I've been out of the hobby a few years. When I left LED was just breaking out. I personally love the look of halides for the intensity and shimmer. I just recently bought a 125 long rr tank and I'm going to start looking for lighting. If this was five or six years ago I would just start looking for 3x250w 18k halides and some actinic supplements, but I'm sure there's better options out there now. I predominantly fill my tanks with Lps and a few easy Sps up higher in my tanks. Is LED a viable option? What kind of power output should I go with if I choose LED? Will it give off the shimmer of halides? Will it grow like halides? Thanks in advance for your responses.
It's been a few years... LED vs Halides
- Thread starter coastalJ
- Start date
SynDen
Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
M.A.S.C President
M.A.S.C Webmaster
This is a can of worms kind of question lol There are a lot of differing opinions on this but really its going to come down to what you like.
As I see it LEDS have the advantage of running color, using less energy, fixtures usually last for many years and dont need frequent bulb changes. But they can often times have penetration problems in deeper tanks depending on the lens and if you want ones that you can adjust color, dimmers ect... they can get really expensive up front. Many LEDS however do give really nice wavey skimmer to the water, especially some of the high end ones like kessil
Halides generally beat LEDs in spectrum and penetration, but as I am sure you know they use alot of energy and run pretty hot so they need additional considerations for keeping them cool.
In the end though its really going to come down to personal preference. Many people try LEDs and love them, others love the MH look better and end up switching back in the end.
As I see it LEDS have the advantage of running color, using less energy, fixtures usually last for many years and dont need frequent bulb changes. But they can often times have penetration problems in deeper tanks depending on the lens and if you want ones that you can adjust color, dimmers ect... they can get really expensive up front. Many LEDS however do give really nice wavey skimmer to the water, especially some of the high end ones like kessil
Halides generally beat LEDs in spectrum and penetration, but as I am sure you know they use alot of energy and run pretty hot so they need additional considerations for keeping them cool.
In the end though its really going to come down to personal preference. Many people try LEDs and love them, others love the MH look better and end up switching back in the end.
This is going to be very interesting. I too believe it all comes down to what you think looks best and what grows coral best. I have never used halides myself but have heard nothing but good things in regards to coral growth. I chose not to use them because of the cost off bulb replacements, added heat and higher energy consumption. I started with a 17g tank and had a kessil 350w over it. I love that light. It grew everything I put in the tank. I now have a controllable kessil 160 over the 17g and moved the 350 over to a 40 breeder I started a year ago. I decided to add a 2 bulb t5 to get more spread and fill in some shadows. I will eventually get 2 160's to put over the 40 and move the 350 back over the 17g. I have a mixed reef and everything is growing really well and I love the colors. Here is an interesting talk on LEDs that took place at MACNA 2014
https://youtu.be/C7rpUQEorDU
https://youtu.be/C7rpUQEorDU
I find it very interesting that I can find pretty much all of the 2014 MACNA presentations online except the one on LED vs MH by Sanjay Joshi which to me was the most interesting. Not to mention its Sanjay pretty much the leading authority on the subject of lighting so youd think that is one we should be able to find.
Was his presentation just a little too much of a gut punch to the LED manufactures and it was taken down for political reasons? Just saying seems wierd.
Was his presentation just a little too much of a gut punch to the LED manufactures and it was taken down for political reasons? Just saying seems wierd.
Sanjay's presentation was really the only presentation I made a huge effort to attend. I don't remember the details but I definitely didn't get the feel that LED manufacturers had anything to fear from his message.
Actually, I believe he has run Radions over his personal SPS tank at home now for a while while. Then again, it's always possible that I have my facts mixed up.
Actually, I believe he has run Radions over his personal SPS tank at home now for a while while. Then again, it's always possible that I have my facts mixed up.
Yes he had been running Radion pros over his tank. Whether he is or not now I don't know but after speaking with him afterwards with a couple other folks I would be surprised he still is. Basically his conclusion was that by the time he added enough Radions to get the same coverage, par, growth etc. as MH the cost savings and energy efficiency that so many LED advocates like to argue is a complete wash unless you enter a chiller into the equation. If you combine that with the initial startup costs of quality fixtures and the fact that most people don't keep their LEDs for any substantial period of time before upgrading to the latest and greatest unit, bulb replacement costs start to become a wash as well.
then you add in his statement that he never did get the same growth rate as MH, I want to say he sited 70-80%. He did not meantion color in his speech this was the question I asked him later to which for some reason he didn't really answer, but the impression I got was he want as happy with the color. I have the feeling he was treading lightly and trying to report factual results without making ecotech or the Radion pro look bad in anyway.
dont get me wrong I ran several different Radions as well as AI LED fixtures when I started and I do like them and was successful to a certain point but in my oppinion based on my own personal experience, Sanjay's reaseach, as well as others I am close to in this hobby Watt for watt MH still grows coral better than LED.
I still think it's weird that BRS dosnt have Sanjay's presentation posted with all the rest. My guess is because they sell a lot of LEDs and much of his presentation basically revealed LEDs are not as great as many believe.