Halide to LED...making the switch

Vmacisback · Oct 13, 2013

Ive been reefing for a long time now and my main focus has been sps. I went to reefapalooza today and pretty much did not see a single MH over a display. The corals looked great and i picked up quite a few sps from various vendors. My last stop was the AI booth the check out the AI Hydra 52. Overall it was pretty impressive especially under control of the AI Director. Granted this light hasn't hit the market yet I am thinking this may be my first step into switching over my tank to LED.

I am looking for some success stories and pictures would be great of people who have switched over from MH to LED's. Please list the follwing and pictures if you have them. Thanks

Old MH setup:
New LED light setup:
Overall thoughts after making the switch:

Thanks again.

Dog Boy Dave · Oct 13, 2013

Hello, I have a 60 inch by 45 inch 27 inch deep SPS tank. The main tank drains into 3 sumps. Each sump is also lit in sections. The main tank is about 7 years old. When I set it up 7 years ago, many of the corals were moved into the main tank from my old 189 gallon wall so many of the corals have been in my possession for ten plus years. The new main tank was lit by 6 400 watt halides with various mixed bulbs to give me a pleasing mix. I ran the lights close , less than a foot off of the tank for 12 hours a day. The corals grew great and colors were spectacular. I have numerous threads showing this tank on another site so I wont re-post here but they are easy to find if you search. I also have many you tube video links on this site. Any way I loved the halides but I live in Florida and the heat and energy cost was becoming unsustainable. So about two years ago, I decided to build some LEDS. One of my careers was as an avionics tech so it wasn't that big a deal as far as the engineering and assembly went. I used rapid LED recommended LEDS, 2 types of Blue lamps and 2 types of whites. I applied them to my tank in August of 2012. I spent about 1500 total to bulid 4 24 ich fixtures with four strings of LEDs on each fixture. At first the corals responded well to the lights. My electric bill dropped over 200 dollars a month and my AC and chiller started turning off sometimes. The corals colors were OK, but nothing like they had been under the halides. Most people who saw them thought they looked great but I wasn't happy. I lost a lot of my reds and the blues didn't pop . They had a grey tinge. In Feb of 2013 I had some surgery and during my recovery period, I lost a couple of blue LED strings. I wasn't able to address it for a couple of months. However the corals were looking pretty rough do to the lights failing and lack of tank maintenance. As i recovered i realized i needed to do something quick so i ordered a Chinese LED off of Ebay for $179 delivered. The light had additional colored lamps in addition to the traditional blue and white. I planed to use it to replace one of my failed fixtures so I could remove it and do a repair. I installed it and immediately noticed a better color rendition. The corals underneath the multi band led improved ever day. So I bought three more and installed them in addition to my homemade fixtures. They are so much better than what I was able to build its stupid. The corals underneath the multi-band lights grow better and are as colorful as they ever were underneath the halides. In conclusion I love the corals underneath the multi spec LED fixtures. The reds and blues really pop. I did not like them underneath the 4 band blue white fixtures. Any LED fixture in the future I use for sps will have more than just the traditional blue/white mix. I have also used Halides and LEDs in my sumps I find my LPS corals do fine under a commercial blue/white led fixture. I also find that LED tanks are more sensitive to ranges of chemistry and light. The Halide tanks are much more forgiving. The LED tanks are much easier to over light or under light and they also seem to respond more to stress.

mike007 · Oct 13, 2013

If you are not electricaly inclined i would suggest buying from a known company. Most of them will help you size according to tank size. I switched from halides to leds about 8 months ago and i love them. Along with the energy savings and cooler tank temps my sps growth has been great. After lots of research i went with the Orphecs PR reef 156 leds.These guys were lots of help and have no regrets.

Touring · Oct 13, 2013

Reef radiance lumentek pro's without a doubt.

Vmacisback · Oct 16, 2013

any thoughts on the new hydra 52 coming out soon?

Scribe · Oct 16, 2013

Following along. I'm running 2x 250 Mh Pheonix 14k over my 90 mixed reef, and until recently 2x 39 watt actinics. I just ordered the ever glow it2080, and am real curious to see people's replies to this thread. I know the ever glow is full spectrum so I feel better after reading Dog by Dave's post.

1.0reef · Oct 16, 2013

Razor, Celestial spotlight, Reefbreeders, DIY

StevenBell · Oct 16, 2013

Orphek Atlantik full spectrum

J Rog · Oct 16, 2013

No Radion fans on here?

IBEW41 · Oct 16, 2013

I went from 2 250w radiums to ati 8 lamp t5 to 3 radion leds will not go back great color and growth

Vmacisback · Oct 17, 2013

1.0reef said:
Razor, Celestial spotlight, Reefbreeders, DIY

are you just throwing names out or can you attest to these lights and how they perform?

Vmacisback · Oct 17, 2013

StevenBell said:
Orphek Atlantik full spectrum

appreciate the name drop but maybe you wanna be a little more in depth? is that what you run over you sps setup? Im looking for a reason to switch not just a brand name of a light.

