Metal Halide vs. LED Thread
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Rmorales13
Active Member
I have jelly beans...
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rufus2008
Active Member
I've never ran mh but I did run t5's. I am now running 4 30 watt 6500k led floodlights, or wafer led's as i've heard them called. For color temp the 6500 is almost the same as my old 12000k t5's to the naked eye. All my coral are responding well, I have lps and softies. I have know idea what the par reading on these lights would be but for $100 off ebay they are doing a good job of keeping me and my coral happy!
CoryC
Valuable Member
I love the metal halides over my big tank and nano cube, can already see growth from sps that I don't see in my tank w six t5s,
However; I did order a radion for my next tank so time will tell how it compares, water parameters will be similar and I will have a couple of the same pieces in both tanks to compare growth rates. Like Ora gecko green acro, and my brand new my Miami chalice ten eye piece that is just too awesome.
However; I did order a radion for my next tank so time will tell how it compares, water parameters will be similar and I will have a couple of the same pieces in both tanks to compare growth rates. Like Ora gecko green acro, and my brand new my Miami chalice ten eye piece that is just too awesome.
Rob.D
Moderator
Rufus, how long have you been running the led's? I personally love the look of led's and I would love to not have to replace bulbs every 9 months or so. Cost and fear of loosing the near perfect coloration of my mostly SPS display has made ot impossible for me to take the LED leap.
rufus2008
Active Member
I've had them running now for 2 months with good results. But I will say that I don't have any sps in the tank, I would love to try a frag but here in Canada especially P.E.I. sps anything is expensive! That was also the reasoning I had to go with the led's, no more yearly replacement of bulbs. The led's also give the shimmer like mh which I never had with the t5's. If you like I can post a few pic's of my setup later on when I get home from work.
Rob.D
Moderator
Post 'em up bro!
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SLUF681
Well-Known Member
Now, on the question of which lights in run, I run BOTH. On my 120 I run 2X250 halides. The kicker is my LED moonlights! Lol. I run a single halide on my 40B. My opinion on LEDs is that they're WAY overpriced and they will easily wipe out your corals if you turn them up too high. The shimmer doesn't look right on them to me either. Obviously the argument FOR them is valid also. Run cool, inexpensive to run, longevity.
The truth is, if I have to out myself is, I just got jealous of Darren because his thread was so popular, I figured I'd post a question sure to get a million responses.
The truth is, if I have to out myself is, I just got jealous of Darren because his thread was so popular, I figured I'd post a question sure to get a million responses.
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fragmatic
retired reefer
I would like to add to the discussion that I have gone to LEDs.. currently my 90 is lit by one set of AquatecLife 1w x 54 36" expandable. It did have that and three strings of RapidLEDs. What I am wanting to add to the think tank is that I seem to be discovering that it doesn't take any where near as much LED wattage as many think. When I removed the other LEDs and left nothing but the 54 watts, my corals again kicked into high gear. I have a PAR meter and at the sand bed my par level is only around 75, at mid depth is 125, and at the top of my live rock is at 175 (about 10" under water surface). This is based on a tank 23" deep. This is just provided as food for the team data resources. I was MH and did the $$ calculation crunch and when it was time to replace bulbs again I decided it was time to bite the bullet and stop that madness. My AquatecLife is mostly blue with white and purple.
I took the three rails that came off my display tank and used them to build two rails for my frag tank. On them I am running blues, whites, and UVs with a few red & green. I call them blues, whites, and others and all three are on separate dimer controled drivers. It is too early to report on the results at the frag tank, but first indication is good by the way some TLC corals are starting to respond. I am running those two rails with 28 total 3 watt LEDs at something less than half power, and have removed the lenses.
I took the three rails that came off my display tank and used them to build two rails for my frag tank. On them I am running blues, whites, and UVs with a few red & green. I call them blues, whites, and others and all three are on separate dimer controled drivers. It is too early to report on the results at the frag tank, but first indication is good by the way some TLC corals are starting to respond. I am running those two rails with 28 total 3 watt LEDs at something less than half power, and have removed the lenses.
cloud9aquatics
New Member
My thing is this,Take the nice Piece of SPS i just bought from a person or place that has led lights on there setup home and put it under my radiums and it looks like CRAP, i feel like led show a false color in all corals, its terrible.. I really dont like led lights! I have seen some tanks with good growth using ed lighgts but the color is just way off..... i like they use low energy consumption, but i dunno, for me there blah...
robby2782
Well-Known Member
I personally prefer halides, but I really want to find an LED system that could match the the coloration without the heat and expense of bulbs. I don't know if I'll ever switch, but I've been reading up on the newer technologies.
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SLUF681
Well-Known Member
I do think know what bulbs you're using Robby, but I run Plusrite 250 watt 20,000k single ended bulbs. They look more like a 14,000k, which is fine with me. I'm not running any supplemental lighting and have AWESOME color and EXCELLENT growth. Bulbs are $13.33 each. 400 watt bulbs are $11 and some change. Excellent reviews, cheap price.
mcarroll
10K Club member
I think transitioning corals to a totally new kind of light it one of the hardest things about LED's. Your best bet IMO is to buy or DIY a fixture that can be dimmed. Nothing fancy unless you want it....just the basic whole fixture dimming. Transition your corals to LED light by very slowly (over weeks or even months - I'd be conservative) bringing the LED's up to where you want them from a starting point where they appear to you to be pretty dim.
If you're starting from frags and not transitioning corals I think you almost can't go wrong with LED's.
-Matt
nitrox36
Valuable Member
Well IMO, I still like t5's, they have a wicked color. But LEDs offer so much more benefit. And yes pricy, but in the long run no chillers,fans,bulb changing. It's new tech coming to the hobby and the people who have sworn by it for years don't want a change. I'm sure the same happened when the hobby Faided out for under gravel filters. As the hobby evolves trying to keep up with the NEW, is like trying to do that with the tech world. I in fact can't do with out my LEDs. My sps,lps, looks stellar and has improved in color over the last month or so do to me having the right setting. A tool is only as good as the user.
Mcarroll: I think your a spot on it all in getting them used to it.
In my big system I will put a t5 on it wit LEDs just for giggles n grins
Mcarroll: I think your a spot on it all in getting them used to it.
In my big system I will put a t5 on it wit LEDs just for giggles n grins
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