Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

[Mikefromaz]

Mike....seems like we think a lot alike.My reef is upstairs sitting on a brand new wood floor that I installed myself. I use a CPR overflow aith an aqualifter...pretty standard stuff. I know my wife would be crazy angry if if tank were to ever overflow. I built my own custom overflow switch which has no moving parts, just two stainless probes which hang about a half inch above the water. If the water rises the probes shut off the return pump instantly and turn on an air pump/air stone to keep the critters happy. The whole thing runs on 12v. and must be manually restarted, eliminating the possibility of a false "ok" restart. Cheap insurance at $35 bucks.

 

[power boat jim]

For those worried about LED fixtures losing par over time, I can say that after three years there has been no marked drop. I had the PAR measured by a fellow reefer today and the numbers were: 1200 1 in above surface, 900 just below the surface, 600 4in down 250 10 in down. Those are the same reading I got when I put them up 3 years ago. Thanks to jfuka78 for traveling many miles to do the measuring.

 

[jfuka78]

No problem Jim. Here are some pics of powerboat Jim's tank. Just cell phone pics but at least you can see they do work. I was a strong believer of the just mh. I am now running ai sol blues also and am happy. Size reference the angel is around 7"

 

[johnike]

Jim your tank is beautiful even if it is run by 'those lights'


Looking forward to seeing it and meeting you later in the year.

 

[JPMagyar]

No problem Jim. Here are some pics of powerboat Jim's tank. Just cell phone pics but at least you can see they do work. I was a strong believer of the just mh. I am now running ai sol blues also and am happy. Size reference the angel is around 7"

View attachment 281971View attachment 281972View attachment 281973

Love it!

That should be a poster child for a LED tank. Heavy on green and everything else dull and washed out in color. God bless you guys that think that is ok 'cuz to me that is not exceptible. Clearly it all comes down to taste. Some like Pepsi and some like Coke.

 

[jfuka78]

Sorry crappy cell phone with no white balance. There is plenty of color in the tank.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Mike....seems like we think a lot alike.My reef is upstairs sitting on a brand new wood floor that I installed myself. I use a CPR overflow aith an aqualifter...pretty standard stuff. I know my wife would be crazy angry if if tank were to ever overflow. I built my own custom overflow switch which has no moving parts, just two stainless probes which hang about a half inch above the water. If the water rises the probes shut off the return pump instantly and turn on an air pump/air stone to keep the critters happy. The whole thing runs on 12v. and must be manually restarted, eliminating the possibility of a false "ok" restart. Cheap insurance at $35 bucks.

That's using the old noodle!
Good Job.

 

[power boat jim]

Love it!

That should be a poster child for a LED tank. Heavy on green and everything else dull and washed out in color. God bless you guys that think that is ok 'cuz to me that is not exceptible. Clearly it all comes down to taste. Some like Pepsi and some like Coke.

Before you get too excited, it had MH over it for three months and it didnt photograph much better. The color is tons better in person. It always has been. I have NEVER had anyone say that my colors are washed out and dull after seeing this tank. Please dont judge what you have not seen in person by others you may have. :facepalm:

 

[power boat jim]

Jim your tank is beautiful even if it is run by 'those lights'


Looking forward to seeing it and meeting you later in the year.

I some eye witnesses to to pass judgment on this set up. No one seems to think you can get color out of those lights.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Your colors don't look washed out to me.
If green is all whoever that was can see, he is color blind.
I think it looks awesome.

 

[Fredfish]

Thanks for continuing to post Jim. It has been most informative.

I know this wanders outside the primary topic of this thread, but do you have any violet LEDs (400 -140 nm) over your tank?

 

[power boat jim]

Thanks for continuing to post Jim. It has been most informative.

I know this wanders outside the primary topic of this thread, but do you have any violet LEDs (400 -140 nm) over your tank?

yes there are some on the 60in full spectrum light i got from build my led .com.

 

[trueperc]

Looks like a nice healthy tank Jim, but it also for me proves how many fixtures you truly need to light a tank properly. For me, any real successful led tank has always had double what the manufactor says is needed and this adds hugely to the cost which then comes back to me staying with metal halides as just does not make sense for me to spend that kind of money with no real savings every 3-5 years. I too had 6 leds fixtures on a 6 foot 210 in order to light it properly but they started to fail within the first year and it was cheaper to go back to metal halide.

