Its an LED Explosion!

[JaYbIrD1969]

I had to leave the hobby 2 years ago and for my own sanity, I didnt even look at or research a single thing about it cause it was too sad. Im now in a position to possibly start again. When I left, LED lighting was fairly new and experimentation and DIY was the nature of LED reef lighting. Now, In 2 short years, the reef lighting market seems to be saturated with LEDs! My head is spinning. There seems to be 100 different lights that all look the same to me. I am a lover of MH lighting and am starting to shop for a light.

Somebody please convince me why I should go with LEDs. And how I know which one is right for me. Where should I purchase it?

Do they really promote healthy reef growth?

Thank you

 

[Saltydrip]

This is a tough one. I like my LEDs but don't love them yet. Mine is a DIY and I need to add more blues. Go to the DIY forums and look into some of the builds over there. As well as the multichip thread. I think they are the best replacement for metal halide.

 

[csauer52]

What happened last time to make you leave so abruptly? LED's may not help in that regard.

 

[JaYbIrD1969]

What happened last time to make you leave so abruptly? LED's may not help in that regard.

LOL! I was relocated across country. My system was too big and my future too uncertain to take it with me.

Thanks for all the help in your response :thumbdown:

 

[Meshmez]

I have never run MH so i cant give you a direct comparison. But i have a DIY LED set over my tank and im pretty happy with it. I think the issue with LED is the intensity/ color combination/ lenses have not been perfected. Some people say all you get is bleached colors with LED, no matter what, but then someone will post a picture showing a beautiful tank which is lit by LED's. I think the main thing is people dont know how to set up the LED's correctly. You have to be very careful acclimating your corals to the LED's, even if the coral was doing great, 2 inches from a 400W MH in the tank it came from, it will need to be acclimated to LED's. I dont know if its because of the narrower spectrum or what. I read all over the place that the number of led's i put over my tank was on the low end of acceptable, so i was running my lights at ~80-90% power. Corals would look good for a few weeks, then slowly bleach. They would live (most times) but they looked really pale. I thought it was my water chemistry or something else because i thought i couldnt possibly be over lighting my corals because i thought i was on the low end of lighting. I finally decided to drop my lighting to ~50-60% dimming. After about 2-3 weeks of the lower lighting, all of a sudden my corals (sps especially) are starting to color up again and get darker...

Sorry for the long story.. anyway, i think you would be happy with LED's. you will save money in the long run over MH (electricity, bulbs) and have much less heat. you can have auto dimming if you run LED's with a controller (or some have it included with a premade unit) so you can essentially have a daily rise and fall of the sun. as long as you are careful with your intensity, and error on the side of too dim, i think you will see good results.

 

[JaYbIrD1969]

Great info Meshmez. Thank you. I am a DIY junkie but wiring is definitely not my forte. Not sure Id want to take on a LED array. Ive tried to follow some DIY threads in the past and just kinda got dizzy.

I appreciate your honesty with your own LED experience.

 

[csauer52]

LOL! I was relocated across country. My system was too big and my future too uncertain to take it with me.

Thanks for all the help in your response :thumbdown:

Well, not for nothing, it sounded like it could have been related to the hobby. Your original post was VERY unclear.

 

[Saltydrip]

Putting LEDs together is cake. Practice soldering a bit and then go at it. It's really easy if you get an actual kit.

 

[YoungREEFA]

its sounds like you ant us to make you go leds? why not just stay mh or t5, you have to accept the fact that leds will take time and customization to perfect these lil powerhouses.

 

[Rockster2599]

Why do you need someone to convince you? If you love MH buy MH.
I use LED and would be dissapointed if someone had persuaded me to buy MH.

 

[JaYbIrD1969]

Well, not for nothing, it sounded like it could have been related to the hobby. Your original post was VERY unclear.

I just cant see why this has anything to do with my question about LEDs? Didnt feel the need to explain why I left the hobby.



To some of the other responses...
OK, let me re-word my question. LEDS are insanely popular now vs. 2 years ago. Why?

I have had wondeful success over the years with MH and T5 lighting. Other than the long term cost effeciency and heat issues, can anyone point out some definitive benefits for chosing LED? If I get enough positive feedback, I just may be convinced to start up with an LED fixture.

I know theres tons of DIY LED threads here. Can someone link me to an exceptionally clear and consice one?

Thanks

 

[igadget56]

I have never run MH so i cant give you a direct comparison. But i have a DIY LED set over my tank and im pretty happy with it. I think the issue with LED is the intensity/ color combination/ lenses have not been perfected. Some people say all you get is bleached colors with LED, no matter what, but then someone will post a picture showing a beautiful tank which is lit by LED's. I think the main thing is people dont know how to set up the LED's correctly. You have to be very careful acclimating your corals to the LED's, even if the coral was doing great, 2 inches from a 400W MH in the tank it came from, it will need to be acclimated to LED's. I dont know if its because of the narrower spectrum or what. I read all over the place that the number of led's i put over my tank was on the low end of acceptable, so i was running my lights at ~80-90% power. Corals would look good for a few weeks, then slowly bleach. They would live (most times) but they looked really pale. I thought it was my water chemistry or something else because i thought i couldnt possibly be over lighting my corals because i thought i was on the low end of lighting. I finally decided to drop my lighting to ~50-60% dimming. After about 2-3 weeks of the lower lighting, all of a sudden my corals (sps especially) are starting to color up again and get darker...

