At work, I deal with LED's. I've dealt with several different brand, over several years. I'm not impressed with any of them. I've seen way to many people spend four figures on LED lights only to have them break down in six months. Half the LED's we have over our coral tanks aren't working right, and we have a stack of broken down LED fixtures in the back. At home, I run MH's. I can bring home ugly little sticks from the shop, place them under my Radiums, and watch them turn into beautifully colored corals. I can take bright colored frags from my tank, place them under the LED's at work, and watch them turn into ugly little sticks.
Every new light technology that comes out gets compared to MH's. It's always the same argument. "If I pack enough of these new lights on top of my tank they'll work just as well as one MH." Personally, with thousands invested in coral, I'd rather use the lights that set the bar. Not those that are struggling to be as good as the lights that set the bar. There's a reason everyone wants to compare themselves to MH's.
Yes, MH's cost me a little more to run. I've done the math and changing one MH to LED's would save me somewhere around twenty bucks a month, in electricity and bulb replacement. That's IF the LED doesn't break down. So, the question for me is simple. Is it worth giving up the reliability and performance of MH's to save myself twenty bucks a month? IMHO, when there are thousands of dollars in corals at stake, the answer is, NO. I'll spend the twenty bucks. I blow twenty buck a month in much worse ways. At least I don't have to worry about my corals getting the proper light, or the shading that comes along with LED's, or if all of my LED's are going to come on like they should. All I have to do is watch my bright colored sticks grow like weeds and spend my twenty bucks.
