Looking to switch over to LED but who should I choose?

[Eternal]

There is one on rc but the oraganizer is not shipping so if you live in gardena, ca. you can get in on it. I have only found it for sale at aquarium specialty

 

[Just Clownin Around]

AquaIllumination Sol Blues...

par crazy. sickest ones ive seen besides the ones i built

 

[Patsquatch]

I love mine! Saving a lot of power, And seeing more color taboot!

Planet Aquaria Reef Smart 120

 

[Hammmerhead]

Just food for thought.

My wholesaler asked me to create a fixture to replace his 400 watt MH Radiums. The requirements were same or better colour and same PAR.

To be honest we fell short on the spread as he was using luminarc reflectors. Anyway he plans on eventually replacing every fixture as the bulbs go bad due to air conditioning and bulb replacement costs.

This is our 24" strip kit featured in our optics evaluation.

LEDs offer maximum flexibility. You can add a few LEDs with a specific spectrum to tweak colour and PAR...Yes the difference in looks between the 10K Ushio and 10K XM is huge but with the proper research you can obtain the same results with quality LEDs at half the energy and an 11 year lifespan.

Bill

Thanks Bill.
I wasnt comparing LED's to MH's. I was simply expressing a point that what your eye likes and what a PAR meter tells you can be two different things. Unlike LED's, MH ballast and bulb par readings are posted all over the net, so most people know the compromises that are involved in ballast and bulb combo's and color vs growth. LED's are still new and without any PAR readings you are taking a risk unless you know what Diodes you are getting and exactly how hard they are being driven. As far as Ushio 10K's and XM 10K's, I can run them side by side and not see the difference, but it probably has to do with me running 640 watts of Actinics. I am excited about the LED setups that seem to be taking off well. The one unit I have been able to watch the results has shown good growth and awesome color. I look forward to converting to an LED setup one of these days.

 

[chappy]

wondering what is the universal height people are hanging the fixtures off their tanks

 

[chappy]

speaking of PAR meters..............anyone got a lead on a deal on an apogee? they dont seem to be sold at many places, I remember seeing some group buy pricing and whatnot on some forums a while back.......

C

if you want to borrow mine lmk sent ya a pm

 

[swannyson7]

wondering what is the universal height people are hanging the fixtures off their tanks

I have three of Luke's fixtures over my 180 and they're about 5" off the water

 

[Seasonedreefer]

I'm just wondering if Lukes fixture would be too much light/par as I do have some lower light corals at the bottom. i.e. Chalices, Fungia, lobos, wellsi, etc. I'm trying to achieve a mixed reef. I do also house alot of sps too. Monti's and higher end Acros. At the middle and top of the tank. I just don't wanna torch my lower light corals at the bottom. Luke said his fixture outputs around 400 par at 24 inches I'm worried that will be too much for my lower light corals.

 

[gar732]

I still think the reefkoi lights would be a good fit for a 75gal mixed reef. However if you plan on upgrading in the future you might be better off going with Luke's and raising them.

 

[Seasonedreefer]

I love knowing that I'll have plenty of par with led lighting but how much is too much you know? I don't want to bleach out or kill any of my lower light corals but at the same time I don't want drab colored sps. I want the growth and the color to be there. But I still wanna maintain that mixture of coral species.

 

[inactive]

Acclimate everything as you would to any high light system.

I don't understand why people are so scared of burning stuff out.. It's like LEDs are their first high light system.. anyone who has stuffed T5's over a display, or owned MH should know a little how how to deal with corals and high light.

 

[Seasonedreefer]

Kraylen, I have metal halides and I under stand the acclimation process. But who takes and elephant gun rabbit hunting? Ok so maybe that isn't the best analogy but from what I've read on LEDs thus far they talk them up to the be the holy grail of lighting a ridiculously powerful lighting system. I dunno if it's all hype or not but talk of 150w led fixture crushing 400 w metal halides in both par and brightness. It can be a little overwhelming. Why put your coral through more stress than absolutely necessary. I think with what ever system I go with regardless I will probably have to acclimate them to it. With all this being said I am also the type of person that likes the instant gratification. So the less acclimation the better. : )

 

[inactive]

Yes they are powerful, most people burning stuff have too much light on their systems and/or burn stuff with their other lighting as well.

 

[johnanddawn]

what your both forgetting is that it is more than simply an intensity change
LED's have a very specific spectrum - not spikes here and there or even a smear of color thoughout the spectrum, but one frequency of light
even if one uses a combination of LEDs its hard to replicate MH or T5's let alone the solar spectrum

the acclimation process has to take this into consideration, this i think is the biggest challange
I have found once acclimated corals do just fine but care must be taken

 

[LILBUDDHA]

what your both forgetting is that it is more than simply an intensity change
LED's have a very specific spectrum - not spikes here and there or even a smear of color thoughout the spectrum, but one frequency of light
even if one uses a combination of LEDs its hard to replicate MH or T5's let alone the solar spectrum

the acclimation process has to take this into consideration, this i think is the biggest challange
I have found once acclimated corals do just fine but care must be taken

+1 .
Everything I have read indicates it should be a slow process very similar to swapping out old to new halides . I have researched a lot on led's and a common mistake is we use our eyes . Leds will trick you into thinking it's not that bright . Next thing you know the time duration is on a normal lighting cycle . The owners that have output adjustment capabilites are cranking the lights up ending up with shocked corals or so burnt corals . This weekend I will be setting up my fixture and even though I do not own a par meter I will definitely take the advise to take it slow , increasing the output week by week .

 

[Seasonedreefer]

Still after all this research and talk of LED's im still not knowing what I want to get ***!

 

[mojo]

hey corey if you want all LED and great bang for the buck. The reefkoi led setup is hard to beat.

Mojo~
Jess

 

[litenyaup]

Just ordered three of the 119 1watt fixtures!! Can't wait to get them!!

 

[nicks387]

I have a 36 x 24 frag tank that is only 16 inches deep and It will be an sps frag / growout tank. What would you guys recomend? I am thinking of the 200w Reefkoi fixture but its only 5.5 inches wide by 27 long, I am having doubts it can spread the 24x 36 span? I mean 5.5 inches wide covering 24 inches of tank width seems unlikely. Am I better off with two 119w ones or 1 200w or just a diy fixture?

 

[condor]

the best IMO is ACAN LIGHTING....ive seen the 36" in action and growth over 4 months and this fixture is insane
built in timer and soooo sleek in design just like a hand built Italian car stereo amp. :still_dreaming:

also the intensity output is adjstable