MrYenko hit the nail on the head, we don't know the depth of your tank.
I'm not anti halide, but they're comaring watts to watts here, and you can't do that with LED's.
I used to be a huge fan of MH's, and you needed a huge fan to keep everything cool.
If you have the mh in the canopy, then you're adding heat to the water. you need great cooling, starting with fans in the canopy, a fan over the sump, and possibly a chiller (I never ran a chiller on my 65 gallon, and that was with 2 x 250w mh.)
If you're not worried about the electric bill, I'd stick with the mh, it'll let you do anything you want. That being said, there are some simply phenomenal LED setups out there.
A metal halide, 250watts, puts out a bunch of heat that your air conditioner will have to deal with, especially if it's a magnetic ballast. Even an electronic ballast will put off a little heat. Most LED's really don't add much heat to the air.
LED's are dimmable. That means you could have a 165w fixture, but if you're running one channel at 65% and the other at 50% (I hear this alot, and do it myself), then you're not pulling 165 watts. You're also not adding more heat to the air, at least it's a negligible amount.
LED's don't punch through the water column as well as halides, so you need to consider that if you have a taller tank.
If it were me, and you like what halides are doing for you and the electric bill doesn't bother you, stay with halides.
If you want the adjustability in color and shave down your electric bill, then go with a good LED. Personally I could have done 3 x 250w halides on my new 125 gallon, but decided to go with 3 x 165w reef radiance LED setups (the ones with the moonlights).
It comes down to personal preference.
I'm not anti halide, but they're comaring watts to watts here, and you can't do that with LED's.
I used to be a huge fan of MH's, and you needed a huge fan to keep everything cool.
If you have the mh in the canopy, then you're adding heat to the water. you need great cooling, starting with fans in the canopy, a fan over the sump, and possibly a chiller (I never ran a chiller on my 65 gallon, and that was with 2 x 250w mh.)
If you're not worried about the electric bill, I'd stick with the mh, it'll let you do anything you want. That being said, there are some simply phenomenal LED setups out there.
A metal halide, 250watts, puts out a bunch of heat that your air conditioner will have to deal with, especially if it's a magnetic ballast. Even an electronic ballast will put off a little heat. Most LED's really don't add much heat to the air.
LED's are dimmable. That means you could have a 165w fixture, but if you're running one channel at 65% and the other at 50% (I hear this alot, and do it myself), then you're not pulling 165 watts. You're also not adding more heat to the air, at least it's a negligible amount.
LED's don't punch through the water column as well as halides, so you need to consider that if you have a taller tank.
If it were me, and you like what halides are doing for you and the electric bill doesn't bother you, stay with halides.
If you want the adjustability in color and shave down your electric bill, then go with a good LED. Personally I could have done 3 x 250w halides on my new 125 gallon, but decided to go with 3 x 165w reef radiance LED setups (the ones with the moonlights).
It comes down to personal preference.
