Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

CHSUB said:
"the gloves are off here".......wazzel, that's not to bad with LEDs, better than i did before i dumped them. however, is that a yellow tang in a 60 cube?????:hmm2:
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The yellow tang is getting a bigger home. I am upgrading to a 120 as soon as I can get the bits built. Today I stained the stand. He started out as a little guy almost 2 years ago.
 
For me, this is still pretty easy. I have never seen a tank under LED that would not have looked better with fluorescent or metal halide. Ever. I live in Colorado, where it does not get too hot, heat is a blessing for 10-11 months of the year and at less than a dime a kWH, it costs about 50 cents a day to run a pair of HQI all day. I also have big tanks where 8-12 fixtures could get pretty costly compared to a reflector. Lastly, I know better... this is where I come off like an arse, but I have seen good tanks for the last 20 years and know what to expect out of good lighting.
 
karimwassef said:
I'd still like to see a side by side - same water circulating through both (guaranteed same calcium, alk, mg, salinity, pH and food), multiple species frags from the same mother corals, same flow, and just different light sources.

Then a fast forward time-lapse view after a year.

Then compare power usage, PAR, growth rate (weight?, length?), polyp expansion, coloration (how they look under the chosen light) and pigmentation (what their real color is under a standard source like sunlight) - over time.

Then it's data driven...
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Vivid aquariums did an amazing side by side of led and halide in the same 800 gallon tank. Check it out.
 
gus6464 said:
I wonder if electricity was free if all the LED folk would still run LED.
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For many (me), it's not so much about power usage,
but rather bulb costs for 10-15 yrs mostly.

I started with PC's, and went to LED's-
However, I too like the look of T5's and also Halides.

It seems, many/most Halide are also running some type of hybrid T5, or Leds with them often as well.
 
gus6464 said:
I wonder if electricity was free if all the LED folk would still run LED.
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Not sure for me. I have run VHO only, mh/VHO and LED only. My results have been similar no matter the lighting system. Each one has its pros and cons. I like not having the big bulky canopy to hide the big bulk lighting system over my tank.

I honestly feel the whole lighting system debate is along the lines of Ford vs Chevy. In the end they are comparable and it just boils down to preference.
 
Wazzel said:
Not sure for me. I have run VHO only, mh/VHO and LED only. My results have been similar no matter the lighting system. Each one has its pros and cons. I like not having the big bulky canopy to hide the big bulk lighting system over my tank.

I honestly feel the whole lighting system debate is along the lines of Ford vs Chevy. In the end they are comparable and it just boils down to preference.
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Dodge is better anyway. :p
 
JPMagyar said:
Ahh, true, but then T5s do have a tiny UV output. Personally I don't think that is the primary issue, but I do think it is a sub-text to the issue of spectrum. LED manufacturers love to show nice smooth colorful curves representing the spectrum of their "white" LEDs, but the truth is if they used expensive equipment that measured each individual wavelength the spectral plot would appear digital with lots of spikes and lots of gaps.

Bottom Line: For me, results matter. Here's a one year progression of my reef under MH and T5. I lost some colonies and rearranged several colonies, but there are enough colonies that stayed put to be a good example of how effective MH and T5 are at growing colorful coral. I would note the GARF Bonsai, the purple humilis, Blue Stag, Purple Slimer, a. Microlados, and others all of which show awesome color and growth.

I think the best is the purple humilis. You see a tiny colony in the top right in the first photo and a year later it's a beautiful purple colony with perfect growth form.


IMG_1917_zpsunu3fxzu.jpg


IMG_3471_zps7tjessj4.jpg



IMG_3477_zpsigse6egt.jpg
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I see purple and green. Not much else. Pretty confident words based on those pics.

All jokes aside - all three sources of lighting work - each have benefits - so I have chosen to run all three. MH for natural shimmer and spectrum. T5 for coloration and to reduce shading. Led for the royal blue pop. All three support growth.

For me, leds made it so I don't have to run VHO actinics. Hard to beat the Royal Blues in terms of pop. I've experimented without running them at all, and never saw any improvement in deep coloration.
 
Wazzel said:
16 year old hand me down from my dad. He figured for the $1,000 he would get in trade it would be worth it to let me have it instead.
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Nothing wrong with that.
I just figured I would try and lighten the mood a bit in this thread. But honestly Mark, I think you have one of the nicer looking led lit tanks that I've seen and you should be proud of your success. :thumbsup: Leds were a disaster for me so at least for now I will stick to t5.
 
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