Sorry for the long story.. anyway, i think you would be happy with LED's. you will save money in the long run over MH (electricity, bulbs) and have much less heat. you can have auto dimming if you run LED's with a controller (or some have it included with a premade unit) so you can essentially have a daily rise and fall of the sun. as long as you a.re careful with your intensity, and error on the side of too dim, i think you will see good results.

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[DaveG99]

I have had mh, t5, and led. So far im loving my maxspect razor. Best light ive owned

 

[Meshmez]

To some of the other responses...
OK, let me re-word my question. LEDS are insanely popular now vs. 2 years ago. Why?

I have had wondeful success over the years with MH and T5 lighting. Other than the long term cost effeciency and heat issues, can anyone point out some definitive benefits for chosing LED? If I get enough positive feedback, I just may be convinced to start up with an LED fixture.

I know theres tons of DIY LED threads here. Can someone link me to an exceptionally clear and consice one?

Thanks

In my opinion LED is insanely popular for a couple reasons:
1) because they are insanely popular..... (see what i did there... haha:strooper
2) the cost/heat/bulb savings are pretty big over time..
3) you can make a nice looking fixture more easily... you can get these tiny little lights (ie kessel) that will grow sps... you dont have to have a huge box hanging over your tank.

I dont know that there is an argument that LED's will actually grow corals better than MH, I think more than anything the argument out there is that LED's are as good as MH, but with the added benefits of overall savings, plus the whole dimming thing (and clouds and lightning if that floats your boat..) and the form factor.

I think another reason people have problems with LED's is no 2 fixtures are exactly the same. If you buy one of the many pre made fixtures out there, you can probably pretty closely compare to other people with the same fixture, but once you go into the DIY realm, or to a different fixture, everything is a little different.. different optics, different led spacing. heck, my 60% dimming will put out different PAR than someone elses 60% because they have their drivers turned up a little more than me, or vice versa. Its easy to say "i have 2 200W MH over my 90G tank at 12" above the water line" and have someone duplicate that... Its much more difficult to duplicate LED's, and i think that is what misled me, and many other people. LED allows much more customization, which is a good of a bad thing depending on what you are looking for.

 

[TheGodParticle]

Dont let anybody convince you. Simple as that. Stick with MH or have fun selling your LED fixture for half the price 6 months later because you dont like it and 100 different fixtures have come out since then. Theres nothing to prove about MH you already know they're good.

 

[FTDelta]

Well, not for nothing, it sounded like it could have been related to the hobby. Your original post was VERY unclear.

Good Lord. Give it rest. His response was very clear. No need to give him the third degree and analyze it.

Jay - welcome back to the hobby!

 

[power boat jim]

I have AIs over my tank. The reason I like them is they keep the room they are in cooler. The tank doesnt heat up (you control the tank temp not the lights) No bulb replacement, waaaaayyyy cheaper energy bills and did I mention they WILL GROW CORAL AS GOOD AS MH. Other then that there I dont see any reason they would be popular.

 

[sucker_fish]

I am still on the MH boat, haven't quite jumped ship to LEDs. I say if you like MH stick with MH, they may cost more to run but theres got to be a reason the big coral farms are still using MH. I see all the pics people post of LED tanks with nice corals but the question is...how long have they been running LED? No use saying LEDs kick butt if you have only been using them for a week or so or even a few months...In the end its you that has to like the lights though...there's no doubt that LEDs have come a long way in the past few years, I just feel that they still have a long way to go before they are dependable at growing healthy coral colonies...again just my 2 pennies. LEDs do have advantages as far as energy savings, less heat etc. but at the end of the day I just dont believe they provide the best lighting for corals which is what is more important to me.

 

[power boat jim]

I am still on the MH boat, haven't quite jumped ship to LEDs. I say if you like MH stick with MH, they may cost more to run but theres got to be a reason the big coral farms are still using MH. I see all the pics people post of LED tanks with nice corals but the question is...how long have they been running LED? No use saying LEDs kick butt if you have only been using them for a week or so or even a few months...In the end its you that has to like the lights though...there's no doubt that LEDs have come a long way in the past few years, I just feel that they still have a long way to go before they are dependable at growing healthy coral colonies...again just my 2 pennies. LEDs do have advantages as far as energy savings, less heat etc. but at the end of the day I just dont believe they provide the best lighting for corals which is what is more important to me.

I have been running LEDs for 18 months, I have been selling and giving away more frags then I ever have recently. LEDs are not as easy to set up as MH but they are not the demon alot of folks make them out to be. The ones on the market right now are fine for sps keeping.

 

[Tickle]

Ive been LED only for the last 8 months after switching from halides, I love them. Mine is a DIY unit and I didnt use the 3w crees I used multichips. Mine is a simple W/B and my coral growth has been amazing. I'm in the process of setting up a 125 and am also going to run LEDs over that tank as well, only this time im going to be using cree LEDs. My only gripe about my current unit is that it is not full spectrum and some of my red/pinks/oranges are fairly dull, going the cree route allows me to add the full color spectrum which I highly recommend. GOOD LUCK :wave: