To LED or not to LED

R

reefkush

In Memoriam
So I am having a little trouble deciding whether I should go the LED route or stick with my halides. I have researched for the past month and there is much conflicting information on the internet. For the most part I have seen that many people don't like the color and shimmer of the leds and I do agree somewhat since I have seen some AI units in my LFS and the color is not that good compared to my radium 20k's. I have a 125 gallon long tank with 2 250 watt halides. I figured due to the small spread of led systems now a day's I would have to go with at least 3 fixtures which would total 300 watts average. Would the 200 watts in savings on my utility bill justify buying an led system or is this something that most people will just a few years to make the jump on? I would like to know how many of you are planning to hold off on the Led bandwagon and how many people think its a good idea to change to leds
 
There are SO MANY threads on this. I think LEDs are the way to go. From my understanding- corals and fish do well on them and you electric decreases! This will always remain a matter of opinion and people will always try to avoid/challenge change.
 
I went led and I am happier then ever best choice I ever made for my tank. I went the DIY route with reefledlights.com good thing is he will warranty out he products. I love the color I love the shimmer best part is I can switch from a 10k look to 12 to 14,15,17,20 with a push of a button. Also growth is amazing. I got growth with leds I didn't get with MH. Also my electricity bill dropped a good $65 bucks.

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I don't think the LEDs would run at 300W. The AI units max out at 74W I think and that's at 100%. Most people I've seen run them at around 55% so you're talking about like 120W total on three of them. I just installed 3 on my 150H and they are way impressive. You also save huge on bulb replacement. I think they're a no brained based on their capabilities and options and coat savings. But I suppose I'm a bit biased right now. I certainly don't have any buyer's remorse though and dropped like $1500 on them!
 
I run mine at 60% and DIY will save you a ton of money all my Cree led setup was 700 and my apex.... but if u have an apex ur good.

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jlylec said:
I don't think the LEDs would run at 300W. The AI units max out at 74W I think and that's at 100%. Most people I've seen run them at around 55% so you're talking about like 120W total on three of them. I just installed 3 on my 150H and they are way impressive. You also save huge on bulb replacement. I think they're a no brained based on their capabilities and options and coat savings. But I suppose I'm a bit biased right now. I certainly don't have any buyer's remorse though and dropped like $1500 on them!
Click to expand...

Should be "brainer" and "cost". Stupid iPhone auto-type.
 
I have just looked up a site called rapidled and they have a diy cree kit with 48 leds. I think that would be enough for my 125 because that would make 16 leds in between each tank brace. But what I don't understand is why it costs only 400 dollars. I mean, manufactured units cost 400-500 dollars for 10 or 12 leds in them and the funny part is that there is hardly any R&D costs involved in them because they just use cree leds and the company just sticks them into an enclosure with their own name on it.

snoopie702 said:
I run mine at 60% and DIY will save you a ton of money all my Cree led setup was 700 and my apex.... but if u have an apex ur good.

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Click to expand...
 
jlylec said:
I don't think the LEDs would run at 300W. The AI units max out at 74W I think and that's at 100%. Most people I've seen run them at around 55% so you're talking about like 120W total on three of them. I just installed 3 on my 150H and they are way impressive. You also save huge on bulb replacement. I think they're a no brained based on their capabilities and options and coat savings. But I suppose I'm a bit biased right now. I certainly don't have any buyer's remorse though and dropped like $1500 on them!
Click to expand...

Should be "brainer" and "cost". Stupid iPhone auto-type.
 
Trust me 48 is not enough. I run 72 on my 90 gallon. I did one 36 and had lots of dark spots. Your going to want two 48 leds kits. Also I would use reefledlights.com if one of ur leds break burn or even a driver bill at reefledlights offer warranty as rapid does not.

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well thats still not that bad of a price. For 2 kits of 48 leds each costs 520 bucks. Thats a nice price considering one bulb change costs me 200. Should I get the xpe or xre crees?
 
Xr-e rated for 700ma and I only use them at 50-60% power that's only 5-6volts Andorra have had good growth. Any higher o started bleaching a bit.

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Last edited:
Following along as I too am interested in switching from MH to led's. $200 to change your bulbs? that's too much! I run 2, 250 watt MH and pay $70 for each bulb. $140 total. I also run Ushio 20k. Pays to shop around. Most LFS will price match if you're a good customer. How do SPS do with Led's. I've heard and seen at my LFS that Led's do not do so well with a variety of SPS corals.

Snoopie702 you said your bill dropped $65 a month? how many MH's were you running and what was wattage. That's really what I want to know is how much will I save a month. I live in California, in the bay area and my PG&E bill is ridiculous (sp). Granted i am also running a chiller, a mag 12, a mag 9 and a couple other smaller power heads.
 
I have sps dominated tank. I have strawberry shortcake that never grew with MH with leds I notice growth weekly. U pay 140 for bulbs bit what about t5? I paid 70 per mh bulbs also but 20 per t5 that's 180 every 6 months I did bulbs change.

I ran 2 mh 250 Watt with t5 and my 1/3hp chiller. I went to led took out my chiller no more heating problems. No more high power mh electricity.

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I'm using PAR38 bulbs (didn't want to mess with DIY). The power usage is probably about 51 watts. I top off my 90G with 5G of RODi every two weeks and run no chiller. The temp stays at 78 when using a heater. Cost-wise, it's a lot more efficient than my old MH.
As for coral health and growth, softies do well. I haven't really tried SPS yet, but from what I read here, results can be mixed.
 
I too did a bunch of research on the subject. I'm in the final stages of my T5/LED hybrid fixture. The 800 watts of metal halide scared me, so I switched to T5. That was nice because temperature was no longer an issue, and the total wattage was more than cut in half. My tank is 30" tall, so I eventually began noticing fading colors and slower growth in my corals. I'm adding 24 Cree LEDs (12 CW and 12 RB) with 60 degree optics, and also using individual reflectors for the T5 this time around.

Keep in mind that most people run their LED at half power. IMO, the potential benefits of power savings, bulb savings, cooler water temps, and ability to adjust color temperature are more than enough to spark interest in an LED set up.
 
I have three 120 watt fixtures on my 190 setup and the color and shimmer is what i was looking for. You will be fine with which ever you choose. I have had mine for 6 months - no need for chiller, i bought a glass top for my aquarium and plant my fixtures on top works great. VERY satisfied and im not saying that because i made the investment... LED's are now almost the same price as MH. I look at it this way, the money i saved from changing to led pays for additives food and fish/coral purchases with money left over.
 
I have 2 AI sol blue in my 58gal tank I'm 100% happy. The functionality of the controller is amazing and you can have as many color spectrum that you want. I never run my lights at 100%, 55% is enough and also you can program 15 different options with the built in timer option of the controller. No more chiller, high bills and the corals love led (including sps)
 
I have a 5' Vertex as well and am having mixed results. Nothing but SPS and its about 50/50 when it comes to growth and colour. Reds/pinks are impossible for me to get. I bring a frag up from my basement tank (ATI 6 bulb) that is beautiful, pink, awesome PE and healthy and two weeks later in my led display it is brownish, no PE, basically looks sad.

I will be returning to T5 or a sfigoli halide t5 combo

My observations only
 
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