on the bulbs, etc. Diffusion of the reflectors and actual light loss had always been a concern. The focusing capacity of the LED's really impressed me. Using different lenses to get different diffusion, dispersion and depth can really make a difference.
Metal Halides, never used them. While the look was impressive in many tanks, I found the electrical energy waste and heat production, not to my liking.
IMO if it works for you, use the system you like. I have found that switching light sources definitely effects your coral's growth, coloration, even health. But...the unique thing about nature is adaptation.
Metal Halides, never used them. While the look was impressive in many tanks, I found the electrical energy waste and heat production, not to my liking.
IMO if it works for you, use the system you like. I have found that switching light sources definitely effects your coral's growth, coloration, even health. But...the unique thing about nature is adaptation.
Mikefromaz
New member
Leds vs pc
Leds vs pc
I guess there are legitimate reasons for using all types of lighting but I am still hoping to use leds over PC or other fypes. Changing the bulbs all the time is an expensive deal. Worse when these bulbs wear out the frequency shift is like ringing the dinner bell for algae. My lfs has Radions and Maxspect over their 4x 4 ft. Coral display tanks and the critters seem happy enough. I don't like the over blue some systems have. That isn't exclusivly an LED trait either.
Leds vs pc
I guess there are legitimate reasons for using all types of lighting but I am still hoping to use leds over PC or other fypes. Changing the bulbs all the time is an expensive deal. Worse when these bulbs wear out the frequency shift is like ringing the dinner bell for algae. My lfs has Radions and Maxspect over their 4x 4 ft. Coral display tanks and the critters seem happy enough. I don't like the over blue some systems have. That isn't exclusivly an LED trait either.
There was a long thread that detailed what wavelengths brought out which pigments in corals. Google it. The Pacific Sun rep przemek spoke about the absorption/ emission of different pigments. So it has very little to do with color temperature.
James77
Team RC
Once a year is not exactly "all the time", my Radiums cost $150 a year. Sounds expensive...but not really when compared to the LED fixtures out there now. I have never had a problem with algae when changing any halide bulb.
I have done a lot of experiments with LED lighting- mainly with terrestrial plants. There just seems to be some je ne sais quoi that the LEDs lack. We obviously know what light frequencies stimulate chlorophyl, but we do not fully understand what the "wasted spectrums" provide for the plant. Since coral growth and color also depends on plants- it stands to reason that this factor carries over. The LED was invented in my town, and we have some people that are at the cutting edge of development working on exceeding the halide- but it has not happened yet- at least in lab settings.
Secondly, I read but the first page of this. It struck me how many people are opposed to changing halide bulbs once a year- but dont seem to mind tweaking with the LED systems constantly. Even if it is just tinkering with the adjustments- it takes more time than changing a bulb. And time is money!
Secondly, I read but the first page of this. It struck me how many people are opposed to changing halide bulbs once a year- but dont seem to mind tweaking with the LED systems constantly. Even if it is just tinkering with the adjustments- it takes more time than changing a bulb. And time is money!
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