LED vs MH

orzeljo609

orzeljo609

Reefing newb
Hey Guys,


I was just wondering if anyone has moved from MH to LED or the other way around. Basically what I want to know is if there is any way to produce enough light for the most demanding species with LED vs a large MH setup.


-Josh
 
There is, people have very successful tanks with LED setups. The problem is, it will cost you 5 to 10+ times as much to buy the lights. It's just too cost prohibitive for most people.

I still prefer T5s over MH though. You can keep anything you want under T5s. If you get a fixture with individual reflectors, the light uses a lot less energy, and the bulbs are cheaper to replace. And they don't heat up the tank like MH tend to do.
 
There are plenty of people on the nano forums that are having great success running their cubes with LEDs and growing SPS, LPS, and anems. But, like Biff said you're going to pay at least $300-400 more than an MH setup, and $300-500 more than power compacts.
One the plus side, LEDS last virtually forever, put out little to no heat, and are extremely compact for the amount of light output.
 
The led's were so powerful the hypnotronic light rays blew his wang completely off :shocking:...ooops I mean it blew his tang out..........of the aquarium that is:sfish:
 
I've been running aqua illumination LEDs now for approx three months and my tank is looking much healthier than it did with T-5's.

The AI LEDs put out more PAR than MHs, and don't have the spotlighting problems of a lot of previous generation LEDs. I got them as a long term investment because I wanted to go MH without replacing lights every 8 months or the increase in heat over my tank.

Besides light, the other great advantage to LEDs is their sheer controllability. I can adjust the spectrum easily and quickly, having a more realistic day/moon light cycle. I even have cloud simulation, cloudy days (whole day of heavier clouds, and even lightning for thunderstorms!
 
It is still a new technology. You end up paying a premium for that. I would say give it another 5-10 years and the prices will come down so it will be comparable to the MH and t5's out there right now
 
If you DIY your LED's, the overall cost would end up being only a couple hundred more than a full MH/T5 setup, if you do it right..but you have to know what you're doing. We're making plans for one, but we're fowlr, and possibly putting in just plain ole red mushrooms. There's a whole writeup about it on reefcentral that I followed -- the guy posted his par readings, and posted pics of his corals after 6 months with good results.

The pre-made ones are definitely costly, which is why we're just diy'ing ours. At least we can buy the parts over time.
 
I think the LED technology will be the standard 3-4 years from now, and I think right now, the higher end models are superior to conventional lighting. Like BJ said, there is a premium on that new technology. I spent the extra money on LEDs because I wanted to check it out and I had the cash available - I still haven't determined if it was worth the investment (despite me being extremely pleased with them).

There are already a lot of LED options out there at a variety of prices; the lower end ones are probably not producing adequate light for even basic corals. Aqua Illumination's are about $600 per module, which covers approx 1' of tank length. feel free to check out my build thread (look around January) if you want to see mine in action.

I don't know if DIY'ing LEDs is a good idea - I'll be looking at Wonton's with a close eye. I think, using good, expensive LEDs for a DIY project helps, but I think the research into quality factory built ones makes for a better product - yeah, might get good PAR, but is that just under the lenses, or is it a nice fan of light? I've read the RC thread and am kind of on the fence...if I was spending that money to make a DIY LED system, i'd rather just put it into T5/MH knowing I got something that's been well tested. Maybe I say this because I spent a good deal on my factory built ones and don't want to see a cheaper option (I hope not).
 
parrotchute said:
I think the LED technology will be the standard 3-4 years from now, and I think right now, the higher end models are superior to conventional lighting. Like BJ said, there is a premium on that new technology.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, but I think it will take longer than a few years. Up until recently, people ran their reef tanks using PCs and VHOs. Now it's hard to find a tank that uses those types of lights -- and no one recommends good old fashioned VHOs anymore when discussing lighting. PCs and VHOs are obsolete, and out of style.

The same will be said for MHs and T5s eventually, but I think it will take longer than a few years for the price of LEDs to be competitive with them. And there will always be some holdouts that swear by MH and refuse to give them up. MH currently are the standard, and will be for a long time, IMO.
 
i would be all for building my own led system, if and only if i had the tools to measure the light output.. so that i could be sure that i was re-creating the conditions that i wanted... but considering that to take thoes types of measurements, it takes equipment that i cant justify spending money on, that i'm gonna just sit back and watch and see what other people figure out...

I read one article about them, and even looked into sourcing the high power led's, but one of the things that i kept running into was that the modules needed to be mounted on a heatsink, well, i'm really only interested in it for a reduction of heat, and if i have to have heatsinks on every module, i cant see it being any cooler than a t5 system that i could build for far less $$$...

when the price of the led's comes down, i'll get excited, but till then... eh...
 
I think it will be a rapid change. If you look at upcoming ReefStock or any other big reef exhibitions/shows, they have a TON of new LED vendors; decidedly more than what was on the market last year..I really think that competition with the new companies will drive technology and prices at a similar pace as we've been seeing it with other LED applications. Just my two cents.

oh...and WHY DOESN'T DENNIS have LEDs???
 
I don't think there is any doubt they are the wave of the future, and the tests have shown they are the real deal. The thing is, when will they become as affordable as T5/MH fixtures are today. Right now the LED's are about 3x the cost, for comparable lighting systems.

Feature Article: Quantitative Comparison of Reef Aquarium Lighting Technologies: Metal Halide, T5 Fluorescent and LED | Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine
"Based on this quantitative data, is its quite obvious that the LEDs have come of age in providing a viable solution to lighting reef aquaria. While a lot of other factors that may be involved in making decisions such as power savings, cost, longevity, controllability, cost of ownership etc. these are not the factors considered here. Based solely on quantitative light output data, I am excited about the future of this technology for reef aquarium use."
 

Similar threads

Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
655
Mike
Mike
Mike
  • Sticky
New Member (Owner 😲)
Replies
0
Views
720
Mike
Mike
R
Giving it a second try
Replies
0
Views
2K
Reefydude360
R
Emberous
Diamond Watchman Goby Hiding?
Replies
5
Views
4K
jagow4
J
Rcpilot
Hello Again
Replies
14
Views
2K
Becky
Becky
Back
Top