to M007 and cthedaytrader:
I do not understand your tredpidation on the issue of LEDs being run at 50% or less. It's just saying that the LEDs are using even LESS power to run as efficently as a MH at 100%. (and at the cost of much more electricity/heat)
It doesn not mean at all that they are inefficent, quite the contrary, it means they are MORE efficent. In other words, they are not running them at 50% to try and trick you into buying a coral that looks good only at a certain color raiting. (by the way how is that different from viewing a coral under 10K, 14K, or 20k bulbs? they all give a slightly different appearance) They are simply running them at 50% to give off the proper amount of light for both color and growth, while not bleaching out the coral from too much PAR, which is easy to do with many of the mid to high end LED fixtures. It's like having someone show you THEIR ideal looking tank, like mentioned before; 20K with VHO suppliments. Is this guy trying to trick you with the suppliments? Of course not, that's just how he feels the corals looked and grew best and thus voiced his opinion on the matter. And if you went to his house and saw that older set up I would be shocked if you asked him to show you the corals under "normal" lighting...casue that IS his normal lighting. You wouldn't ask him to put a frag under a standard 10K lamp just to say that it's not as colorful under "normal" lighting. It's the same reason why online vendors that sell WYSIWYG corals always tell you what lights they use and that colors will look different under different conditions.
I guess the issue I have with this misunderstanding of the 50% issue is this: What are we LED people suppoest to compare our lights to for any of you to be satisfied?
Do leds have enough light to bleach out a whole tank? YES
Do leds have enough light to grow corals like a 10K? YES
Can leds be made to look like the color of a 10,14, or 20K MH? YES
Will it still grow and make colors pop under said color shifts? YES
Yes to all. Now granted not all LEDs are created equal...so research is still warranted, but the same is still true for the old MH and VHO combos. (as well as T5 and dare I mention CF) So it's not a simple "any LED can do all the jobs of a MH (and it's many combos)." But instead you need to see that many people are testing the PAR under both the white only, blue only and different combos. And just because the blue is at a higher % than the white doesn't mean that the growth is any less (or color). For example, the AI PAR thread on here has shown that the SOL Blue fixture with it's blues at 100% give off MORE PAR than the white LEDs. AND add to that the theory that the blues are being "under" rated because the Blue spectrum from LEDs are difficult for the meter to measure. So add 10% to 40% to the PAR value of the blue LEDs, depending on who you ask, thus increasing the overall PAR for the entire fixture.
I know that on my test tank for LEDs, the bulbs are mixed...a row of 6 RB, a row of 6 CW, and a row of 6 in a a combo of those (B W B W B W), with the combo being in front. The whites and the combo are on one dial, and the row of just blues are on another dial. I have the back row of blues at 100%, and the whites and combos I turn on just enough to come on...so like 10% and it's growing corals just fine. (all softies and one hammer frag so far, but great growth on them). A RBTA is the star of that tank is it LOVES the ammount of light...which is all blue and a tiny bit of white. It's a very 20K look and that is just where it's set. I don't have a controler so I can't auto ranmp them up or down, so the timers just kick them on at those levels. the growth is faster than under my ATI PM 6x39w fixture in my main tank. (same corals being tested are in both tanks) It costs me a whole lot more to run the ATI over the LED...so for me it's a no brainer that LEDs are here to stay and are taking over.
Back to the actual point...Running at 50% IS something to keep the excitement over. Imagine being able to run your MH or T5 fixtures at 50% or even 10% and still get the same amount to of growth and color...it would be so much more cost effective. This is the gift that LEDs bring to us in the reef hobby.
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