Not Quite Sold on LED Lighting

Sure from this thread, there are lot of LED spectral plots.

Tropical Fish Forum|GoldFish|Aquarium Fish|Tanks - 3reef.com
larger-bridgelux-few-chinese-leds-129292.html


Here is one of Rebel Neutral White and 2 Royal Blues



and one of Cree XPG Neutral White, 2 XPE Royal Blue


and one of XPG Neutral White, XPE Royal, XPE Blue ("cool blue")


and one of XPG Neutral White, XPE Royal, Rebel Cyan



Now, from Sanjay Joshi's Manhatan reef lighting site, here are some metal halides

Phoenix 250W MH



Giesmann 250W coral 13000K


Hamilton 14000K


XM 10000K



Notice something? None of the halides are necessarily that similar to other halides, nor are the LEDs necessarily similar to LEDs. It depends which LEDs and halides your comparing. There is a difference though. The leds have much smoother curves and the halides much more spiked peaks. LEDs may have gaps, but so can halides
. You can buy LEDs to fill whatever gaps you want these days though. If someone uses one combination, you can't apply that to all LEDs LOL.


Now, look up the spectrum of the sun it's actually much smoother, like the LEDs.

 

I totally agree with the bolded statement

I think LEDS are not quite at their best in terms of spectrum but they are close enough for majority of tanks and it is only a matter of time before the right combinations are dialed in. Even with this in mind, the other benefits of LEDs still make it a better option.

 

I ran leds for a short time. My anemone turned itself over facing the sand and hid behind a rock. I had t5s before leds and they did ok.. I switched to MH 2 weeks ago and just recently put in 2 Phoenix 14k and within a day anemone was back upright and bigger then ever before. And mushrooms double the size within a week. I never saw zoas and leathers so full and big till I went to MH. Very pleased. Not to say down the road when technology gets better and the price decides to come down I may decide to go back to leds. But for now I'm digging the MH better.

 

What does that mean? and which LEDs are you referring to?

Sorry, but making any sort of general statement bout halides OR LEDs seems completely ridiculous. If you look at the data, there is soooo much variation. So, unless, you can define specifically what you are referring too by " not quite at their best in terms of spectrum" I am going to call BS

 

This has been very informative guys and I thank you all. Small she may be, I'm looking at the AI Nano for my 26g, which is presently being lite by the Aquaticlife 4x24 t5ho. At 11" from the light my Crocea is very happy. My reasons for wanting to go with AI Nano has actually nothing to do with coral growth. I keep no sps but 1. It's all about convenience and fun. I also want my corals to look the same in my tank as they do in the pictures after I buy em

 

I would agree that the usually 2blue to 1 white isn't the best spectrum visually. But the new Ecotech light sure doesn't seem to be missing anything. Visually it looks amazing and the 2 people I know that have switched are both feeling like the corals are improving over there previous set ups.. Truth be told I bet both of them are paying more attention to other maintenance items because of the tank getting back some newness factor due to new lighting and that is probably more to blame than the LEDs. lol

 

From what leds, configuration, and optics.. to what MH bulb, ballast and reflector?

Led isn't the problem.. the led you got in comparison the MH you got is your issue sir.

 

I like the idea of a combination of let's say t5's and led (strips). The t5 bulbs help with the growth of the corals while the LEDs provide that 'psychedelic' look and shimmer look that we all strive for. IMO.

 

Not all LED's are created equal and not all tanks are created equal. What may work in ones tank may not work in another tank. IMHO unless you have tested every LED that is out there and did your own analysis, only you know what works for your tank and what doesn't work for your tank. Mr. Saltwater tank shot LED's down and before he sold his tank went all LED with the Ecotechs.

 

I have defined several times... call it BS all you want :.

You are showing different spectrum for different color temps of halides, of course they are different. But those halides have pretty much the same peaks, just different intensities giving different colors. And I am sure alot of halide users have debated about which halides are the best for coral growth as well.

Since ALL LEDS have a narrower spectral range you have to mix and match to get a similar spectra as one bulb of metal halide. You can't say that running 1:1 RB:CW is the same as running a fuller spectrum with CW/NW/RB/B/UV/greens/red etc.This is where the 'room for improvement' comes in.

And this is where more testing between the fixtures would be very helpful. Take the best LEDs and mix and match various colors and pit them against the best halide. Are you saying that they will all show identical growth?