I've gone back to halides from LEDs. The heat issue is killing me but the peace of mind knowing I have the right light for a $50 frag makes up for it. Don't get me wrong I've seen some great led tanks but I couldn't make it work. And I wanted LEDs so bad for all the obvious reasons.
Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
Shadowing isn't an inherent problem with LED really, just depends on how you space them. Many people more concerned with looks than growth prefer shadowing anyway but that is a different topic all together... Also the color has not been an issue for years I believe.
My reasoning was that the one thing the MH/T5 combo does better than LED is color temp spread and that is all because of the MH?
I honestly know very little about T5 and the supposed "holes" they have but it just seems to me that there would be absolutely no problem replacing them with an LED strip if all you need is actinics.
d2mini
Premium Member
The running costs have been talked about throughout this thread and it's not that much of a difference when you consider the high costs of LED fixtures. And many people are able to run MH/T5 without needing a chiller.
The electrical running costs are maybe $100/year more for me on my 7' tank. Of course this can change drastically depending on your areas electrical rate.
Personally, I don't see ANY benefit to the daily spectrum change other than the "cool" factor. I have two banks of T5's that come on one at a time for dawn/dusk.
After running LED for two years, and being back to MH/T5 for almost a year now, I can't go back to LED unless things change drastically for the better.
You created a thread about being responsible for fish jumping out of our tanks.
IMHO, running LED instead of MH is like feeding your kids McDonalds every day instead of fresh meats and vegetables cooked at home.
Be good to your coral... provide them with quality light!
dwebster86
New member
The running costs have been talked about throughout this thread and it's not that much of a difference when you consider the high costs of LED fixtures. And many people are able to run MH/T5 without needing a chiller.
The electrical running costs are maybe $100/year more for me on my 7' tank. Of course this can change drastically depending on your areas electrical rate.
Personally, I don't see ANY benefit to the daily spectrum change other than the "cool" factor. I have two banks of T5's that come on one at a time for dawn/dusk.
After running LED for two years, and being back to MH/T5 for almost a year now, I can't go back to LED unless things change drastically for the better.
You created a thread about being responsible for fish jumping out of our tanks.
IMHO, running LED instead of MH is like feeding your kids McDonalds every day instead of fresh meats and vegetables cooked at home.
Be good to your coral... provide them with quality light!
Great Analogy! Also lets NOT get back into the age old debate of Cost, it never gets us ANYWHERE. Everyone has differing opinions on that. Instead focus on the benefits MH's has for growth and coloration or different combinations.
Such as you guys can correct me, but I've been told that 14k is better for growth, and then 1-2 years later switch to Radiums to color up the growth.
I was going to run 20k Radiums from the start, is that bad?
Wazzel
New member
I agree that the switching color temp during the day is silly. I just ramp up and ramp down the same mix. I do not agree the LED is bad light. It does work. It is just not the game changer like it was billed to be.The running costs have been talked about throughout this thread and it's not that much of a difference when you consider the high costs of LED fixtures. And many people are able to run MH/T5 without needing a chiller.
The electrical running costs are maybe $100/year more for me on my 7' tank. Of course this can change drastically depending on your areas electrical rate.
Personally, I don't see ANY benefit to the daily spectrum change other than the "cool" factor. I have two banks of T5's that come on one at a time for dawn/dusk.
After running LED for two years, and being back to MH/T5 for almost a year now, I can't go back to LED unless things change drastically for the better.
You created a thread about being responsible for fish jumping out of our tanks.
IMHO, running LED instead of MH is like feeding your kids McDonalds every day instead of fresh meats and vegetables cooked at home.
Be good to your coral... provide them with quality light!
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
Shadowing is a problem with ANY point source lighting. That's just basic physics.
LEDs and T5s look nothing alike. The light they both put out is different in many ways
power boat jim
Well-known member
I dont know that its silly, It breaks up that constant blue look. You can turn the K down to 12-14 k and have a much brighter tank during the evening hours if you like and then ramp it back to 20k. Changing the color temp brings out different hues that a constant color temp wont give you.
I also dont know that it doesnt provide a spectrum of light some coral wont get from a 20K setting on an LED set up. Even if it doesnt, I cant see that there is a downside to it. After all that has been said about LEDs not providing full spectrum at 20k this provides a way to add spectrum that may have been missing.
