Doing a little 'light' research. If you have LEDs please respond.

[Dapg8gt]

I've been using a evergrow D120 on my frag tank for about 7 months and just made a temporary switch back to my 150 halide. I customized the LED to be full spectrum but have been having issues w/coloration of montis and Acans morphing.

Not sure if my deal is water quality or the lights so I'm making the switch back to see if I notice a difference.. I really liked the LED overall but just have issues with the color shifts and adding frags to the tank was a process that was a little annoying. Starting in the shade and moving up really slowly to prevent bleaching due to the intensity that the rest of the tank was used to. My frag tank is small so it is a little challenging to have everything happy in such a small space.

I just ordered some 450nm strips to add some actinic spectrum to the halide.. So far I'm pleased with the switch back my few Acan frags are on the rebound to original color and seem to be happier along with my tyree toadstool. Can't tell with the caps/acros yet. Time will tell.

 

[scolley]

For a different perspective...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2203067

That's a good thread. But it does not post a lot of info on just what LEDs the people switching were using. And that makes a big difference. Anyone jumping ship from LEDs that was running any kind of blue/white combo (older LEDs) is not something that should be used as evidence how LEDs can perform now. That's just evidence of how they USED to perform. Any evaluation for color should exclude anything made more than a year or so ago. That's when manufacturers got their collective acts together and began rolling out offerings that were more than just blue and white combinations

Here's a thread that deals straight on with simple fact that the Blue/White combo can look like crap, and how to fix it.

Yet while color rendition IS improving, I've been watching LEDs for years, and have yet to see solid proof that they can beat the best MH/T5 combo's for pleasing color rendition. Now there are a number of LEDs available that look nice. Better than the best MH/T5 combos? I don't think so. But still very nice.

 

[biggles]

Not really a switch but more of a same water condition light comparison. My DT has a 250W radium along with 4x39W T5's and two weeks ago i placed frags from most of my SPS into my 20x20x10" frag section of the sump and hung a 120W chinese 50/50 blue/white LED unit over it. I nearly fried everything the first day running both at 75% and still am extremely uncomfortable at judging just how much light they are throwing out - i am pretty confident having run radiums (250 & 400W over driven with HPS) for years that one of these 120W LED units is more than capable of competing with my over driven 250W radium bulb in terms of light output.
My DT is only 3 months old and most SPS is wild collected broken off branches in the tank 2 months or less but i have been surprised that most acros i put under the LED's (50% power to both blue and white) show no loss of vitality, great PE and anything green looks insane. I have a big frag of Pocillopora damicornis which is beautifully pink under the radium residing under the LED and it looks deep red/purple with very darkened polyps compared to it's brother in the DT after two weeks - it looks different but very pretty. I was going to post a pic comparison after a month but i have to say i don't expect it to be a bad outcome, just differences in coloring. I think if i had a broader spectrum LED unit i could see myself having a second tank with LED only - i'm never giving my radiums away lol. Sorry for the long post but i have always been a pure radium halide guy and i'm really surprised that LED's actually work lol.

 

[AdamDeMamp]

Almost 9 months with my DIY bridgelux 3w LEDs (180w total) almost 2:1 blue:white. Growth and color are good so far. I have no complaints.

 

[jason angel]

I would like to know what you are basing this on? I have had both and I can tell you that statement may apply to the low end LED fixtures. But for the higher end ones its the complet opposite. I am not turning this into a debate just stating facts. LEDS supply more par less heat and are fully controllerable. I am mean you can even control the amount of intensity and color with out spend so much money on electric or the replacment of bulbs.

I am basing this on my experience with keeping SPS. It doesnt matter the quality of the white or blue LEDS, they still dont provide the full range of color spectrum that pink stylo requires to become truly BRIGHT pink.
I used to run LED only, in a variety of white and blue colors, but always struggled with Pink stylopora.
It wasnt until a visit to my friends place, where they have an 18' indoor setup under white/blue LED, and the stylo indoors was average, yet in the connected outdoor refugium/frag setups (outdoor under frosted polycarbonate roofing, no other lighting), the stylopora was CRAZY pink.
I have many other experiences with the same situation since, another example is a pink stylo in a local LFS that was in a coral tank under blue/white led, and all stylo was averag, aside from a piece leaning over facing the front glass in a corner that recieved full afternoon sun, and that stylo was also bright pink..

Well don't tell that to my pink stylo.

Been growing like that in my tank for about a year now, my blue and white Cree's. No other colors, no other lights.

I don't doubt for a minute that this coral could look better under the right T5's (or the right LEDs for that matter). But to say it can't grow, or can't be bright pink seems to be a questionable statement.

Further, to knock what corals do under blue and white LEDs is like referencing model T's as proof that cars are slow and uncomfortable. No decent LED manufacturer limit's their colors to blue and white anymore. The state-of-the-art is thankfully far past that now.

Yes your stylo is good for your "model T lighting" if you provide it with full spectrum lighting it will quickly turn REALLY BRIGHT pink.

 

[Zstriker]

Leds seem to work for many, but I do think it adds an extra variable to obtaining a beautiful tank. I have enough problems as is managing the other requirements (water parameters, flow, dosing, etc.) and would rather just remove an extra variable by using lighting that is proven by several years and requires little fiddling with....

