Not Quite Sold on LED Lighting

1 year warranty on my AI... My lfs has had the same "cheap" led fixture for 4 years now and has never changed anything... How many times have you changed bulbs in that time?

A hobbyist in my reef club is still using his PFO solaris with great success and that's around the same age as your t5 fixture...

 

What nice unit is all or nothing???? Most of them are modular. If a puck goes out on my AI, I replace a small board it takes about as long as a t5 replacement and costs only $25... less than a t5 bulb....

http://www.aquaillumination.com/support/replacement-parts.html
there is every replacement part... non of them are daunting or difficult.. or expensive for that matter.

$50 for a circuit board
$25 for a light puck...
$15 for a fan...

even if I had to replace all of that it would be less than one set of bulbs....

 

You need to understand though.. This board isn't for flighting "opinions" there are too many people that read this board and take it's statements for facts. So if a fair debate doesn't result a new member to our hobby will get the wrong idea. If you already know a lot of this, then all you have done is mislead new hobbyists just to make a statement.

 

I know personally with all the research and reading I have done and what I have seen personally. I mean my father and me have had many tanks and lighting systems. My LFS's changed to LED on some of theres. So I will throw what I have seen. My father use's MH with led blue tubes for backup and night lights. His tanks have been successful for years. I have gone from CF to T5 and with my new 93 cube build LED. I think they all have their strong points like Mr.bill said MH and t5 are proven. LED is still the new kid on the block. I think with DIY kits and other color spectrum LED's you can meet the needs of your tank. I am not sold on the pre made fixtures cause the price is so high. So my true test was my LFS took one of there frag tanks from T5 to a DIY led fixture. The colors look alot better to me and the corals are show alot more extension. The other kicker is they have had a tank up for 2 years now with an LED system and the grow has been great. So for the savings I will see in the long run. I am going to build myself a rapidled system.

 

The up front costs keeps coming into question.. For my tank I looked at it like this.
These are all real numbers I just pulled directly from webpages that were the best deal I found quickly and with there shipping costs. ( I rounded down for even numbers)

MH Ballast CoralVue 400w - $145 x 3 = $435
MH Reflector Lumenarc III - $150 x 3 = $450
MH Bulbs 14k Giesemann- $100 x 3 = $300
Aqua Euro 1/2hp chiller - $800 x 1 = $800
Accessories to mount and wire.... ???????

Total of - $1985...++(mounting and wiring easily $200)

Aqual illuminations 60" module... Aqua Illuminations 5 Modules Kit

$2182 after shipping includes all hanging and wiring needs and controller....
$2592 for the 6 bulb which some people may say is necessary to compare...

They cost the same for a new build.. just saying. and add that to no need to swap bulbs! and the energy savings! It's significant.

 

I don't quite agree with this comparison. I have never run a tank with halides and needed a chiller. This is especially true if your budgeting a lumenarc, which is designed to be hung high.

Also, my AI Sol is nowhere close to the output of my 400w radium, on a lumenbright. The radium gets over 800 PAR 6" below the surface and around 300 on the sand, over a roughly 24" area. This is with the fixture about 16" above the surface, so heat is pretty minimal. My AI is awesome, don't get me wrong, but this isn't an apples to apples comparison...

 

+1 I agree

 

For your comparison, yes- but it depends on what you need. Here's mine--

1 - 30" T5HO 2 x 24w w/individual reflectors - $85.00
2 - 24" 24w ATI bulbs - $40.00
1 - 24 hour timer - $5.00

Grand total - $130.00

 

Ahh, I thought I was definitely going to need a chiller. I have been told that many times.

That's 2 ai to 1 metal halide. And while maybe not as much par.. it's more than enough to power a full sps filled reef with full coloration... So what's par really worth after that point?

Even hung high on the metal halide with 3 400 watt.. I wouldn't need a chiller???.. my reef with leds and my house at a constant 70-72 runs at 79-80 degrees.. I can't imagine not having a chiller with that being my constant with no halides..

 

Ok...
2 ecoxotic panorama pro - $165
1 - 24 hour timer $5

Total...
$170
And after just one bulb replacement they are equal....