Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
fishinthewall
New member
Agreed. It makes it really hard to decide on lighting, I refuse to run a chiller. I'm also not crazy about the energy cost. I'm more curios about the comparison of hybrids.
T5 mh vs t5 led.
I also feel this is a better conversation to be having as mht5 was dominant for so long for good reason. Is coloration and growth comparable enough on t5 led to justify not having the chiller and high energy bills?
shred5
Premium Member
You probably are right.
Johnseye
Reef Addict
Compromise?
Aqualund
New member
Hi again Aqualand
Are you sure about that? I see conflicting testimony to yours, specifically:
"Kessil has huge peaks in the 400 range and something that really nobody else has, a peak in the UVA (mid-high 300s). The PUR of the kessils is ridiculous which is why they have such great outcomes with a relatively low par compared to some of the other LED manufacturers."
That post was backed up by slief, a sponser of the site: (near the bottom of the page)
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2573290
Its hard to know who to believe.
I can almost certainly guarantee that this is false. But I have been wrong before. To date, I know of no one that has cost effective and reliable leds that are blow 400nm to be used in a Kessil Matrix.
I saw your post interesting so I did a little research which I am sure you can do...yes there are peaks in the mid to lower 400's like I said before, but I havent seen a single plot showing a Kessil with a spectral plot below 400 anywhere.
All the plots I did find where also nicely fudged. Like for example, I trust Advanced Aquarist Immensely, and their review article of the newest Kessils have spectral plots corroborating my position.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/kessil-introduces-a350-a350w-led-pendant-lights
Dont get me wrong...I think it's techincally possible...but expense would keep a company like Kessil from doing it (right now). In my research when trying to design my own chip, a reliable sub 400nm led emitter started around $75 a piece. so yeah...Im quite sure that guy in that thread was straight up fibbing.
DavidinGA
Active member
Absolutely.
If your setting up a hardcore sps tank and I say "led plus T5 is the best" it would only be the best in the sense that it's really a compromise as its been proven that Mh can grow sps faster (if nothing else).
Every option is a compromise in one way or another.
If you say mh is the best, I might agree but add that it's only the best if your willing to deal with the excess heat and electricity costs.... Pro's/con's to everything.
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Wazzel
New member
Agree, all light systems have their place. It really is hard to say what is best since different people will have different sets of criteria they are trying to work with.
DavidinGA
Active member
Right.
For my setup, I have found the best compromise light for what I am trying to accomplish is led plus T5's.
Pro's
I get the energy savings and customization from leds.
Better spectrum, spread, growth and a nice par bump from T5's.
Con's
Slower growth from leds (acro's).
Bulb replacement costs for T5's.
I still muse switching out my leds and tossing up some mh, but the extra energy costs and bulb costs have kept me in led land for the time being...
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Wazzel
New member
LED ticked just about all the boxes for me. Holding color has been an issues. With one unit I had it dialed in, when I added the second I over shot (I think) the sweet spot. If thing grew any faster I would be throwing stuff out by the handful.
ComforablyNumb
New member
Yes, its an interesting topic, isn't it?
I would have to point out though that the article you quoted was for the old/outdated a350 from a few years ago that has long since been replaced. The newer a360's have a completely different matrix and are 30% brighter than the light reviewed in the article.
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Johnseye
Reef Addict
I see where you are coming from. It will always be a compromise.
fishinthewall
New member
Has any one who has had both seen a difference in growth patterns? I understand growth is more flow related, but given the same params would led and mh have the same health/thickness/length of sps frames?
Aqualund
New member
Yes, its an interesting topic, isn't it?
Yup definitely quickly glance at the article and thought I saw a360. However, in looking up the a360 spectral plot from The kessil website, nothing much is different in the areas of contention we are discussing. Still nothing below 390-400nm, and everything between 400nm and 455nm is not continuous.
The fixture might have changed, but the LED technology between the two has not changed from an individual emitter standpoint (in relation to spectral variety).
Wazzel
New member
I have not noticed a different between this tank (LED) and my last tank (MH/VHO) in how things grow. From what I have seen flow is the controlling parameter on growth, not saying other factors do not influence how corals grow. If you want big thick branches, up the flow.
biecacka
Active member
I have no doubt that LEDs can grow corals. For me, it was having too many options and not being able to control the spectrum like I think the corals prefer. T5 was a front runner for me but the cost to replace 10-12 bulbs each year was a bit extreme. And for me, while I know LEDs with t5 or halide with led or t5 works it's a bit confusing. It shows no light is perfect. We use halide with t5 to get a better color. Control heat. Led and t5 to prevent shadows and get best color. My big thing was which is the lead in the set up. Is it led with t5 or t5 with led? It's trivial so I went back to halide because it's easy. I will eventually try to add led light bars to it, but mostly to lengthen my viewing time.
Corey
Corey
There are pros and cons to different lighting but after using LEDs, I didn't find there to be nearly the electrical savings that I thought.
Mainly because my heaters were running all the time.
Savings was nil to minimal at best.
karimwassef
Active member
Do you live in a cold climate?
h3dgehog
Member
I recently upgraded to a larger tank and decided to move away from LEDs. My SPS dominated nano is running AI Prime and the shadowing was really bad. So I decided to go with halide.
Just a thought.... I think LEDs do poorly when in a cube-shaped tank. If the tank were longer in length, then you'd be forced to use multiple LED fixtures, which will allow you to minimize the shadowing. But in a cube, you typically use a single point of light, which can cause shadowing.
Just a thought.... I think LEDs do poorly when in a cube-shaped tank. If the tank were longer in length, then you'd be forced to use multiple LED fixtures, which will allow you to minimize the shadowing. But in a cube, you typically use a single point of light, which can cause shadowing.
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