What part of the spectrum would that be and for what coral?
LED OR Metal Halide?
- Thread starter Oglan
- Start date
What part of the spectrum would that be and for what coral?
nkd5024
New member
I used to run two 14k 250w pheonix bulbs and loved them. I switched over to leds around a year ago and there really is a difference in the look of the light.
Metal halides look a lot brighter to your eye compared to an led fixture. I personally think the metal halide lit tanks look the best but I hated replacing them bulbs, having to run a fan to keep the tank cool, etc.
I personally think the long term savings, lack of heating issues, and ability to dim the leds make them the winner. My coral have been growing at the same rate they did with my halides.
Metal halides look a lot brighter to your eye compared to an led fixture. I personally think the metal halide lit tanks look the best but I hated replacing them bulbs, having to run a fan to keep the tank cool, etc.
I personally think the long term savings, lack of heating issues, and ability to dim the leds make them the winner. My coral have been growing at the same rate they did with my halides.
Paralith10
New member
led's are missing part of the purple(or ultraviolet) spectrum. it just helps with sps and lps coral growth. most led's have about a 350mm wavelength of uv light and there are different categories in UV light. there is uv-a, b and c. uv-a is 400-440 mm wavelength and is the most common in sunlight (which is best for coral growth)
Last edited:
Most MH are 3500k and light up the roads at night, that does not make mh bad. You just have to know what you are looking for in led. A lot of junk out there still it seems like so the real question in chosing MH or LED should be "How much time do you have for research?"
power boat jim
Well-known member
LEDs dont give off any UV light unless they specifically designed to do so. 440 nm wavelength is not the most common wavelength in sunlight, it just the wave length that penetrates water the best. Sunlights peak is about 540 nm . That whole argument of LEDs not covering the entire spectrum needed for coral growth, health and color holds very little credibility the longer people are running these lights.
I have had AI blues for nearly 2 years and I can attest that whatever may be missing in these lights its not all that critical.
While I don't doubt the greatness of a good MH setup, I am finally completely satisfied with my DIY LED setup. Was it cost effective for me? No, because I jumped into the DIY LED craze over 2 years ago when things were very different and little was known. After revising it many times over, I've spent enough to buy two Radions. Cost savings wasn't my intention but rather the interest in doing something new and different along with my desire to always build things.
I think LED's get a bad wrap because the majority of the retail fixtures and DIY builds all have the same design flaws involving non ideal color mixtures, evenly far spaced LED's with optics, and layouts that don't evenly light the tank. The result is a dark, nauseating disco fever nightclub.
To prevent this the fixture needs the following:
-Tightly spaced LED's without optics or with wide optics to improve color blending
-Multiple clusters dispersed throughout the tank
-At the minimum Neutral White + Royal Blue + Cool Blue using quality LED's.
Here are some from my LED fixture over our Neo Nano Tank. The pictures appear darker and more purple then the tank is in person.
Here's the 3-ups I used.
I think LED's get a bad wrap because the majority of the retail fixtures and DIY builds all have the same design flaws involving non ideal color mixtures, evenly far spaced LED's with optics, and layouts that don't evenly light the tank. The result is a dark, nauseating disco fever nightclub.
To prevent this the fixture needs the following:
-Tightly spaced LED's without optics or with wide optics to improve color blending
-Multiple clusters dispersed throughout the tank
-At the minimum Neutral White + Royal Blue + Cool Blue using quality LED's.
Here are some from my LED fixture over our Neo Nano Tank. The pictures appear darker and more purple then the tank is in person.
Here's the 3-ups I used.
Ron Reefman
Active member
I had MH and t5 on 4 different tanks. I would like to have switched to leds but there were issues I couldn't deal with: 1)brutally expensive to buy (not diy), 2) too bright and no dimming, 3) lack of full spectrum... did I mention way over priced?
A year ago I traded an old MH for an Eco Tech Radium and used it over my frag tank. It looks great, corals grew, it's full spectrum (or very close) and it can be dimmed and color changed, although hooking up a computer to do it is a royal PITA. Oh, and they are among the brutally expensive ($750 each).
Late in 2012 EverGrow (a Chinese manufacturer) introduced a new line of fixtures IT2040, IT2060 and IT2080. They have built in timer/controllers, replaceable leds, you can custom order any color layout you want (pick from 11 or 12 colors including a 400nm UV and 410nm violet), run very cool and quiet, and most importantly are WAY less expensive. I would have needed 8 Radions ($6000) to do my 4 tanks. I got 6 different EverGrow fixtures in a group buy (my local club) for just over $1300. I even sold my Radion for enough to pay for 2 of the low end EverGrow fixtures. Three months later I couldn't be happier. BTW, the MH/t5 fixture over my 180g DT cost $1100 new and that was about 4 years ago. And between the reduced need for electricity for the leds and reduced use of my chiller (no more MH heat) my electric bill has gone down between $50 and $75. Reef Breeders (a sponsor here on RC) is now a distributor of EverGrow lights. They re-brand them as Photon 16, 24 and 32 and the baseline light is called 'Value Fixture'. Even at full retail they are 1/4 to 1/3 the price of Eco Tech Radions and and my PAR meter says they put out just as much light, which is more than my 4 bulb 250w MH did!
A year ago I traded an old MH for an Eco Tech Radium and used it over my frag tank. It looks great, corals grew, it's full spectrum (or very close) and it can be dimmed and color changed, although hooking up a computer to do it is a royal PITA. Oh, and they are among the brutally expensive ($750 each).
Late in 2012 EverGrow (a Chinese manufacturer) introduced a new line of fixtures IT2040, IT2060 and IT2080. They have built in timer/controllers, replaceable leds, you can custom order any color layout you want (pick from 11 or 12 colors including a 400nm UV and 410nm violet), run very cool and quiet, and most importantly are WAY less expensive. I would have needed 8 Radions ($6000) to do my 4 tanks. I got 6 different EverGrow fixtures in a group buy (my local club) for just over $1300. I even sold my Radion for enough to pay for 2 of the low end EverGrow fixtures. Three months later I couldn't be happier. BTW, the MH/t5 fixture over my 180g DT cost $1100 new and that was about 4 years ago. And between the reduced need for electricity for the leds and reduced use of my chiller (no more MH heat) my electric bill has gone down between $50 and $75. Reef Breeders (a sponsor here on RC) is now a distributor of EverGrow lights. They re-brand them as Photon 16, 24 and 32 and the baseline light is called 'Value Fixture'. Even at full retail they are 1/4 to 1/3 the price of Eco Tech Radions and and my PAR meter says they put out just as much light, which is more than my 4 bulb 250w MH did!
Neogenocide
New member
I also have been running LED for about 2 and a half years. I'm thrilled with growth, no disco ball effect, have amazing 14k color, and the intensity is perfect. Growth in the tank has been amazing.....i have zero regrets going LED.
As far as build vs buy.....I'm a DIY guy all the way, and still feel if you want to go LED building is your best option, as retail fixtures are still crazy money. They will come down in time, but LED is here to stay for sure.
FTS I just took lat night
As far as build vs buy.....I'm a DIY guy all the way, and still feel if you want to go LED building is your best option, as retail fixtures are still crazy money. They will come down in time, but LED is here to stay for sure.
FTS I just took lat night
Similar threads