 

[power boat jim]

Looks like a nice healthy tank Jim, but it also for me proves how many fixtures you truly need to light a tank properly. For me, any real successful led tank has always had double what the manufactor says is needed and this adds hugely to the cost which then comes back to me staying with metal halides as just does not make sense for me to spend that kind of money with no real savings every 3-5 years. I too had 6 leds fixtures on a 6 foot 210 in order to light it properly but they started to fail within the first year and it was cheaper to go back to metal halide.

It did take more lights then I had hoped to get this to work. However it is still better for me to run 500w of LED vs 1200 w of MH. The heat reduction in my house was tremendous. As for the lifespan of the lights, that was more or less the point of the original post. The PAR meter shows the lights are still producing 900 PAR just under the surface after 3 years of use.

 

[jfuka78]

Calculating running 8 hours per day and bulb replacement of my three lights I am at $550 per year with mh. Electric is $20 for lights then the other equipment. If my wife new this, she would kill me for the last three years. Especially since she pays the electric bill.

 

[power boat jim]

Calculating running 8 hours per day and bulb replacement of my three lights I am at $550 per year with mh. Electric is $20 for lights then the other equipment. If my wife new this, she would kill me for the last three years. Especially since she pays the electric bill.

For your own safety and for the future use of your PAR meter please dont let her find out.

 

[trueperc]

I currently run 3 phoenix 14k so at most that is 200 a year for bulbs. Hydro i don't know but I do know that I only have to run one 250w heater and in the summer months its unplugged, where my buddy has a 180 and has to run two 300w heaters all the time, he is currently using 3 X 60w cree cheap led fixtures and 3 X 360 kessils.
The bulbs are little more pricey un here in canada. I can light my entire L shape 300 gallon with this.
I know if I where to switch it would have to be either AI, Radion or kessil but needing min 6 units to light my tank, I just can't convince the wife if I can not convince myself, since I did try already and they failed. I know now you get what you pay for when it comes to leds.

 

[JPMagyar]

Edit for above post . . . exceptible should be acceptable . . . duh

Before you get too excited, it had MH over it for three months and it didnt photograph much better. The color is tons better in person. It always has been. I have NEVER had anyone say that my colors are washed out and dull after seeing this tank. Please dont judge what you have not seen in person by others you may have. :facepalm:

Jim,

Everyone's tastes are different and it is in no way a reflection of your skills as a reefer or of the general greatness of your tank, but I have seen plenty of "cell phone" pictures of tanks with great color in fact I have taken many many cell phone photos of my own tank. In addition, corals lose color in a day, but to get them to recover to full color can take years so "a couple of months of metal halide" is not enough to make a difference.

To me (and I want to emphasize the to me) your colors are washed out and heavy on green. Get a real photographer to come over and take some macros of the blue coral and the pink pocillipora. Macros close enough to show the symbiodinium density. I am certain that we will see densely colored tips and bodies less full of color.


As a brief aside here are two recent LED stories I posted on. The number of stories like this is just silly, but yet folks on this thread want to keep explaining how their "heat saving" and "energy costs" are so great. . .

Can't Figure this Light Out
Questions About SPS Coloration

Its not a question of is your tank nice or not. As others have tried to explain it is a question of degree for the hardcore SPS nuts like myself. I am not satisfied until I get color saturation like this . . .

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

I was once an SPS nut myself.
Then the economy went in the crapper. I had to sell most of my SPS to make ends meet and I upgraded from MH to LED. Around the same time we had a solar water heater installed. Our light bill went from $300/mo. to $166/mo.
I still have color and I am saving a ton on power costs.
I will be an SPS nut again in the near future, but I won't be throwing money out the window every 9-12 months on bulbs or on exorbitant light bills.
I love my tank/s, but the needs of my family come first.

 

[PaleRider]

I was once an SPS nut myself.
Then the economy went in the crapper. I had to sell most of my SPS to make ends meet and I upgraded from MH to LED. Around the same time we had a solar water heater installed. Our light bill went from $300/mo. to $166/mo.
I still have color and I am saving a ton on power costs.
I will be an SPS nut again in the near future, but I won't be throwing money out the window every 9-12 months on bulbs or on exorbitant light bills.
I love my tank/s, but the needs of my family come first.

Salty im sure you will be back to sps in no time. :thumbsup:

As for me i had l.e.d's for about 6 months. I made the mistake of going to another reefers house that had radiums.... his growth and color was unreal. needless to say im starting another tank up and im going to MH..... lets see what the future brings for both of us.