Vmacisback · Oct 17, 2013

Dog Boy Dave said:
Hello, I have a 60 inch by 45 inch 27 inch deep SPS tank. The main tank drains into 3 sumps. Each sump is also lit in sections. The main tank is about 7 years old. When I set it up 7 years ago, many of the corals were moved into the main tank from my old 189 gallon wall so many of the corals have been in my possession for ten plus years. The new main tank was lit by 6 400 watt halides with various mixed bulbs to give me a pleasing mix. I ran the lights close , less than a foot off of the tank for 12 hours a day. The corals grew great and colors were spectacular. I have numerous threads showing this tank on another site so I wont re-post here but they are easy to find if you search. I also have many you tube video links on this site. Any way I loved the halides but I live in Florida and the heat and energy cost was becoming unsustainable. So about two years ago, I decided to build some LEDS. One of my careers was as an avionics tech so it wasn't that big a deal as far as the engineering and assembly went. I used rapid LED recommended LEDS, 2 types of Blue lamps and 2 types of whites. I applied them to my tank in August of 2012. I spent about 1500 total to bulid 4 24 ich fixtures with four strings of LEDs on each fixture. At first the corals responded well to the lights. My electric bill dropped over 200 dollars a month and my AC and chiller started turning off sometimes. The corals colors were OK, but nothing like they had been under the halides. Most people who saw them thought they looked great but I wasn't happy. I lost a lot of my reds and the blues didn't pop . They had a grey tinge. In Feb of 2013 I had some surgery and during my recovery period, I lost a couple of blue LED strings. I wasn't able to address it for a couple of months. However the corals were looking pretty rough do to the lights failing and lack of tank maintenance. As i recovered i realized i needed to do something quick so i ordered a Chinese LED off of Ebay for $179 delivered. The light had additional colored lamps in addition to the traditional blue and white. I planed to use it to replace one of my failed fixtures so I could remove it and do a repair. I installed it and immediately noticed a better color rendition. The corals underneath the multi band led improved ever day. So I bought three more and installed them in addition to my homemade fixtures. They are so much better than what I was able to build its stupid. The corals underneath the multi-band lights grow better and are as colorful as they ever were underneath the halides. In conclusion I love the corals underneath the multi spec LED fixtures. The reds and blues really pop. I did not like them underneath the 4 band blue white fixtures. Any LED fixture in the future I use for sps will have more than just the traditional blue/white mix. I have also used Halides and LEDs in my sumps I find my LPS corals do fine under a commercial blue/white led fixture. I also find that LED tanks are more sensitive to ranges of chemistry and light. The Halide tanks are much more forgiving. The LED tanks are much easier to over light or under light and they also seem to respond more to stress.

Thanks dave its stuff like this that makes the switch more likely.

Karl Hevacheck · Oct 17, 2013

It seems like more and more people are making the same switch these days. I hope you find what you're looking for. I went from mh to DIY LEDs to ocean revives. I like them. I have no complaints. I might do a half mh, half led on my next tank.

1.0reef · Oct 17, 2013

Vmacisback said:
are you just throwing names out or can you attest to these lights and how they perform?

DIY: If done properly is best, you can get Luxeon M's or the large Bridgelux NW's, you can make the best spectrum, and it's fully customizable.
Reefbreeders: Not going to waste my time, search it, cheap, not the best leds, but good spectrum and most if not all tanks under them look great, and the owners agree.
Razor: Love this light, mine looked better than my halide IMO, good spectrum, most seem to be happy with it.
Celestial: No, but the specs make it look like Kessil that's cheaper, controllable, bulkier, and way better spectrum. Already impresses me.

CastAway · Oct 17, 2013

StevenBell said:
Orphek Atlantik full spectrum

Do you run Atlantiks Steven? Thinking about buying those myself? If you do, give us some pros and cons.

childress5tyler · Oct 18, 2013

Vmacisback said:
appreciate the name drop but maybe you wanna be a little more in depth? is that what you run over you sps setup? Im looking for a reason to switch not just a brand name of a light.

I'm not a fan of LEDs over SPS, to me halides are the way to go but if you're intersted in the Orpheks here is a tank on ReefBuilders that runs a very nice SPS tank under Orpheks. Take a look

Adee?s Sunlit Reef is Looking Even Better With LEDs

Pappy · Oct 18, 2013

I'm with dog boy Dave on LEDs, however, I did not build mine they were built by a friend. I have a DIY fixture with 3 watt Crees except they are a 2:1 royal blue:cool white ratio that rapid recommends as this spectrum is best for coral growth and color. Also there were reds and greens and 420 (I believe) blues added for more of a full spectrum look.

I know 4 tanks including mine which are mainly sps and grow and color like crazy. I've had mine for exactly 1 year now and will post pics soon as I was gonna create a 1 year growth thread.

LEDs are way more efficient and just as if not more powerful than halides when done correctly ime. The only issue I see is where people either go the cheap route and like anything else can't figure out why. Or blast full power and fry stuff. Or trust just because it is a good name means it's a good fixture (example ai sols, etc...)and wonder why their colors aren't as nice as before because it is a 1:1 ratio of blue:white with 60 degree optics.