Are LEDs really better?

[WesF]

ok, so I guess everyone has crappy LEDs because the worst looking acros I get come from LED tanks.

 

[WesF]

I have been in the hobby nearly 30 years, and I have ran Regular Fluorescent, VHO, HALIDE, and T5. I am now running LED. Your statement is clearly not backed by science, rather anecdotal evidence of what you may think is happening. LED does in fact match halides in intensity, and can be manipulated so delicately in spectrum that no halide can compete. I can ramp up my fixture with control of not only intensity, but also spectrum. There is NO HALIDE that can do that, Period.

I am a firm believer in the concept of "pictures or it didn't happen", so I invite you to take a look at my previous tank, it was first lit by halide, then T5. My current tank is only about 3 months old in its current location, so all I have is frags, but in 6-8 months, this new tank will rival my old.

Take a peak for yourself:
Mike LaPorte (PerfectPix)'s Photos : Aquariums | SmugMug

What lighting did you use in 2009? Those pics are nice.

EDIT: ok so the old pics were MH and you have been running LEDs for a few months? Give it time you will be back. ;). It took about a year of trying with LED before I stopped humoring myself and hung the halides back up.

 

[Liquid360]

Not everyone lol.. just those you know. I've seen some halide tanks that leave something to be desired. Perhaps lights aren't the reason. There are very good LEDs out there.

ok, so I guess everyone has crappy LEDs because the worst looking acros I get come from LED tanks.

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[WesF]

Not everyone lol.. just those you know. I've seen some halide tanks that leave something to be desired. Perhaps lights aren't the reason. There are very good LEDs out there.






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Like what? Radions? Seen those. No thanks

 

[JiggyReefer]

Led's can't hang with 250w and 400w halides as far as spectrum, intensity, coverage. If you want to save money on your electric bill, sure LED's will grow your coral. If you want the best spectrum possible, LED's are not the way. Most guys who disagree with me have not run halides. To each is own.

+1!

 

[jedimasterben]

You may not believe it, but the vast majority of people running LEDs over their tanks are using those generic 120w fixtures from China, that use garbage, god-awful, ultra-low-CRI (50-60, if that), ultra-high kelvin knockoff whites, and low-output royals in a 1:1 ratio. These fixtures cost about $150 each. People buy them thinking that they're a great deal and a good LED fixture to replace their $600+ T5 or halide setup. They are incredibly wrong.


If you do not start off with a neutral white (4-5000K), high CRI (80 or higher), name-brand (Bridgelux, Luxeon, Cree, Citizen) white LED, and name-brand, high output royals, your light will look bland, and your corals will have two colors - actinic grey and green.

 

[cymaster007]

If money & heat were not an issue I would use halides.
I use and enjoy my LED's because I do not want to pay for the high electric bill, constantly switching out Radium bulbs, and the chiller/house AC running constantly in the summer.

Someone needs to invent a cool running halide bulb!

 

[Liquid360]

Switching from MH to LEDs has been the best thing I've done for my tank.

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[WesF]

Switching from MH to LEDs has been the best thing I've done for my tank.

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Do you have any SPS in there?

When i tried LED some corsls looked really nice and "popped" but Acropora coloration is what bothered me the most. I could never get them to look as nice as they did under my MH. I suspect alot of the people who really like LED are more into LPS collecting? I am admittedly very picky. I wasn't a big fan of T5 for the same reason.

Here is my tank

 

[Liquid360]

Yes I've got some millepora, bonsai acro, misc acro... all doing very well! The bonsai was near death when I got it about to be tossed. It's now showing its green again after a month. Also recently got a chalice frag thats doing much better. I still have my halides and if I believed for a moment they'd be doing better under them I'd pull them back out quite happily.

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[Liquid360]

Very very nice tank! I simply believe the benefits of LEDs are greater than that of MH.

Do you have any SPS in there?

