LED v. 400 MH

[Navarchus]

Hey, it's been a while but I am back. I'm thinking of replacing my two 400W MH lights with LEDs. Has anyone had good (or bad) luck with LEDs? Can they grow corals, clams, etc.? I like the idea of LEDs because, (1) less heat, (2) less noise, (3) lower electric bills, (4) longer lamp life, (5) I just hate MH ballasts because they scare me around all that water.

Cost is not really an issue, because I think I will make up for any increased expense for LED by lowering electric bills and not needing to replace my lamp every year. I would really love to hear from those using LEDs and especially from those who switched from MH to LED.

Thanks!

 

[Northstar24]

I switched from MH to the AquaIllumination LED's and I'll never go back. If you do decide to go with LED's spend the money on a quality setup such as AquaIllumination or the Evolutions, there are a lot of inferior Chinese knock offs on the market right now trying to capitalize on the poularity of LED's

If you're really looking to replace 400 watt Metal Halides, I you're going to need a fixture with the 3 watt Cree LED's with optics - I'd take a look at the AI LED's

Parrachute has them over his tank, and I have them over mine. We both have some photos of them in our build threads

 

[Navarchus]

Thanks Northstar24! This is exactly the information I needed. I take it your corals made it through the transition okay then.

 

[Waddi]

You should also check out the guys over at RapidLED:
Rapid LED Home Page
They have some very nice diy kits with dimmers and drivers.

 

[Navarchus]

Thanks Waddi. Looks too hard for someone of my low electrical DIY skills.

 

[Northstar24]

I managed to melt an acropora, I cranked up the LEDs too fast. I have three of the new AI Sol units over my standard 180, and I cant even run them at full power. You have to remember that LED's semm 'dimmer' to the naked eye becasue they do not put out a lot of light in the red spectrum, which is primarily the spectrum the human eye sees and recognizes as 'brightness' - but they put out a LOT more usable light to corals and other photosynthetic creatures

I'm currently running my LED's at 40% intensity for white / blue / royal blue, and I'm seeing some decent polyp extension. I've noticed some growth, but I'm working through some Alk / cal issues which I'm sure are slowing growth down.

If you search for "Operation Nemo' you'll find my build thread with photos of the AI's over my tank. I'll try and take some addtional photos soon. If you research the AquaIllumination modules and want to see certain settings, just let me know - I'd be more than happy to take photos / video