Wazzel
New member
Guess it depends on how you change it during the day. I think making random changes during the day is not natural an does not provide a benefit. That is just my opinion. Also, to go all over with spectrum on a single fixture is going to cost you power. I have been looking at that a lot on the AI hydra52 since it is what I run. To get a nice blue look with it you have to drop out so much on the other channels that it is only putting out about half power. So it is not approximately equal to a 250 watt mh. It would be more comparable to a 150 in that operating condition. I am not a fan of blue tanks so with my whiteish set up I am at about 90% of full power. Power out put matters on LED just like it does with mh and t-5.
power boat jim
Well-known member
Yep, Thats another reason I bump the K down during its mid day cycle and back to 20k toward sunset.
Reeftub
New member
Wow 90% is a lot for those lights. How deep is you tank and how high is your highest sps under that light and how high off the water the light. I have a 27" deep tank and run my lights at 65% and have great color and growth with running the lights 7" off water and 12k which is all colors at 65%.
Sorry the tank is not completely stocked yet
Wazzel
New member
Wow 90% is a lot for those lights. How deep is you tank and how high is your highest sps under that light and how high off the water the light. I have a 27" deep tank and run my lights at 65% and have great color and growth with running the lights 7" off water and 12k which is all colors at 65%.
Sorry the tank is not completely stocked yet
It is 24" deep, the light is 7.5" off the water and my top coral is about 8" under the water. Growth is good and I have not burned anything. I have a tank thread if you want see how things are going.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2421524
alton
Well-known member
Ryan if you could see a XB 12k in action you would swear you are looking at a tank lit by Ati Aqua Blue Special T5 not an Led fixture
Reeftub
New member
Very nice tank, looks like your due for some update pics lol. Curious if you have all colors at 90% or not.
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
I'd like to but I don't spend near the time seeing tanks any longer.
I've seen dozens of tanks over the years and can always tell the source the light comes from. LEDs have a very pronounced look to them that I see
I will throw this out there though. At work I use industrial embroidery machines and our newest machine came with LEDs and not t5 bulbs. The LEDs look so good. They have a diffuser of some kind and they look far more natural than other LEDs. Not nearly as harsh and a much better "glow" if that makes sense.
Wazzel
New member
Thanks. Not all channels. I run the blues at 100 the reds at 70 and the rest spread out between. I made a spread sheet to input my channel levels so I could get an approximate fixture output. I posted it in the hydra setting thread if you want to see it. My setting are there somewhere too. I do not know them off the top of my head.
Reeftub
New member
I gotcha so with me running all channels at 65% I'm prolly putting out almost the same amount of par as you with you other channels dropped Down.
Wazzel
New member
I suspect not. At 65% across all channels you are at 65% power. Not sure if power and par are linearly related. I am at 90% power, that is almost 50% more power. My lowest channel is at 70%. If I had to guess I would say I have a good bit more par.
doctorwhoreefer
In Memoriam
The running costs have been talked about throughout this thread and it's not that much of a difference when you consider the high costs of LED fixtures. And many people are able to run MH/T5 without needing a chiller.
The electrical running costs are maybe $100/year more for me on my 7' tank. Of course this can change drastically depending on your areas electrical rate.
Personally, I don't see ANY benefit to the daily spectrum change other than the "cool" factor. I have two banks of T5's that come on one at a time for dawn/dusk.
After running LED for two years, and being back to MH/T5 for almost a year now, I can't go back to LED unless things change drastically for the better.
You created a thread about being responsible for fish jumping out of our tanks.
IMHO, running LED instead of MH is like feeding your kids McDonalds every day instead of fresh meats and vegetables cooked at home.
Be good to your coral... provide them with quality light!
The comparison of cost isn't too fair. The cost of led's, even expensive fixtures, is less than the cost of changing bulbs like you should every 6 months.
Also, the changing of color through the day could indeed be shown to be a positive thing, much better than metal halides. When we're talking about certain corals, not all corals are going to be surface dwellers that enjoy non-blue spectrums. It's a fact of the ocean and to pretend it doesn't matter isn't very realistic.
As far as the food analogy, that's all the arguments will ever be, analogies. There's really not been too much concrete research showing led's are that much different than any other light source. The tech is getting better every day. Metal halides and older fixtures, well, I don't believe they're the focus of much new research.
Metal halides and older fixtures are just a dead horse people keep beating when tooting their horn against led's..
doctorwhoreefer
In Memoriam
To anyone who doesn't think a color change during the day would be a good thing. I suggest you read up on how the spectrum of light from the sun changes through the day from a single point on the reef under water. (this can be shallow or deep, the changes are more if deeper)
This is basic physics.
This is basic physics.
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