Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
muttley101
Never go full retard!
power boat jim
Well-known member
Your close, most dont run them with the whites all the way up.
I wish I felt that way, but after you buy multiple Radions you need to save penny you can.
Wazzel
New member
Try and feed more as you increase intensity. My overall intensity is 94% and I am holding color no problem.
Wazzel
New member
Yes, thanks.
In response, he's still using LED to replace his MH setup.
So if you were using 250w mh before, sure I guess you would use less power on your LED's. You still need the same amount of units IMO to get the same light spread/coverage.
So it should be pretty relative and the energy savings should be pretty similar either way.
I don't think you would need twice the units to replace a 250 mh but figure for a 24x18 coverage, not the 24x24 or 30x30 the manufactures advertise. I could see it taking 2+ units to replace a 400 watt mh.
power boat jim
Well-known member
Two seem be a very accurate ratio of radions to 400w halide replacement for a 24 x24+ area. Smaller then that, one at the right height seems to work well.
d2mini
Premium Member
Coverage of a 200 vs 400 is the generally the same, using the same reflector, no?
The problem with LED isn't the intensity (usually) but the spread.
Which is why I believe "twice as many" is the best way to go.
So if you have a tank that is 6' long, the manufacturer would probably recommend three across. I would say ideally 6. Might be able to get away with 5.
At least that's what I would do if I was going LED again.
Wazzel
New member
I would do 3 or 4 depending on how I would scape. Keep it low and flat allows light to spread. Steep and tall is a challenge due to the point source nature of LEDs. If the scape is tall and steep it might take more to adequately light. Just one more thing to make LEDs more challenging.
d2mini
Premium Member
Ya, that can help but for me, my problem wasn't with my rockscape but with the light not wrapping around the coral once they started growing.
I had posted pics of the immediate difference the new lights made in my purple stylophora colony as an example.
Notice how the color and PE came back underneath and notice the tighter grouping of branches.
This was just 3 months after the switch.
Another way to somewhat get around this is to raise your lights, but you lose par fast with LED, especially once you are outside of dead center under the pucks. Another reason to have a closer grouping of light units, for more overlap.
fishresponse
New member
For those switching back to MH, are you also adding a chiller or doing some other means of heat control?
SeargentSlice
New member
Depending on your house temp I run 2 lumenbright reflectors 16in off the water on a 150XH my house is around 72 in the winter. I have 600watts of heater that run most of the day to keep the tank at 78F my sump is in the basement so im sure that keeps things cooler. I do not think I will need a chiller may be some fans in the summer months we will see. Oh and these reflectors are putting 248 par on the bottom of a 30in deep tank with very even spread.
It seems to be a common misconception that MH automatically equals chiller. This is not a case for a lot of people. I live in the midwest, and have never needed a chiller.
Most of the people I know that have MH have never needed a chiller.
My tank sometimes will hit 84 in the summer, but that has no bad effects. It also gets that warm in nature on natural reefs.
Everybody's situation is different, but its definitely not an automatic thing.
Most of the people I know that have MH have never needed a chiller.
My tank sometimes will hit 84 in the summer, but that has no bad effects. It also gets that warm in nature on natural reefs.
Everybody's situation is different, but its definitely not an automatic thing.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Yes, and thats one of the cornerstones of a lot of pro-LED arguments too, they start immediately factoring in how much electricity a chiller uses as if its a given. With a proper set-up, MH do not require a chiller.
Wazzel
New member
Lots depends on your environment. Both tanks I ran Mh I was constantly fighting temps. Never ran a chiller, but had so many fans on the tanks is sounded like a wind tunnel (exaggeration for clarity) and I still would get over 80 regularly. On the 160 I had the overlap of the two MH had to be limited to just 2 hours.
Hot humid south, plus wife that is cold natured made it tough. I probably should have ran a chiller.
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