MH vs led

[arthur08]

leds are the way to go if you ask me. i have both leds and mh running right now.
the trick is figuring out where your corals like being placed under leds and how long to run them. the spread is different than mh other than the cannon leds.
i have a 54w jbj unibody where i used to have a 250w luminarc III. the mh was overkill but the corals seemed to love that much light. i thought the unibody wouldn't be enough but it seems to do great. i just leave it on about 2 hours longer than i did the 250w.
i do admit the colors are lacking in some departments but in others you can't get without leds.
the coolest light combo i've seen so far is a 14k pheonix bulb with blue line accent blue led strip. it's a little blue for some, but the blue leds just make certain corals pop with color.
i think led fixtures will change a lot in the next few years. mainly the color spectrum still needs refined.
don't get me wrong if you can find a great deal on a mh t5 setup i'd jump on it.
on the same note if you find a good deal on leds i'd get those also.
there's no law in owning one tank and two sets of lights.

I like ur thinking thanks will def consider it

 

[moondoggy4]

I live in a high elec rate state tier system, and I just bought a Giesemann Infinity 150 watt 4 T-5's for my sons 33 gallon tank, got it used, the guy bought a bunch of Led's. I have not hooked it up yet.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

IMO, led lighting for the reef hobby is still in the beta testing stage. If you want to be a tester, go for it. If you want a tried and true and reliable method, you might wait.

They claim long bulb life and great savings over that life, but most often they do not last nearly that long. The issues of corrosion and heat seem to be ignored by many of these suppliers.

 

[sparr0w1]

I live in Corpus Christi, which is in south Texas. It stays HOT here all year. Summertime temps are usually high 90's to 100's. That being said, I have no heat issues with my halides. Maybe I'm just lucky, but my tank stays a constant 75-76 F no chiller necessary. My ambient home temp is usually 73-76 F. So heat problems are not a guarantee :thumbsup: even in really hot locales.