Halides vs LED

I am by no means an SPS expert, but since I switched to LED's, I try to find out what type of lighting new corals were under in deciding what to buy. So far, the SPS that were initially grown under LED have acclimated quickly and maintained their color. Something thing to consider, as LED also represents yet another variable. in reefing.

 

Don't we all need second jobs for this hobby!

 

I think technically MHs actually still can put out out more 400-700nm light per watt, so, "total" efficiency is still actually better for halides. We like blue though and halides don't do blue as well, also, as you said they do not direct light as well. And infrared produces by MHs does act to heat the water, but evaporative cooling, from fans pointed at the surface seems to counter this pretty well.

 

And this is why I supplement my Radiums with CREE's, 6 RB, 4 Blue, and 6 Bridgelux UV (410nm).

 

How long do MH bulbs last? The Ballasts?
The chillers?

LED's last how long?

For me, Money and efficiency IS an object.

 

The diodes supposedly last 50000 hours...though none of the new diodes have been tested for that long, so that is speculative. The drivers don't last anywhere near that.

Halide lamps go for a year, possibly more. Quality ballasts last for 5-10 years. Cost for a quality LED fixture is 3x the price up front compared to comparable Halide setup. Personally, my MH didn't raise my electric bill noticeably, so, for me, that was negligible. Chiller is not needed in my case because my setup was designed properly. Cost per year for my setup will be less than $150 to maintain. New ballast $80-100. Both ways can and will work...those that haven't tried seem to think it won't.

 

I had 2 AI Sol blue units over our 65g, 3 AI Sol blue units over our 125g and now 3 AI Sol blue units over our 180g and I love them. I love having the ability to set any color I want. Sometimes I want more of a whiter tank while other times I want a darker blue look. I also love the moon cycle feature that will follow the pattern of the moon and keep your tank lit up at night during fuller moons. I also like how they will ramp up and ramp down. They also produce almost no heat and consume a lot less energy.

We've been able to successfully keep sps and lps corals with no problems at all.

 

And for even less $$, (less features of course too), you can have the 120W TaoTronics, which I have been using 2 over my 125mixed reef.
I'm even keeping and growing sps, no problem.
I think they were $115 shipped to my door each. Mine are the non dimmables. NO features- like the old stripped down, basic pick up truck.
I'd recommed the newer, multi color, dimmable ones.

 

I too have 2 AI Sol blue and they are awesome. I replaced 2x 250 MH, 4 x 54 watt t5, that is a total of 712 watts not counting the fans, chiller and the two electronic ballasts as they always get really warm at times. With the 2 AI Sols which are rated at 72 watts each that's a total of 144 watts. I don't see how the MH fans can say there isn't much difference in efficiency. They should do the math. But anyway, I love these lights, I can't get enough out of them. To all MH fans, I just want to say I have nothing against MH. I also used MH for a long time but technology is now here so take advantage. Eversince I started using the LEDs I am now saving at least $26 a month on electricity. Thats like the money I can use on my monthly supply of salt.

 

led's vs the world

I'm afraid I've been around long enough to see aquarium lighting progress from incadescent bulbs to leds. I've had most forms of lighting on reef tanks, all with some degree of success. My 75 ran for years with vho's that had soft corals and lps corals taking over the tank. I think my use of mh in earlier years produced the most natural looking tanks. But I found mh to be noisy and expensive, same with vho's and compacts which produced lots of heat and all called for frequent lamp replacement and the occasional ballast. Over the last year I've begun to home build led systems with the cree led's. My sps corals have gone from small frags to large mother colonies that have amazed me with their growth and colors. I think the problems reefers are often having with led lights is the off the shelf fixtures may look bright but don't necessarily provide the intensity or penetration needed. With the diy systems you can control the wattage, color, lenses for depth and spread. Also they take up less space over the tanks than flourescent. Cost wise the led's are far cheaper in the long run. The component cost of the system on my 75 was less than two years of lamp changes and the cost of one ballast. About the same with my mh system. If the system lasts only four years its cost was half that of the vho or mh and that's without differences in the cost of electricity to power it. In my view the best system in the one you have success with but some cost less in the long run and with the right tweeking can also be successful.