barndtman84
Community Member
hey i was just curious what peoples thoughts were on using both metal halides and LED's and i'm refering to LED strip lights as a supplimental lighting that would replace reg pc compact actinics or flourecents? Like i'm currently growing sps lps and zoanthid frags but mostly higher end sps in a 55 gallon long tank with a coralife MH fixture that has 2 150watt DE HQI 14K ushio bulbs which i just got to replace my beloved 14K pheonix's which was only b/c i got them super cheap from a friend, but anyhow i have had a 24" deep blue and 36" 12K/453nm blue truelumen Pro LED strips which i mounted to the fixture, and i have def seen an increase in color and growth plus i have 3 different setting.
I just got in yesterday 2 12K ecoxotic panorama pro 12" modules and one RGB with an inline dimmer which if u didnt know u can use to dim ur truelumens as well and its like $12-$14 depending on where u order it from and both companys use the EXACT same power supply only its $15 less if u get it from/for the ecoxotic. Now i didnt get the remote/controller for the RGB yet because its not in stock at premiumaquatics yet.
But basically i wanted orignally get rid of the truelumens and just keep the MH's and the 3 ecoxotic LED modules but after hooking up my 2 12K's i must say WOW those new ecoxotics are freakin bright and def the best LED's i've ever gotten as a strip for under $100. They blow the truelumens outta the water IMO and in overall PAR from what i've read. So now i dont know if i should keep all the LED's and just run them without the MH fixture or just the MH's and the ecoxotics or all of them (which im afraid is overkill and usless) but but here a ?? maybe someone can answer when i had the truelumens and the ushio 14K's running i noticed that the ushio's are very yellow in comparison to my 14K pheonix's but the also are only at about 50 hours so i still think they need more time to break in.But will adding the ecoxotics 2 12K's and 1 RGB plus the truelumens make the tank look more bluish or even whiter?
My goal is to get not just one or 2 spectrums but as many of the ones that make growth and color better into one tank and so i figured using MH's plus a few different LED's would be the best way to do this on my budget. So i would like ot here any comments from people who have also gone this route or know about this and have some tips. B/c i sell frags outta my house and long story but lost my license for a year so i figured perfect opportunity to try and focus on what i hope to one day be my buisiness lol. So sorry for rambling but i cant ever seem to find threads or posts that talk about using both metal halides and LED's but not just for blue but white supplimentation. And up untill recently there wasnt really any LED strips that were powerful enough to add growth at least a significant amount and color to sps corals. I also have 2 blue moon LED fixtures over my 90 gal so i already have the proof that led's can grow all types of corals but i figured why not give these little guys the best of both worlds..and yes i know i rambled alot sorry lol adderall is great for researching but makes me wanna talk or type alot. but seriously anyone who could add anything that would be helpful or interesting to this topic would be very much apriciated.
I just got in yesterday 2 12K ecoxotic panorama pro 12" modules and one RGB with an inline dimmer which if u didnt know u can use to dim ur truelumens as well and its like $12-$14 depending on where u order it from and both companys use the EXACT same power supply only its $15 less if u get it from/for the ecoxotic. Now i didnt get the remote/controller for the RGB yet because its not in stock at premiumaquatics yet.
But basically i wanted orignally get rid of the truelumens and just keep the MH's and the 3 ecoxotic LED modules but after hooking up my 2 12K's i must say WOW those new ecoxotics are freakin bright and def the best LED's i've ever gotten as a strip for under $100. They blow the truelumens outta the water IMO and in overall PAR from what i've read. So now i dont know if i should keep all the LED's and just run them without the MH fixture or just the MH's and the ecoxotics or all of them (which im afraid is overkill and usless) but but here a ?? maybe someone can answer when i had the truelumens and the ushio 14K's running i noticed that the ushio's are very yellow in comparison to my 14K pheonix's but the also are only at about 50 hours so i still think they need more time to break in.But will adding the ecoxotics 2 12K's and 1 RGB plus the truelumens make the tank look more bluish or even whiter?
My goal is to get not just one or 2 spectrums but as many of the ones that make growth and color better into one tank and so i figured using MH's plus a few different LED's would be the best way to do this on my budget. So i would like ot here any comments from people who have also gone this route or know about this and have some tips. B/c i sell frags outta my house and long story but lost my license for a year so i figured perfect opportunity to try and focus on what i hope to one day be my buisiness lol. So sorry for rambling but i cant ever seem to find threads or posts that talk about using both metal halides and LED's but not just for blue but white supplimentation. And up untill recently there wasnt really any LED strips that were powerful enough to add growth at least a significant amount and color to sps corals. I also have 2 blue moon LED fixtures over my 90 gal so i already have the proof that led's can grow all types of corals but i figured why not give these little guys the best of both worlds..and yes i know i rambled alot sorry lol adderall is great for researching but makes me wanna talk or type alot. but seriously anyone who could add anything that would be helpful or interesting to this topic would be very much apriciated.
