LED Lighting ?

HI , I currently have 4 T-8 tubes for lighting but have found that in the UK there is a new lighting system out to suposedly replace the exspensive to run halide lighting systems. Has anyone here got them and are they any good? I have been on a diff marine forum and people are raving about them saying they are so good due to low heat output, low electric cost and there is no need for a chiller unit which i guess is another big plus! Also they are claming that you can keep corals under them and that they are healthy, mutiply and grow very fast.
If anyone has any helpful input that would be graet,
Thanks K

 

LED : light-emitting-diode

They are great just most of the time they are way to expensive I have found. LED lighting is the for sure next stage in lighting.

 

well yeah LEDs come in all different types probably for lighting they use super brights, LEDs put out about no heat at all and the use almost no electricity so yeah if they were bright LEDs and there was enough you could grow corals

 

as beamerhack said, they are getting very good reviews, but are very expensive right now.

 

I haven't seen any long term reviews... personally, I'm very interested in them to replace my T5's... but I'll wait and let someone else use them for a few years first.

Who knows? They might be great at first, but over time, corals might not like them... I've only seen reviews where they were in use for days, weeks, or months... And well, you can keep some corals for a few days without any light at all... so I don't really buy into those reviews...

Or maybe I've just missed the longer term reviews... But I have high hopes that they will turn out to be awesome for most corals over the life of a tank...

Must my two cents.

 

If you have the money for them, spend it and get them. Life is too short to keep waiting.

 

Well i have done aload off reserch and i think im gonna go with 4 X LED lighting bars for my tank! They will set me back £380 (Im in the UK) This will be the start and as i have quite a deep tank i can all ways add more lighting bars!. I have spoken to a manufactures that make the led lights and they did say i would only need 4 so we will see. The bars come in diff colours : marine white, Reef white, Marine blue, Reef blue & mixed marine white & blue. The led people said i would need 2 X marine white & 2 X mixed marine white & blue.
Will be upgrading to the led lighting asap after christmas!
Any other info on this would be great,
Thanks K

 

I've actually heard the opposite on the LED lights.... There is a thread on RC(I know, I know...) That is titled the Solaris thread in homage to the light in question. I have read nothing but scathing reviews and people saying it was the biggest waste of $2000-$3000 ever.... They claim issue with balasts and bulbs going out, the issue with the controller and so on. All I can say personally is when I saw it in person I thought it would be brighter, it is dim in my opinion. I am used to MH and T5 that is just BRIGHT, not the case with the LEDs.
While I believe they ARE the wave of the future I personally wouldn't invest in them yet. Just like any technology, when it comes out it is overpriced and full of gliches, give it a few years and companies are giving it away and is now "bug-proof"
I remember when my parents bought their first desk top, it was a little over $3000 and it was awful!! ;-)
Anyway, good luck with the light and good luck to all those who have them or are planning on it!!

Happy reefing!

 

Hey Guys,
I was interested in this, so I was looking around for prices. Not sure if this is what everyone is talking about but i found ones cheaper than what everyone is saying.

LED at Big Al's Online

 

thanks for all the input , its good to hear the good and the bad pionts!
Here is the website im planning on getting mine from if people are intrested? have a look and see what you think:
www.tmc-ltd.co.uk
They are called Aquaray solid state lighting
Thanks K:-/