LED Lighting recommendation

[JumboAg99]

How ironic that on my birthday I feel freaking old.

Current Setup: 2x 250W Metal Halide (14K Hamilton) + 2 T5 (1 actinic, 1 Blue+).

Considering replacing my existing canopy w/ the above with a more open setup with LED or MH Pendants.

MH Pendant route: ideas on a single end mogul bulb w/ 2 pendants... Hammy has a nice one I'm leaning towards.

OR

Ditch MH and go LED.

I am VERY concerned about LED being a gimick because I have yet to find a site that gives detailed recommendations based on tank size.

I have a 90G Oceanic (standard 48x25x19) setup. If I go LED - what the heck do I need to buy?????????

I'm willing to spend the $$ to upgrade within reason but to be honest, every LED link I've looked at hypes wifi and computer programming and all sorts of BS that while nice, I DONT FREAKING NEED!!!!!


I want ideas for lighting upgrades from real people not salesmen.


If I stick with MH - give me pendant suggestions

If I go LED - what do I need with a 48" wide tank with LPS and (someday maybe SPS)

 

[OregonReefer]

This should get interesting... you left out T5s

 

[KonaBear]

Have you looked at the Kessil a150w LEDs?

 

[Da Saltwater DJ]

Well i just bought the A.I Sol Led's on a 5 feet tank , and i only bought 3 fixtures . Some people will say i need more , but i think the spread is enough for my liking .

 

[killarsox]

I run 3x Aqua Illumination Sol Blue's on my 90g Oceanic Tech tank and have been very happy with the results.

 

[BryanW]

I run 8 AI's on my 375 (72 x 48 x 33)...I only run them at about 75%. Tank is only 3 months old, and all of my SPS have doubled in size. I know it's dificult to fork up the cash for these things, but if your planning on staying in the hobby for long term, take the led plunge! I have read that some folks do not have a lot of growth in their SPS tanks, and they blame the LED's, but I think there are other water quality parameters that more than likely play a factor for these folks as well.

 

[aculross]

Love my AI's - 4 units over a std 120 (4x2x2) - For me getting rid of the heat from the MH is a big, big plus

 

[bucksfan1976]

I got these...

http://dayton.craigslist.org/for/2709152177.html

I cant use them for the width of your tank they should work at 18 inches the radious of the light is 24 inches

 

[1boatnut]

Well,like you,I don't know that I buy into the whole LED craze either.
I think the 10 year lasting without a par change has yet to be proved.
Also not convinced 120w light can equal a 250-400w MH,like some companies claim.

This leaving the heat issue along with the energy usage the allure of these lights.

However I am in the process of buying a LED set-up.

I may be crazy,but I'm buying a cheaper(dollar wise,not so sure quality wise)set of lights and I'm going to give it a try. I'll be using 3 lights over my 125 gal 6" tank.
They are 120w a piece and use 55 3w LEDS . The combination I have chosen is 30w to 25Blue


From all the searching I have done,it seems to me that no matter name brand is purchased,they all use alot of parts form China,if not all

Look around,google diffrent name brand LEDS and you will be amazed at what you may find
Good luck in your choice

 

[funkejj]

Also not convinced 120w light can equal a 250-400w MH,like some companies claim.

I contacted Radium for the lumens my bulbs put out so my 3 Radiums produce 22,500 lumens. The Cree Led's I am putting in this weekend 108 total LED's for a total of 324 watts will pump out 53,244 lumen's. So less than half the wattage and more than double the lumens. That is before using any fancy lens to try and boost the amount of light. I have also seen the par numbers on here after researching a bit and they are considerably higher than my radiums. So I think LED is the way to go.