LED Lighting... any users getting "real" growth?

jefathome

jefathome

New member
The wife recently talked to some friends and found out what non-reefers pay in power every month. Needless to say it is a LOT less than what we pay (580w of light on main tank and 250 onthe frag tank = Mucho Denero)

So.. I've been looking into some more power friendly alternatives to a MH with T5 supplementation.

Been looking at natural sunlight (ie solar tubes) and LED's.


Have any of you RC'rs been using LED's for a period significant enough to determine how it affects growth? i've heard som say it works fine and I've heard some people say that it really doesn't work (too narrow a spectrum in the diodes). Each group seems to be very adament that they are correct as well.

what is one to do?


So, does anyone have some concrete proof that LED's either do or do not allow coral growth in a tank? And how many watts were you using on what size tank?
 
Re: LED Lighting... any users getting "real" growth?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14970447#post14970447 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jefathome
The wife recently talked to some friends and found out what non-reefers pay in power every month. Needless to say it is a LOT less than what we pay (580w of light on main tank and 250 onthe frag tank = Mucho Denero)

So.. I've been looking into some more power friendly alternatives to a MH with T5 supplementation.

Been looking at natural sunlight (ie solar tubes) and LED's.


Have any of you RC'rs been using LED's for a period significant enough to determine how it affects growth? i've heard som say it works fine and I've heard some people say that it really doesn't work (too narrow a spectrum in the diodes). Each group seems to be very adament that they are correct as well.

what is one to do?


So, does anyone have some concrete proof that LED's either do or do not allow coral growth in a tank? And how many watts were you using on what size tank?
Click to expand...

HI, Well I cannot compare LEDs with anything else since I just recently came back to the hobby. I had been out for many many years. In fact when I was in the hobby last Bio Balls were just starting to become popular LOL. And chillers we just an idea !!! Anyway back in Nov. 08 I set my tank. I am running only 6 AI units on my tank. Even though the tank is 8' long the six units give enough light on the front half of the tank. BTW i am waiting for more AI's to supplement the front row and will be adding a back row. My best indicator is a Acro colony I bought back in Jan/Feb this year. My pictures in my build thread suck but the colony has grown. The width from left to right has almost increased by 75%. Is that good growth... I'm, happy and that's what counts I guess. There are a few others here on RC that have AIs and I have PM them and they too speak well of the AI's. I chose AI because I like the flexibility of the mounting system and all I read about them. After I purchased them they actually came down in price :mad:. Soon after Profilux announced that one could control the AI lights with their controller and even though the supplied controller that comes with the lights is nice using the Profilux allows more features! I too was considering electrical usage and did not want to have to deal with a heating issue. Last week we had 5 days at 90 degrees and the tank temp. rose less that 1 degree during those days. Are they expensive, yes. In the long run, not as bad as you think. Since my tank was new and I had 0$ invested in other types of lighting I took a shot at the new technology.
Todd at Cherry Corals was doing a Frag Swap in Albany a few months back and he and Brett (Acro 76) had a chance to stop by on their way back to Michigan. They were so impressed that they became AI dealers within a week! So try them if your looking into AI lights. Check out my build thread. I will be posting new pics soon. Good luck on your choice and keep us posted. Neil
 
wish i could turn back time, i just bought my ati powermodule two weeks ago. wont have that kind of money to spent, the price was very close to the price of the ati just 300 more and i could have gotten an 8 bulbs sun-brite LED fixture. pricy but i would have tried it if i know about LED
 
We had a 24" Solaris H4 LED on our old tank and although it was very energy efficient it was only good for softies. It kept LPS alive but no real growth to speak of... We did not even bother at all with SPS under the Solaris.

Our new tank has a 48" Giesemann Infiniti 2 x 250 MH 2 x 54 W T5. 716 Watts total but worth it IMO. We can keep any kind of coral no problem. We conserve electricity in other areas of our household to balance things out so it's not really a big expense.

Cheers!

-TDF
 
I have had 10 AI modules over my 10 foot tank for well over a year now and am very happy with them. I run them at 75% white and 100% blue. My tank is basically all lps and softies but the growth has been great. In fact i have had to frag and sell some off due to growth. I agree the upfront cost is something to consider but in the long run worth it with lower operating cost and bulb changes. My tank temp never fluctuates more than 1 degree and the chiller never runs.
 
The Solaris H & older series were underpowered. The I series had the new luxeons which outputted considerably more light. However, the solaris design is pretty inefficient because of the way they have the arrays separated, driver design etc.

I'm actually waiting on parts to build an LED for my 5' 120G. You should check out the DIY LED thread that is on here. He was achieving some pretty sick PAR levels at the sandbed, and that was without any optics.
 
Hmm... sounds interesting.

Upfront price is certainly steep, but if the ROI vs MH or T5 is less than 5 years (based on bulb changes and increased electrical usage on the standard lighting) then it is worth it.
 
I´m also curious about the sunbrite fixture, it doesn´t make any sense the type of LEDs they´re using but the PAR readings and observations from many people don´t seem to lie, that´s why I ordered just 1 bulb to try and compare with my T5s, if it turns out to be better I´m buying the whole sunbrite fixture.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14971688#post14971688 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tinnghe
wish i could turn back time, i just bought my ati powermodule two weeks ago. wont have that kind of money to spent, the price was very close to the price of the ati just 300 more and i could have gotten an 8 bulbs sun-brite LED fixture. pricy but i would have tried it if i know about LED
Click to expand...
 
They never did, by the way those TMC aquaray are also interesting but I found out something about the prices: $200 for a 19" 5 Led strip.

That means if I´m using 60" t5´s. I would need 3x TMC aquarays for the lenght times 6 probably 8 for width. That´s about $4800dlls. Crazy. I´m sticking to think the sunbrites are a better deal.
 
Jef , LED's are still being designed ( some larger models coming out ) to really help SPS growth supposidly .

Unfortunately the technology with these is just not there . You can do 2 solatubes a 4 bulb t5 retro ( to help with color ) for about the same price.

Not just saving on electricity but some studies have shown random cloud color , "dark" rainy days etc to actually be beneficial to corals .

I think a lot more people would go this route if they had the roof structure to do so .
 
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