Replacing 250w MH with LED - suggestions please

[cone9]

I am interested in replacing my current 250w MH (Ushio 10,000) pendant with comparable LED lighting. I have a 35 gallon hex reef tank with a custom wooden hood. The pendant fixture rests on small shelves inside the custom hood.
I can accommodate a fixture that will fit within a maximum space of 18" x 11.5". I can modify the inside of the hood if needed but would prefer a fixture with adjustable legs and that is already shielded from moisture.

I am lost in the vast array of LED choices and I have not followed their progress in reef lighting. I would certainly appreciate some experienced guidance in choosing an appropriate LED solution to replace the MH lighting I have used for the past 15+ years.


My reef was established in 2001 and I have been through various phases of coral husbandry. For the past 5 or 6 years the reef has been solely populated with LPS and soft corals and I have no plans to return to SPS.

It has been at least 4 years since I have added any new livestock. I have three fish (clownfish, yellow-tailed blue damsel and pink-spotted goby), a couple serpent stars and five urchins (rock, 2 pencil, black-spined and sea egg).

 

[Bpb]

What's your budget


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[cone9]

After I posted this thread I saw a reference about the "Chinese Black Boxes" in another thread. I did some reading at RC and looked them over at Amazon.

These are priced at what we used to pay for a good MH bulb and the size could easily be fitted in to my custom hood. $100 - 120 is easily a good budget for my purpose if they are an adequate replacement for the 250w MH (I usually use Ushio). Galaxyhydro seems to be well regarded(within the group) and I am curious about RC members feelings.

 

[zooman72]

If you are on a tight budget, than one of the "black boxes" would certainly work and give comparable output to your previous MH fixture - I would suggest considering one that has a built-in controller (not just a pair of dimmable dials) with a timer, and offers an actual "in-country" warranty just in case...

 

[Bpb]

I like the sunspect version the best. Has the best color layout and channel design


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[cone9]

Those look like nice units. I like that they have fewer red and green LEDs than most other fixtures.

They have 90 degree lenses vs 120 degree that another light I am looking at has.
Would one have any advantage over the other as I will be installing at 6", to perhaps a max of 8", over the water surface?

Am I missing something (wouldn't be the first time)? Why would you want the red and green LEDs?

 

[Bpb]

Honestly Red and green diodes have two purposes. Neither of which contribute to growing. First purpose is aesthetics. They will brighten up the look a touch and contribute to the overall color of the tank. Maybe slightly whiter.

Second, and most importantly is sales and marketing motivated. Gives LED builders an excuse to boast the "full spectrum" claim, despite the fact that by definition white light is "full spectrum" (though different temps of white will be weighted differently).

They're largely unnecessary though. And many smart people will swap them entirely for neutral or warm whites. Some of the absolute best looking tanks out there were grown out using the original AI Sols with royal blue and cool white only.

I'd remove he lenses entirely off the red and greens personally.

As I mentioned the real winning point of the sunspect over the other comparable black boxes, is the sunspect puts all blues and violets on one channel, rather than putting violet and 470 nm on the white channel, forcing you to run them lower. The best studies done on the radion pros as well as kessils and AI hydra have the blue and violet colors up very high and white green red much lower. The sunspect channel layout allows you to mimic that closer.


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[ca1ore]

A bewildering array of choices ....

Most comparable MH250 replacement is the Kessil 360 - almost a 1:1 replacement IME.

 

[hkgar]

Just don't do it. So many who have gone from MH to LED have gone back, but since you do not have SPS maybe ok.

 

[Ebisan]

I wont go back to MH. I had two 175w MH over my 55g for over 10 years. About 6 months ago switched to two AI Hydra52 HDs. My tank is mostly dominated by btas (over 100 clones). They are all doing fine. I do miss the pop and shimmer from MHs. But my electric bill has gone down and the temp swings are gone as well.

 

[nbelohlav]

I like the sunspect version the best. Has the best color layout and channel design


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Could you link this please so i know which ones you are talking about exactly. TIA

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Reefbreeders get great results with growth.

 

[Bpb]

Replacing 250w MH with LED - suggestions please

Link probably get taken down. I'll PM you

 

[Ron Reefman]

If it's in the budget, I'd second the Reef Breeders Photon V2. For less than half the money they do almost the same thing an Eco Tech Radion can do. I switched from the old Poton to the V2 version because I switched tanks and the old ones didn't fit. The old ones were 4 years old, grow coral great and still work perfectly. But the new ones are so much better if you want control of the color, modern slim line look and a remote that you can program away from the tank!!!

 

[oneofmany]

Just don't do it. So many who have gone from MH to LED have gone back, but since you do not have SPS maybe ok.

+1

I just went from a 175 watt Hamilton 14K bulb and two T5 Actinic bulbs over a standard 20 gallon tank to a MarsAqua 165 watt fixture on the 8th. I've already got the blues maxed out and the whites are probably at 50% or better. I'm not impressed yet. It might take time to see some real results, but I'm already thinking about switching back to the MH. You get what you pay for? Perhaps... I knew this was an expensive hobby from the start though.

 

[hkgar]

Everyone thinks that going to LED's, from MH, will reduce the electric bill. LED's have a very targeted light and do not spread like a MH in a reflector will. I had 3 250 watt over my 180 and in order to get the same coverage I needed 5 AI Hydra 52's (135 watts x 5 = 675). You will get some poorly lit (based on PAR) areas with not enough LED's. Somewhat lower usage in terms of watts for the LED's, but it will take a long time to recover the cost of the LED's

 

[hkgar]

If you want good coverage and lower costs and less heat, then t5 is really the way to go. I went from MH to LED to t5 and am very happy.

 

[Wazzel]

Since you are not going SPS look at things like the Maxspec razor and the Reefbreeders photon (and all the knock offs). They will all do more than what you need. Keep in mind coverage can be an issues with the puck and cluster type units (kessiel, radions, hydras). If you go with one of those be prepared to have more units than the manufacturers recommend.