 

[Beandawg]

I switched from MH to LEDs. My first LEDs were Marineland reef capable. I had 2 48" on a 75. I have softies and LPS. I got pretty good growth and OK color out of those lights. Ran them for about a year. Tank temps dropped drastically, and so did my electric bill. There is no way I'm going back to MH, and I have no interest in T5. But I wanted a more attractive look to the tank. I just picked up 2 ecotech radion gen2s. All I can say is WOW! The setup was a little harder than I had envisioned but, the results are out of this world. I wish I had gone from MH right to radion from the start.

 

[benfinley]

I switched to LEDs on my new tank. For some reason my corals couldn't handle MH. Even the corals at the bottom of the tank were almost dying. The fixture was about 10" above the tank, so that wasn't the issue. I used a 14K Pheonix bulb. I saw a HUGE improvement within the month and a half that I've had the Kessil a350, best purchase I've made for my nano SPS tank yet!

Edit: I wanted to clarify- by almost dead I mean that the corals were burning under the MH, it definately wasn't a lack of light.

 

[EpicWin]

LEDs have been great for my SpS. Not great for lps and zoos.

 

[kevintran]

I have 12 radion on 11f tank my sps grow very slow

 

[turtlespd]

LEDs have been great for my SpS. Not great for lps and zoos.

I think everyone is blasting lps and zoos with led. I keep all my other corals in corners and nothung but happy corals. I run no optics.

 

[Sander_Bos]

I agree with the t5 statement. Almost all of the crazy pretty tanks on here are t5s. The Reef in the Sky is still running t5's if I'm not mistaken.. Not sure bout halides.

T5's are a pain to constantly be changing out though..

That's right in the face, I think T5 and Metal Halide's are perfect for growth and coloration because of the spectrum they produce. Those light sources have a mix of allmost all colors you can think of. Just like the sun. Leds usually produce one color. (Blue, UV, Green, Red)
I thinks corals need though a little bit of those 'mix-colors' T5 and Metal Halide have....

 

[Grkmafioso41487]

under 120w chinese leds . im buying kessils 360n for my new 120g . making all sps

 

[whiteshark]

You know I was pretty dead set on getting a radion, but after much reading on growing sps and getting the best coloration, I might go mh or mh t5 combo. Still the descion is tough.

 

[scolley]

You know I was pretty dead set on getting a radion, but after much reading on growing sps and getting the best coloration, I might go mh or mh t5 combo. Still the descion is tough.

IMO if you are actually considering MH - and MH alone - then get the new Radions. The best LED's look almost as good as the best solo MH, but at a lower cost over time, less electricity, and much cooler.

But if you are going to do MH with serious T5 augmentation (as in several bulbs) then do that instead of LED. Better color.

My 2 cents.

 

[whiteshark]

IMO if you are actually considering MH - and MH alone - then get the new Radions. The best LED's look almost as good as the best solo MH, but at a lower cost over time, less electricity, and much cooler.

But if you are going to do MH with serious T5 augmentation (as in several bulbs) then do that instead of LED. Better color.

My 2 cents.

OK but what about growth? I have yet to see any real decent growth rates from led. At least nothing that approaches certain halides.

 

[jda]

The best thing about LED for me:
I was able to sell the AI SOL and Radion for what I bought them for.

In a frag tang in the same water as my display, none of my coral had as good of color or grew as fast as they did under 14K phoenix on HQI. I gave 'em three months and the color faded under the LEDs. I think that they are toys for a hard core SPS'er, but I don't expect that everybody will agree.

I think that a great system of one kind can outperform a so-so system of another kind - PCs not included. I think that the AI SOL could do better than a cheap Chinese MH system with a cheap bulb. However, if you are comparing best-of-breed, either 400W SE Raidums or 250W HQI Phoenix 14K (my 2 bests of breed) will crush LED right now.

Something to consider about LEDs that nobody mentions... the scale of improvement needs to be factored into the cost. I know people bought LEDs 2 years ago as a multiyear (10 year sound about right?) investment... but they already bought new improved models which made their purchase 2 years ago WAY more than T5 or MH would have been (and now they cannot sell the old lights since they are outdated). What about the new ones out right now? They need to be improved with full spectrum and all of that... so while the technology curve is going up, what is the real cost?

 

[whiteshark]

Yes I'm thinking of going mh until led technology advances more. I don't want my 650$ radion to be obsolete in a year. This being the first time keeping sps for me I feel like mh is more forgiving and a lesser learning curve.

 

[scolley]

OK but what about growth? I have yet to see any real decent growth rates from led. At least nothing that approaches certain halides.

All my research and experience with LEDs vs. MH plus supplemental lighting has been focused on color alone. Can't help you with growth, other than to say SPS do grow under LEDs. Speed of said growth will have to be answered by others. Sorry.

 

[turtlespd]

Yes I'm thinking of going mh until led technology advances more. I don't want my 650$ radion to be obsolete in a year. This being the first time keeping sps for me I feel like mh is more forgiving and a lesser learning curve.

If u are a first timer I feel MH will give u better overall results but I feel diy LEDs is where it's at. Old led owners who ony ran RB/Nw are out of luck and have to sell their lights because they can't adjust for advances. The reason I dislike pre built LEDs.

I owned a rapid 24 kit and was able to upgrade and add reds, violets, cyan, uv or what ever everyone things works. So far I am happy but doesn't mean next week new info will be found or suggested. We are close I feel and it's a matter of a year or two before we get it down. The great thing is I can add a few lights here and there. I don't need to swap the whole thing out. For LEDs to be obsolete in reefing is bold statement, it's just too efficient not to use. There is a ton of proof LEDs work but the combo is the KEY were all looking for.