Ange062, your tank is awesome! I have a Radion over my Elos Midi which is not much bigger than your Nanocube. I'm currently running it in Natural mode at about 75% intensity - slowly ramped up from 30% when I initially started using the Radion in March. What is your Radion set at?
I read the entire thread and... I saw only ugly brownish or washed out SPS reefs.
There were few nice photos but owners use their LEDs combined with T5s so they shouldn't be taken into consideration.
Im a LED user myself and after over a year time I decided to dump my fixtures and go back to T5. I saw many other tanks under LEDs and I didn't like them either. All the photos made by manufacturers and retailers can not be trusted.
It's not only about colors but also about design. Most LED fixtures offer poor light spread across the tank. They really can not compete with T5 lamps.
The most common agrument to buy LEDs is "hey mate my electricity bill went down" but is it really the most important thing to consider? Then sell your tank it will be even cheaper.
I can understand that some people are happy with their corals color but these colors could be far better under T5s.
Are you kidding me???? This is your first post and this is what you have to say about reef keepers corals and the lighting?
Move on
Are you kidding me???? This is your first post and this is what you have to say about reef keepers corals and the lighting?
Move on
Is it about number of posts or facts?
I read many threads across entire RC to check if people have similiar observations after using LED lamps for some time.
And when I read reviews as: "leds are great, just look at my Xenia" or "leds are amazing, my electricity bill went down by 60%" then I prefer not to comment.
LEDs alone are no good for SPS, look at the TOTM list. Sure you can keep SPS alive, sure they do grow, but colors are bad.
TOTM:
January 2013 - LED+T5 - nice SPS
March 2013 - LED only - much worse SPS colors, pale, washed out
April 2013 - MHD+T5 - nice SPS
December 2012 - MHD+LED - nice SPS
November 2012 - T5 - nice SPS
August 2012 - T5 - nice colors
July 2012 - T5 - lovely SPS
June 2012 - LED+MHD - hard to say, pictures are too heavily edited.
May 2012 - LED only - pictures heavily edited, nice softies, ugly SPS
April 2012 - LED only - dull, washed out SPS, beautiful softies
March 2012 - NATURAL light - nice SPS, much better than under LEDs
February 2012 -MHD - nice SPS
January 2012 - MHD+plasma - nice SPS
After 3-4 years with LED lamps we know that they are perfect to grow Xenia :rollface: zoanthids and LPS(?).
There are SPS keepers going back to T5 everywhere on forums around the world.
I know many reefkeepers that recently bought their first tank and they started with LEDs because all that advertising on internet "how great they are". Months pass and they keep experimenting with new additives. But something is wrong with their SPS. What is wrong? Light is wrong my friends.
First there were lamps with only blue and white LEDs, and they were advertised as great, ultimate light source. Now we have lamps with all possible LED colors and still something is not right.
Not to mention discoball effect :fun4: and other construction faults.
Personally I have never seen a beautiful SPS reef under LED light and I fell that it was a waste of money to switch to LED.
Why T5 lamp makers didn't lower their prices when all that LED-boom started?
Because now they laugh and watch us crawling back to T5s.
I want beautiful colors not beautiful energy bills.
I read the entire thread and... I saw only ugly brownish or washed out SPS reefs.
There were few nice photos but owners use their LEDs combined with T5s so they shouldn't be taken into consideration.
Im a LED user myself and after over a year time I decided to dump my fixtures and go back to T5. I saw many other tanks under LEDs and I didn't like them either. All the photos made by manufacturers and retailers can not be trusted.
It's not only about colors but also about design. Most LED fixtures offer poor light spread across the tank. They really can not compete with T5 lamps.
The most common agrument to buy LEDs is "hey mate my electricity bill went down" but is it really the most important thing to consider? Then sell your tank it will be even cheaper.
I can understand that some people are happy with their corals color but these colors could be far better under T5s.
Is it about number of posts or facts?
I read many threads across entire RC to check if people have similiar observations after using LED lamps for some time.
And when I read reviews as: "leds are great, just look at my Xenia" or "leds are amazing, my electricity bill went down by 60%" then I prefer not to comment.
LEDs alone are no good for SPS, look at the TOTM list. Sure you can keep SPS alive, sure they do grow, but colors are bad.
TOTM:
January 2013 - LED+T5 - nice SPS
March 2013 - LED only - much worse SPS colors, pale, washed out
April 2013 - MHD+T5 - nice SPS
December 2012 - MHD+LED - nice SPS
November 2012 - T5 - nice SPS
August 2012 - T5 - nice colors
July 2012 - T5 - lovely SPS
June 2012 - LED+MHD - hard to say, pictures are too heavily edited.
May 2012 - LED only - pictures heavily edited, nice softies, ugly SPS
April 2012 - LED only - dull, washed out SPS, beautiful softies
March 2012 - NATURAL light - nice SPS, much better than under LEDs
February 2012 -MHD - nice SPS
January 2012 - MHD+plasma - nice SPS
After 3-4 years with LED lamps we know that they are perfect to grow Xenia :rollface: zoanthids and LPS(?).
There are SPS keepers going back to T5 everywhere on forums around the world.
I know many reefkeepers that recently bought their first tank and they started with LEDs because all that advertising on internet "how great they are". Months pass and they keep experimenting with new additives. But something is wrong with their SPS. What is wrong? Light is wrong my friends.
First there were lamps with only blue and white LEDs, and they were advertised as great, ultimate light source. Now we have lamps with all possible LED colors and still something is not right.
Not to mention discoball effect :fun4: and other construction faults.
Personally I have never seen a beautiful SPS reef under LED light and I fell that it was a waste of money to switch to LED.
Why T5 lamp makers didn't lower their prices when all that LED-boom started?
Because now they laugh and watch us crawling back to T5s.
I want beautiful colors not beautiful energy bills.
opinions are like butt holes...everyone has one but some are just bigger and uglier than others.
the ONLY reason you posted was to get these LED peeps all in an uproar. You have no evidence of your claim apart from your opinion and you're entitled to that but dont try and rain on someone else's parade with your non-sense. Live and let live...in other words, dont be a d-bag
My tank isnt nearly as nice as some on here.. but im 100% LED, Bridgelux, no less.. im happy with coral colors, if people think they look brown and colorless then thats ok with me.. because i dont think that.. lol
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Wow, now that is an awesome response! :beer:
Please kindly share the following info for the rest of your fellow hobbyists:
1. Tank size and how long tank been running?
2. NO3 + PO4 levels?
3. Number of LED's and approx watts? Or how many amps do you run them at?
4. What colours of LED's do you have? Eg, Royal Blue, Blue, White, Red, Yellow etc.
5. What % water change you do each week?
6. Your filtration methods? - Carbon, GFO, Organic Carbon dosing?
7. How long have the LED's been over the tank?
8. Running Calcium Reactor or dosing two part?
9. Any other additives you use?
10. What salt brand?
Perhaps the info you provide above will help some out. I know its like lots of questions LOL, but the answers WILL be appreciated. Many thanks, and well done for creating such a beautiful system! :thumbsup: