sell me on LEDS!
- Thread starter kissman
- Start date
I'm running the maxspect 16k 160w on my 40 breeder and love it. My LPS never looked nearly as good under my t5s and my sps has had great growth so far. I will be putting the Vegas on my 90 in the next few weeks. Have a customer that bought Vegas and they don't work with his controller so he letting them go for a steal. I'd def recommend switching.
Mark Bianco
New member
I have a love hate relationship with my AI sol super blues. Damm great light and all corals did well, however I never really like the color. That being said I added one blue plus and one coral plus T5. Now The color is awesome very close to my old fixture. But then again everybody's perception of color is different. In case you are wondering the fixture I had first was a combination of 20k MH and CF to me that was an awesome color combination.
Well, here goes:
-AI is not good for LED fixtures. While they are a big company, they are not actually that great for LEDs.
-Maxspect Razors are pretty much the way to go if you have the money. They are full-spectrum and are the best.
-Reefbreeders fixtures are less efficient, but cheap.
As for LED lighting itself, it's the greatest IMO. You can customize it any way you want if you do a DIY, and they are very efficient. Due to the narrow spectral output of LEDs, you can closely match the absorption peaks of chlorophyll in corals.
And to cap it off, they don't need bulb replacements. That means, while you spend another couple hundred on the fixture(s), you don't need to spend a hundred every 10 months on new bulbs.
-AI is not good for LED fixtures. While they are a big company, they are not actually that great for LEDs.
-Maxspect Razors are pretty much the way to go if you have the money. They are full-spectrum and are the best.
-Reefbreeders fixtures are less efficient, but cheap.
As for LED lighting itself, it's the greatest IMO. You can customize it any way you want if you do a DIY, and they are very efficient. Due to the narrow spectral output of LEDs, you can closely match the absorption peaks of chlorophyll in corals.
And to cap it off, they don't need bulb replacements. That means, while you spend another couple hundred on the fixture(s), you don't need to spend a hundred every 10 months on new bulbs.
deepseadan
New member
The only three I've tried were terrible. Ai, Ecoxotic, and radion. If you do decide to go led, go with another brand. That's all I can speak too.
E36328i
New member
Stay away from AI (iPhone equivalent of aquarium LEDs).
Stay away from Ecoxotic and CurrentUSA (not enough power)
I do recommend the Radion for an American-made LED and it has the most customizability and in my opinion, the best programming abilities.
That said, the best fixture if you can afford it is by far the Vertex line. A close one to Vertex is the GHL fixture.
This really depends on the depth of your tank, the width of you tank, and the corals you wish to grow. Each fixture shines better in some ways than others. Without knowing your system, I would say the Vertex because they come in a wide variety of sizes and cover the tank exceptionally well.
Stay away from Ecoxotic and CurrentUSA (not enough power)
I do recommend the Radion for an American-made LED and it has the most customizability and in my opinion, the best programming abilities.
That said, the best fixture if you can afford it is by far the Vertex line. A close one to Vertex is the GHL fixture.
This really depends on the depth of your tank, the width of you tank, and the corals you wish to grow. Each fixture shines better in some ways than others. Without knowing your system, I would say the Vertex because they come in a wide variety of sizes and cover the tank exceptionally well.
TWISTER702
Member
I have done so much reading on leds it is all starting to run together. why is there so many mixed reviews on these things. I know the people selling them are putting all the hype in them but the people buying them for the most part don't care for them. Im still not sold on them and still love my VHO'S
that Fish Guy
Frag Swap Crusader!
What is LEP?
Ron Reefman
Active member
Here is my take:
Aquarium leds started becoming popular a few years ago and the first fixtures were all white leds and they worked... sort of, for some, but they really weren't very good and they were crazy expensive.
Then somebody realized that coral zoanthealia use more of the blue spectrum and fixtures started coming out with white & blue leds. Better than the just white, so early adopters sold their all whites to people who didn't know any better and bought the new white & blue fixtures. But there were still serious issues and good fixtures were still crazy expensive (which made it easy to sell off used leds). Corals were doing better, but a lot of people were killing corals with good fixtures that were too strong (bleaching/sunburn). Other people were having issues with cheap fixtures that were too small or too weak. So leds start to get a bad reputation, but they did work OK for some people.
Then dimmers got added and led fixtures improved. Not nearly as much bleaching. PAR meters started becoming popular and more common. More people were successful. But junk fixtures were still common and quality fixtures were still expensive and led's reputation didn't improve much. Some early adopters were mad. They had killed corals and paid lots of money for led fixtures they weren't happy with.
Then 'full spectrum' fixtures came out. They used several different blue & white leds along with UV, violet, red and even green. Now the fixtures were really pretty good at growing coral and safer and easier to use. They were still pretty expensive, but some good fixtures were coming out at somewhat lower prices. Older, led fixtures were still being sold used and even more people were getting screwed by fixtures that didn't work as well as the newer ones. And cheap junk led fixtures were still being sold, even by big companies with good reputations like Marineland. So led's reputation was still struggling to improve.
Now China has jumped into the market with both feet. Some of their early fixtures were just more junk. And some people hate them just because they are from China. But a couple of companies in China have been making good quality fixtures (maybe not Eco Tech, AI or Maxspect quality, but still good quality). And they have brought the price of a good quality led fixture down to the range of other forms of lighting like metal halides and even t5 fluorescents. But other Chinese and US companies continue to make and sell junk. So led's reputation is still struggling to improve. Many early adopters who were burned now hate leds, or at the very least, don't trust them. And they have good reason to feel that way. They got burned early on and there is still a lot of trash led fixtures being sold.
So do today's leds work? Heck yes! They grow corals just fine, they run very cool, they are more efficient and you don't replace bulbs every 9-18 months. I was a solid MH & t5 user until the end of 2012. I went to MACNA and saw lots of high quality, expensive and marginally expensive led fixtures. Then I learned about EverGrow in the Chinese led thread in this forum. I don't care where they are made. Heck, half the stuff we buy in the US is made in China, whether by US companies, Japanese companies, South Korean companies or Chinese companies. But EverGrow and Twilight seem to be making an effort to build and service better quality led fixtures. So a lot of new, lower end buyers are getting leds now. It's opened up a new market segment. But there are still less useful, older led fixtures being sold in the used market and there are still lots of new junk fixtures being sold as well. Some people buy the junk, get burned and say leds aren't any good. Others have bought better and newer and are having great success.
Over the past year I've owned and recommend Eco Tech Radions (still expensive though), OceanRevive (a new US company), EverGrow (Chinese) and Reef Breeders (but I think most or all of their fixtures are made by EverGrow). I've owned and DON'T recommend Marineland, SunSun and TaoTronics. I've never owned AI, Maxspect, BuildMyLED, Twilight or Kessil, but by reputation, I suspect they are good quality. I'm sure there are others as well, but those names just came to mind first. My first rule for buying an led fixture is, if you don't recognize the name of the company, don't buy it! At least not until you find out what their reputation is... or who makes them for that company. There are lots of brand names out there who don't make their own leds.
marinelife
Active member
I run a DIY system for several years and love it and so do the corals.
RapidLED has a fixture now that is awesome. A LFS here is running them on there systems and everything is doing great. They are priced well and work just as good has the higher priced systems.
RapidLED has a fixture now that is awesome. A LFS here is running them on there systems and everything is doing great. They are priced well and work just as good has the higher priced systems.
marinelife
Active member
Everyone has an opinion, but I can tell you that I have had led, halide, and t5......and as soon as I can i will be replacing the remainder if my halides with LEDs.
Halides work
VHOs work
T5s work
LEDs work
It's all personal preference. Unfortunately the only way to get a preference is to experiment and try some different things.
Halides work
VHOs work
T5s work
LEDs work
It's all personal preference. Unfortunately the only way to get a preference is to experiment and try some different things.
I am saving this as one of the best speeches on LED lighting I have heard.
Also, while the Onyx is a step above AI, ask if you cool whites can be changed to a mix of 2/3 neutral white and 1/3 royal blue if you get it.
EDIT: Oh, and LEP lighting is "Light-emitting plasma". It is more efficient than LEDs and is very compact (bulbs are tic-tac sized and put out 50k lumens) but the drivers are a little big, and there is not DIY market. Plus, the fixtures are usually only grow lights for terrariums, and run in the range of $1500-$3000. And they don't last as long (but that seems to be changing) as they are at 30k hours life right now.
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Ron Reefman
Active member
I would have to also agree with Ron Reefman. He summarized LED's very well. I have 4 Ecotech Radion Gen 1s with TIR lenses over my 180 gal mixed reef with many SPS corals and my corals are doing great and look great too. I may eventually upgrade to the Radion Pro but I really see no need at this point. The customization is fantastic and to my eye they look as good or better than my previous 10k MH with 160 watt VHO actinic combination. Chicago summers can be very hot and humid and I used to run my air conditioning literally all summer from June into mid-September and my tank would still push 84 degrees. Heat is not an issue at all now.
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