Thought about that. Have some LEDs on my son't freshwater tank and the shimmer seems a little weak to me but this is a standard light that came w/ the tank I got him. Made him prove he could take care of this before we stepped up to a reef (but now I fear it is becoming mine as I seem to have the bug again--much to my wife's dismay!)
Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
Thought about that. Have some LEDs on my son't freshwater tank and the shimmer seems a little weak to me but this is a standard light that came w/ the tank I got him. Made him prove he could take care of this before we stepped up to a reef (but now I fear it is becoming mine as I seem to have the bug again--much to my wife's dismay!)
Beautiful , acroaddict. Thanks for the pics. When I had my last tank SPS was a new enigma--rarely ever saw them at stores (at that time online ordering was just getting started).
This is my goal for a year down the road. On a 72" that is 22" deep do you think I could get away w/ 2 250s and some t5? Want 3 but worried about that center brace.
Nice BB too. Had a DSB last time and not sure what I will do this time around.
This is my goal for a year down the road. On a 72" that is 22" deep do you think I could get away w/ 2 250s and some t5? Want 3 but worried about that center brace.
Nice BB too. Had a DSB last time and not sure what I will do this time around.
DSPs
In Memoriam
Just go with metal halides man and you won't have to worry about corals not having the right spectrum and ya wont have to stress wondering if your 200-$900 leds will grow coral or not, I'd just go with what you know works there's absolutely no reason not to. if heat ever becomes an issue that's very very easy to deal with without needing a chiller or anything, Personally Iv never used any type of cooling device on my halides never had a heat problem to this day, this is just my opinion I just don't see the point in spending hundreds even thousands of dollars on lights that are in question when I can just spend half that(even less) on the best lighting for corals
DSPs
In Memoriam
I'm not knocking leds I really think the way to go is a hybrid type fixture, Halides or t5s for growth and color and leds to make them pop, More and more hybrid fixtures are selling these days and I haven't heard anyone complain about any of them because they have the best of both worlds
catman78
New member
I couldn't agree with you more.
I did a 96 bulb LED Build over a 120. For over a year growth was minimal.
For a goof I picked up 2 250watt ballast and reflectors for next to nothing.
Slapped some new Phoenix 14k's in there and growth and color is dramatically differently.
I will never go back to LED only.
I kept two 24 bulb strips for dusk/dawn effect. They are mostly Royal Blues.
JPMagyar
New member
This was my tank when I used 400 watt Radiums . . .
and, then I bought 2 Sfiligoi 8 bulb T5 fixtures a year and a half ago, and THEN in October I ordered 2 new Pac Sun Pandora fixtures which just arrived today. So who wants to buy 2 new, never unpacked Pac Sun Pandora Hyperion S2 fixtures?
I never even set up the LEDs and I'm already switching back to Giesemann Spectra 400 watt metal halide lighting . . . :rollface:
and, then I bought 2 Sfiligoi 8 bulb T5 fixtures a year and a half ago, and THEN in October I ordered 2 new Pac Sun Pandora fixtures which just arrived today. So who wants to buy 2 new, never unpacked Pac Sun Pandora Hyperion S2 fixtures?
I never even set up the LEDs and I'm already switching back to Giesemann Spectra 400 watt metal halide lighting . . . :rollface:
mussel and hate
New member
Wow...
If I had the $ to buy such expensive lighting and not use them I wouldn't sweat the little things like utility bills and such.
I always did like your reef btw, don't change a thing.
If I had the $ to buy such expensive lighting and not use them I wouldn't sweat the little things like utility bills and such.
I always did like your reef btw, don't change a thing.
power boat jim
Well-known member
You guys have some beautiful tanks. I see no point in changing from one light source to another when you have had that much success.
Nice looking tank.
meshwheel
New member
Acroporaddict, Powerboat Jim, JPMagyar: All beautiful tanks! You guys should be proud. Any of them can easily be TOTM reef tanks!
I used to run 400 watters! I loved them at the time. And I ran 400 watt Osram Powerstars and they where 20K. They seemed to have a little more white to them. I loved them, then they stopped making them and Radions took over. This was years ago.
So far, I am not losing any colors with the ReefBreeders fixture. And you can feel the radiation coming off them just like the metal halides.
