Lighting my tank with leds help

jlaudiofreak

jlaudiofreak

Member
I have been a die hard MH person for the last 20yrs but I am know at the point where I am tired of changing bulbs constantly checking he par to see when the bulb is getting old . I am now wanting to make the led swap . I have tried in the past but with no one offering internet to my house an only able to get satellite internet the Radion G3 pros didn't work for me . I am seeing these new lights coming out that can be controlled by my iPad. So here is the deal my tank is 42L x 32 wide by 24 t and heavy SPS. I have been looking at the reefbreeder Aquasanrise R90 , the orphek v4 and 3 AI hydra 26hd . I can not find much info on the aquasanrise , not to much on the orphek v4 and some good information on the hydra26hd . The only con I can see with having on one fixture is that if something happens to the fixture the whole tank is with out light . I like the price point of the aquasanrise , I like the led options on the orphek, and I like the multiple hydra 26's . I will ordering lights Friday I just can't make up my mind. If help on the pros and cons of the 3 would be greatly appreciated.
 
For a SPS heavy tank you would need at least 3 of the Hydra 26's IMO. I have 2 and 4 T5's over a 42 X 22.5 X 12" tall tank and it's just about the right amount of light spread. If I didn't have the T5 I would def have a third 26.
 
Orphek V4 has great reviews from what I can see from people who use them. And the larger panel could allow for less u it's to be needed.

Corey
 
I vote for an LED fixture and supplemental T5s for being economical and giving you multiple lights; I just think without the very best lights and aggressive coverage that LEDs fall a bit short on their own.
 
Since you are heavy SPS, I would not get rid of those halides until you are really sure that you don't want them back. This can take a while to see the full results - some LEDs are really good at illuminating coral that got their color under other lights, but not so good at keeping those colors. Early results can be a false-positive, but not always.

Your SPS will never be the same. You might like them better, or worse, but LED will not do what your halides did. I would not sweat it if you lose some deepwaters and millepora - lots of people do. These are not super impossible under LED, just everything else needs to be perfect it to work (kinda like winning a Superbowl with Trent Dilfer at QB).

If I had to use an LED, the V4 would be my choice out of what you listed - I like their diode blend and that they have more UV and IR than the others. With the 32" wide tank, you might need two of them. I think that you might end up needing two ReefBreeders as well... or three or four of the Hydra 52s. LEDs DO NOT spread like a reflector - don't believe anybody that tells you otherwise. The people who are the most successful with them have nearly the whole top filled with panels, or 2-3x the number that a manufacturer suggests. Dr. Joshi laid out his experiences very well for all to see - 10 Radion G4 Pros to replaced 3x Metal Halides.
 
I am not going to get rid of them until I see what the leds are going to do . I haven’t seen what Sanjay has said I guess I need to look it up . That is a lot of fixtures to replace 3 mh. I am thinking of doing 4 hydra 26s and maybe some prime he and t5 . I really do like the v4 a lot and I am thinking about using 2 of those . I have tried to get reefbreeders to tell me what the par was on the aquasanrise but haven’t heard any on there forum back about them
 
jlaudiofreak said:
I am not going to get rid of them until I see what the leds are going to do . I haven't seen what Sanjay has said I guess I need to look it up . That is a lot of fixtures to replace 3 mh. I am thinking of doing 4 hydra 26s and maybe some prime he and t5 . I really do like the v4 a lot and I am thinking about using 2 of those . I have tried to get reefbreeders to tell me what the par was on the aquasanrise but haven't heard any on there forum back about them
Click to expand...

If your going to use T5 as well I'm pretty sure 3 of the 26's and 4 T5's would be perfect for your setup.
 
Yeah I remember when Sanjay was experimenting with leds, he ran 3 fixtures on a 40 gallon tank.... that's a lot of light AND money. Now they have came a long way in terms of coverage but not that far in my mind.
I love my halides! :lol:

Corey
 
If you are going to buy T5 bulbs, then just keep buying halide bulbs. For pure performance, the LEDs and T5s still will not be where you are now. If you are not going with any T5s, then get the most powerful LEDs and you can get - without turning this in a fundamentals-of-light thread, you will need a watt of LED for every watt of MH that you are replacing (Dr. Joshi also talks a lot about this as well).

Please, please do not trust any LED manufacturer to tell you what is up with their fixtures. I don't trust nearly any manufacturers of any goods, but these are particularly bad, IMO. PAR is not the only issue - the shadows are real and especially troublesome with acropora especially colonies. They base a lot of their design on results from terrestrial plants and leave out some key spectrum like UV down to 350nm - I think that it is because the diodes are short-lived, unreliable and costly, but others would disagree. IR is also very important for acropora.

I would switch to LED in a heartbeat if I though that they were as good. Cost would be no option and I would drop 10K today if they were better. Now, I am purely performance based before everything and there is nothing even close, IMO. ..so take my comments for what they are worth since I obviously have feeling about this that others don't agree with. ...anyway, if you could not tell I wanted to frame my comments for you to make the best decision for yourself.

BTW - you don't need to check the bulbs... just change nearly all at a year but 14K Phoenix can last two years.
 
If it was me I'd stick with what you have, but------------

If you're intent on making the switch I'd look at the RB photon V2 as a direct comparison to the Orpheks.

3 24" V2 Panels will offer better spectral balance and coverage at the cost of one Orphek. Two Orpheks vs 3 24" RB V2's would probably be a better comparison.

Another option would be two 36" RB V2.

RB- 6 separate channel controls (each color) Orphek 4 channels (colors mixed)

RB- 2 year warranty Orphek- one year?

3 RB would also cover your worries over one unit going out.

Keep in mind you're going to be a guinea pig with the Orphek V4 as they haven't been out long enough nor do many people use them. There has been a surge in sales because of the BRS hype video so the next year or two will create some good feedback.

The V2 have more feedback and I know of two high profile vendors that are using them over acropora grow out systems.
 
My current setup is 2 250 radium with lumenbright large reflectors and two 36” vho actinic 03 . MH have always been my go to lights . When t5 came out I tired then I had 16 48” bulbs over my 240 . Tried that for a year and went back to halides. Then last year I tried Radion XR30 pros but with no internet here couldn’t adjust them right . So went back to halides . I love the growth and color of the halides. I do understand leds are not 100% yet I have seen breath taken tank with both halides and leds and t5 . I know my choice is between the know tried and true halide and leds . I have read a lot about the shadows of led. I have even thought about changing up my rock work to help in that. I am also thinking about putting leds over my drag tank and seeing what happened. I know flow is a big deal I have two Tunze 6100 and two Vortech mp40 and a dart return so I think I am pretty good there . It’s just a really hard decision.
 
I have heard good things about Reef breeder v2 but what I have read the programming is a pain with multiple units . Haveing to two one off why you program the other sounds like a pain
 
Mtnrunner said:
What fixtures are you using for your T5? I'd like to find a slim fixture to add to my LEDs just like you have. Thx
Click to expand...

It's a DIY fixture with 2 Hydra 26's and 4 Sunblaster T5's, it's made from a piece of Alumabond folded to shape with aluminum end caps.

574LSOl8_o.jpg

9RcEReg5_o.jpg
 
I love my halide! In fact I'm adding a second one this weekend I think. Gonna build the light rack to hold 2 reflectors. :D

Corey
 
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