When i tried LED some corsls looked really nice and "popped" but Acropora coloration is what bothered me the most. I could never get them to look as nice as they did under my MH. I suspect alot of the people who really like LED are more into LPS collecting? I am admittedly very picky. I wasn't a big fan of T5 for the same reason.

Here is my tank

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[Liquid360]

Here's my tank back when I ran 250w MH....

and LEDs...

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[Mrfresh]

I love my LEDs, just don't be cheap it's what keep ur corals alive spend the money on some nice ones
I have ran MH t5s and LEDs... I will never go back to either one... LEDs all the way

Ai Vega blues

 

[spidermandz]

I need a 48 inch fixture for my 75 gallon that can do sps and lps for $200 or less I know it's asking a lot I guess I could do 250 someone help!


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[reefinghabit78]

i have personally run 250 watt german hqi halides on a 125 and had excellent color intensity and growth,i am now running an led setup with dimmable l.e.d's,i honestly have not noticed any negative effects from switching over to the l.e.d unit,i see equivalent color spectrum similar shimmering effect,the most important thing about l.e.d is the par or amount of focused light that penetrates the water. l.e.d are disuisingly intense,they focus a huge amount of intensity in a 60 to 90 degree pattern.i am successfully growing delicate s.p.s and l.p.s. I am extremely happy I made the switch to l.e.d's. as a current user I am amazed at how these l.e.d units really work. I will not go back to heavy ballast and expensive bulbs. I don't miss all that extreme heat either. I highly suggest any l.e.d unit.

 

[reefinghabit78]

these corals are growing under 120 watt dimmable l.e.d's using only 50% actinic power and 30% white l.e.d power. same growth rates I was getting under 250 watt german hqi.

 

[reefinghabit78]

I purchased a cheap setup leds on ebay for $180 120 watt fully dimmable. check them out Brooklyn_reef_keeper,thats his selling name.i love them.

I need a 48 inch fixture for my 75 gallon that can do sps and lps for $200 or less I know it's asking a lot I guess I could do 250 someone help!


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[ruppertb]

I have used pc t5 halide and led. I hated my halides as I got very bad par readings. Maybe it was my balasts. Some corals I had for over a year under MH have grown more in the last 6 months under my diy cree led setup on my 28gal. This includes chalices favias tyree ponape birdsnest and purple tip validia. The sps looks better and has grown faster under leds.

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[Paparchasa84]

I completely agree with LEDs. I've only been reef keeping for a year and once I switched over to my Vegas its been like night and day. Everything seems to thrive much better stays open longer and overall seems to be happy. I've got a friend who has a 180 and once I made the switch I talked him into the Vegas and he said by fat the best investment he's made. He's been in the hobby 10 years. There are so many modes to help keep, maintain, and go above what the other lights can do. Just don't be cheap on whatever lights you get.

 

[mcarroll]

Just curious on everyone's opinion... a lot of stores and reefers are switching over...

"Better" is a pretty meaningless term if you don't give any context.

As a result you've seen people say "better" equates to everything from giving your tank an unnatural pink, purple or blue color to using less power.

While true - you can make your tank look silly while saving power - your really have to define what "better" is to you.

Excessive power usage (=heat) and the unforgiving bulb-replacement cycle of t5/MH are their two main downsides. By the same token, the lack of these two "features" is what primarily recommends LED for the job. Any LED system you could buy or make would solve those two problems.

Before LED, so-called 20,000K MH reasonably emulated a deep-water environment and was the premier reef lighting technology and T5 was the premier technology for people who like to play with their lighting. Potential efficiency and effectiveness were about the same in the right hands.

Today in the "LED age" you still see one camp of reefers playing with their light and another camp setting up naturalistic lighting scenarios. Again, potential efficiency and effectiveness are about the same in the right hands.

(You may have noticed that the "right hands" are more important than equipment choices.)

So, the question is: What's important to you? ;)

-Matt

P.S. I replaced my Radium MH system with a blue and white DIY GU10-based LED setup. DIY cost was about the same as one set of replacement halide bulbs. Me and my SPS tank really like it. :)