I am going to give them a good go for quite a while! My small frags are growing, and the colors are great. The larger frags I got for cheap had missing flesh spots on them. They are filling in now and the colors are great!
Once I get a chance to get a Tripos, I will take some pics and post here.
Nice job you guys. Awesome looking tanks!
I used to run 400 watters! I loved them at the time. And I ran 400 watt Osram Powerstars and they where 20K. They seemed to have a little more white to them. I loved them, then they stopped making them and Radions took over. This was years ago.
So far, I am not losing any colors with the ReefBreeders fixture. And you can feel the radiation coming off them just like the metal halides.
I am going to give them a good go for quite a while! My small frags are growing, and the colors are great. The larger frags I got for cheap had missing flesh spots on them. They are filling in now and the colors are great!
Once I get a chance to get a Tripos, I will take some pics and post here.
Nice job you guys. Awesome looking tanks!
power boat jim
Well-known member
Thanks meshwheel for the compliment. Just proves things can be done a number of different ways and results are very similar.
Thanks all. Kind of confirms what I was thinking--stick with wat I wanted 12 yrs ago. I can afford it now--just don't like spending it.
How to deal with the center brace at the 3 ft mark? I can't put a fixture every 2 ft w/out having one over the brace. Thinking two pendants and some t5s across? Or do the cebu sun and leave the center bulb out (if this fixture was HQI instead of mogal I'd probably jump). Does HQI or mogal really make a difference?
Anyway, I pretty much know what I want to do but need to find the most efficient way to do it. Don't think the wife is too keen on me suspending stuff so I need to work that.
How to deal with the center brace at the 3 ft mark? I can't put a fixture every 2 ft w/out having one over the brace. Thinking two pendants and some t5s across? Or do the cebu sun and leave the center bulb out (if this fixture was HQI instead of mogal I'd probably jump). Does HQI or mogal really make a difference?
Anyway, I pretty much know what I want to do but need to find the most efficient way to do it. Don't think the wife is too keen on me suspending stuff so I need to work that.
TropTrea
New member
I started Years ago with 400 Watt Metal Hides. Got a used set pf two pendents for $100.00 and initially ran a pair of Ushio 6,500K bulbs in them with Compact florescent Atinics. Coral Growth was fantastic but color was another thing very washed out in my mind. Then I replaced the 6,500K with XM 20,000K bulbs. Color turned fantastic in a few weeks, actualy some florescense poped as soon as I put them in that I never noticed. Growth however seemed to have almost stopped.
We had a house fire where I lost the tank and everything. When rebuilding I wient with an 8 Bulb T-5 fixture. Did considerable playng with bulb combinations but eventualy got it to the point it was looking better than the 20,000K's and the growth was better than 6,500K.
Finally I decided to add moonlight with DIY LED's. Wow the florescent pop was fantastic to even just atinics running. So I tried the LED's on one of my 40 gallon frag tanks. Started playing with different LED combinations on my 3 Frag tanks with varied results. But now have gotten to the point I'm more comfortable with them than with T-5's or Metal Hides.
Eventually all my tanks fresh, salt and reef will be going to LED's. It only costs me about 50% to build a LED fixture than it does to replace the T-5 Bulbs. Besides that were using half the electricity. Since I retired the wife is telling me to cut back on some of my Reef expenses. So now I'm working against a budget on these things that I was doing before.
We had a house fire where I lost the tank and everything. When rebuilding I wient with an 8 Bulb T-5 fixture. Did considerable playng with bulb combinations but eventualy got it to the point it was looking better than the 20,000K's and the growth was better than 6,500K.
Finally I decided to add moonlight with DIY LED's. Wow the florescent pop was fantastic to even just atinics running. So I tried the LED's on one of my 40 gallon frag tanks. Started playing with different LED combinations on my 3 Frag tanks with varied results. But now have gotten to the point I'm more comfortable with them than with T-5's or Metal Hides.
Eventually all my tanks fresh, salt and reef will be going to LED's. It only costs me about 50% to build a LED fixture than it does to replace the T-5 Bulbs. Besides that were using half the electricity. Since I retired the wife is telling me to cut back on some of my Reef expenses. So now I'm working against a budget on these things that I was doing before.
