I was checking out you're thread and was blown away! I am also considering switching to LEDs. I just need to convince my wife
Dave, Just to be clear, the jury is still out on whether just LED's can provide the quality and bandwidth of light that would represent a best practice for our hobby.
Remember, this build has been and will continue to be about best practices....not most cost effective as some are and some are not. What is the best practice for lighting for our coral and fish. There are a huge number of factors that need to be considered in the mix. Amount of light is only one factor, type of light is another. Length of time is another. Water quality affects light. Some of our inhabitants prefer dim, cloudy even soupy water quality but this flies in the face of a majority of tanks who want pure, crystal clear salt water for the nice aesthetic results. Then of course there is the aesthetic itself which appears to favour a bluer light 14K for a growing faction of the reef community. The animals we are trying to keep however come from a wide diversity of lighting conditions and depths of the ocean.
So the best arrangement that I have determined represents a best practice is a mix of lighting products and practices that are capable of offering the widest assortment of lighting conditions throughout the day (and night).
Having said all of that............I am impressed with the Orphek LED technologies that I have been experimenting with. The company appears to be on a path of constant improvement which I respect and has incorporated a number of our feedback issues very well. I pay market prices just like everyone else on this thread so its truly a case of searching for the best based on real world experience and measurement and not on the basis of freebies.
I have also been impressed with the Aqua-Medic MH/T5 lights we have been using. They are unusual in the sense that they each have 4 250W MH lights as well as T5's in a 6 foot housing that has no fans! They are totally silent. I admit having a personal bias for silence so I really like these lights. They are also very low profile and don't take up an excessive amount of space for what they offer.
I also like the ability to mix the lights for different colour temperatures and frequencies without the 'spotlight' effects ruining the aesthetic. The attitude of the company has been very positive right up to the President who has listened and responded very well to our requests for help and information. I need to mention here that the company has discontinued the regular production of the 6 ft lights that we like so much. We knew that at the outset but our experience was so positive with the technology that the president agreed to support them for us and would build more as a special order if requested.
I still believe that LED's will eventually provide 90% of the best available light to 95% of the constituents in our hobby community. We are NOT there yet but I believe it is inevitable that we will get there.
Peter
