Not Quite Sold on LED Lighting

I don't think anyone with a climate controlled house, with a good reflector, would need a chiller. Heck, in college, on the top floor, of a shared house, where the temperature often approached 90, I got away with jut fans. This was on a 55g, with 2x250s and 2 florescents.

I've had a number of tanks with halides since, some in climate controlled houses/appts, some not. However, I've never come close to considering a chiller. I just upgraded my current tank to a 400, and it's winter, but it doesn't seem to have effected the amount the heater is on. Last summer, I was just running a 250, but the heater was on all summer, which was kind of annoying. We kept the house at about 76-78 all summer, the sump is in the basement, which stayed a few degrees cooler. I'm actually hoping the 400 takes some of the load of the heater, but it doesn't seem to be the case so far...

 

I had forgotten that the AI was modular-- is swapping out an LED reasonably easy? I know you can get the Cree LED anywhere online but does it pop out, and back in, reasonably easy?

Lol, any newcomer reading this thread is just learning what life is like in the reefing world. Go to grief-central and make a random post about a tang in a 75g tank and see if the thread stays civil for long.


I think threads like this, even though it's loaded with back-and-forth- can be very beneficial. Nobody here has gotten childish, at least.

 

You forgot the power supply (sold separately)- $35.00

Seriously though, this- and their 12LED PAR38 TriColor bulb are exactly what I'm watching, but both are fairly new offerings in the market. When I'm satisfied with one of the available color combinations and it's long-term ability to sustain corals without any adverse effects, then, and only then, will I pull the trigger.

 

Your experience with MH seems to be very different then everyone elses I have heard on here. Why do you think your MH lights don't give off heat?

 

Say what? I've been in the hobby over a decade and besides for a few LFS sales people, when I first started, I haven't met many people who claim you need a chiller with Halides. Fans work quite fine. Evaporation cooling works wonders. It depends on a few factors though. If you have a canopy, that will trap heat. If you have cheap reflectors, you'll need to keep them low, to get light in the tank. That will add heat. Remember, I said I'm running a lumen bright reflector, 16" above the tank and no canopy, so there is plenty of airflow. I don't actually run fans on this tank, but have in the past, when running cheaper reflectors.



For opinions on chillers though, here is a quick 3 reef search. There are plenty more, most responses will be similar.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/metal-halide-aquarium-lighting/chiller-needed-one-250w-mh-98592.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/metal-halide-aquarium-lighting/do-i-need-chiller-78209.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/metal-halide-aquarium-lighting/mhs-chillers-66038.html

 

Only requirement for a chiller would be a dead silent tank.

I am running 1600W of halide on a 6' tank in a completely enclosed hood. When my fans turn on in the hood, it actually lowers the tank temp. You read correctly, my tank is cooler with the halides running, because of proper cooling.


As for the whole LED thing.... I replaced 2 of my halides with LED pendants. They are 24 LED's per unit with 60 degree lenses. They replaced a cheap halide reflector with a decent (not great) bulb. I saw no difference growth wise. Didn't improve or slow down.

What I did notice is that heat is a major issue with them. If you do not have very good active cooling, your unit will fail... very quickly. Halides don't seem to care.

On another note... I recently replaced my Halide bulbs with Radiums.... They instantly burnt the heck out of my coral. I was amazed the difference between a high quality bulb and what I had been running. Major output that the LED's just can't come close to matching without a lot more of them. I am honestly not sure I would save any electricity by the time they matched output.

 

double post..... odd

 

Lol at the tang comment. I know I have learned a lot from the thread! It's funny how many misconceptions there are in both sides of the discussion. Myself included.

The ai doesn't let you replace a single led.. But a puck of three is only 25 from ai and very easy to exchange. 4 screws and plug and play from there.

 

How many LEDs does each AI puck drive? Since it's dimmable, I'm thinking that it might be a very attractive DIY piece (maybe with some fancy solder work) for smaller arrays.

What our hobby lacks is small drivers that are dimmable (and reliable) that can drive only a handful of LEDs. Our choices there are nearly limited exclusively to Buckpucks, which have a nasty reputation for cooking.

 

I don't think the puck includes a driver. Just 3 leds mounted to a circuit board.

Sent using tapatalk! Grammar and spelling should be forgiven!