Uncle Salty 05
New member
I dumped $2700 on a 5' Illumina 260SR and I am ready to chuck it out the window and put my MHs back on.
The light itself looks terrific, very sleek and the light it emits looks pleasing to the eye. The power consumption is much lower, which is a great benefit, but my corals and coralline just aren't diggin' it.
I am going to talk to the mfg tomorrow about programming it (harder than Chinese arithmetic) and maybe adding some UV modules. Overall I am disappointed.
I don't want to go back to MHs but if that is what I have to do to make my reef happy........
The light itself looks terrific, very sleek and the light it emits looks pleasing to the eye. The power consumption is much lower, which is a great benefit, but my corals and coralline just aren't diggin' it.
I am going to talk to the mfg tomorrow about programming it (harder than Chinese arithmetic) and maybe adding some UV modules. Overall I am disappointed.
I don't want to go back to MHs but if that is what I have to do to make my reef happy........
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
I think Hyperbole like this does a disservice to the discussion. I have a 36" 8 bulb fixture and each bulb costs about 20 bucks. That puts replacement of all 8 at 160 dollars. The largest bulbs cost about 25 dollars each, putting replacement at ~200 dollars. Are you claiming you build a worthy replacement LED for 80 to 100 bucks. Please.
I am following Aqualunds build of his fixtures, and even those come in at about $180 each for one 70watt Lumia 5.2 fixture.
In addition, I am way past the days of having a rough DIY looking contraption above my tank. The fixture has to look decent, its in My family room. I don't think I am alone here on this. When i did try LEDs, I used two canon 100Watt pendants and two 18 watt full spectrum par38 bulbs and I spent a lot of time and money making the whole thing look good:
Total real cost was just under 1400 bucks.
I ended up with the lights at 100% output which meant using 236+ watts. They were up for 6 months. The replacement ATI T5 fixture was about $550 with another ~180 for the first set of bulbs.
Indeed it does, but the hyperbole is not only on one side.
Last night I watched a Mike Paletta video where he talked about using $30 Kmart MH bulbs to try to grow corals way back in the '80s (not very successfully). Should he have concluded from that first experience that MH sucks and you can't keep corals in an aquarium? This is exactly what we hear from some in this thread when it comes to LED. "LED didn't work for me so LED sucks."
That is in the same realm of hyperbole as "I use LED and it really works for me so LED the mostest greatest ever!"
LED is still in its infancy. There are sooo many manufacturers and suppliers out there of varying quality using an infinite range of spectral configurations. Which ones are the Kmart of LEDs and which ones are the Ushio/Radium etc. suppliers?
If I were completely new to the hobby, I would go with the 'gold standard' solution. Something that has been around for a long while: its use well quantified.
If I were more experienced, was comfortable with tweaking to get things to work and in a situation where the gold standard solutions don't work (like too much heat) or looking to reduce operating costs, I would look to LED either on its own or in combination with other lighting.
Think carefully about what kind of reefer you are and what your particular situation is, pick your poison and make it work. They all work.
AcroporAddict
There is no substitute.
JWClark,
Thanks for the kind words. You could get away with two 250s, but you might want to be careful about SPS placement. A good reflector will help a lot as well. I have really been enjoying my Hamilton Cozumel Sun reflectors. They don't spotlight, even at low hang heights.
I am not necessarily suggesting this, but some folks cut out their center brace and replace it with a brace made of clear plexiglass, held onto the old plastic frame with marine grade stainless screws. Then you could use a third reflector with no shadowing. I have not done this, but others have. I have two braces going across my tank, but I had the manufacturer place them as far right and as far left as he could, so it accommodates two reflectors in the middle, one for every two feet of tank length (tank is L96" x W40" x H28").
This really is my next question. Was considering coralvue 250/400 HQI http://www.marinedepot.com/CoralVue...ndants-CoralVue-CV1371-FILTFIMHPDDETF-vi.html
But can't find much info on how well it spreads (no reviews). Figured this w/ a dimmable ballast would give me the ability to upgrade to 400s later if I go bigger when we move to the retirement farm (some time off still).
Was also considering reefbrite hybrids. Anybody know the spread on these?
If I could find single 36" PC reflectors I could use my old ballasts as well for supplementals.
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