Lighting debate: LED vs MH/T5

[wontonflip]

Ok.....so I'm not good w/ lighting. So. I would like to open the floor for pros and cons of lighting. I'm thinking I want to go LED, but have always been told it's a new technology for the marine world, so it's super expensive. But what I found was Tropic Marine Center's LED strips for aquariums, and 1 strip costs up to $169, get a couple of those, and it's around the same cost as t5's and mh's..unless I'm looking at the wrong thing.

I've tried to understand lighting for corals in this article, Aquarium Lighting; Kelvin, Nanometers, PAR, Bulb, Watt, MH, LED, light basics. but again, I'm not good w/ making sense of all this.

So someone illuminate me about the technical pros and cons. I already know LEDs use less electricity. But as far as quality of light, what am I looking for?

 

[dcantucson]

After having them and now having MH/T5 combos, I would not recommend LEDs. I think in a few years they may be great, just not now. They still have a long way to go in development, IMO.

 

[wontonflip]

What differences did you see? In your coral growth?

 

[wontonflip]

And is the problem w/ ready made LED lighting, or LED in general? Because we wanted to make our own. The parts are cheap enough.

 

[mcmusashi5]

because of the price of the LEDs i dont think thell be poupular till the price goes down

 

[bjohanson1234]

It might seem like the parts for an LED light are cheap enough to build your own. However, the LEDs used in the lighting are not the ones you can just pick up in you local radio shack. Also, I am not sure how much electronics knowledge you have, but you will need to build some sort of driver for them. It usually isnt practical to just hook them up to a power supply. Also, the pre built ones usually have some sort of controller that is able to dim the lights to simulate dawn, dusk, and the like. Which all add up to higher prices.

Brian

 

[wontonflip]

I know nothing about electronics...that's the hubby's department LOL

We're researching stuff online, looking at online stores for parts. Just researching now, trying to get input to pros and cons.

 

[dcantucson]

LED Aquarium Lighting Reef Corals Tank Grow Light Panel - eBay (item 370278097901 end time Oct-25-09 22:07:35 PDT)

 

[wontonflip]

Thanks dcan. Know anything about that brand?

 

[daugherty]

the new ones that are in development are using plasma leds.

My new toy from Aqua Illuminations!! - Reef Central Online Community

 

[daugherty]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqYl0ksLlho]YouTube - MVI 2649[/ame]

 

[daugherty]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTGsM9pplUs]YouTube - Plasma Light Bulb[/ame]

 

[wontonflip]

Isn't plasma high heat? Or is it still just like a plain ole LED technology? Still being tested though, right?

 

[wontonflip]

Awesome vids! I'm just flabergasted at the lighting choices LOL

So my hubby said he will build the LED housing and circuitry (he loves that kinda stuff). He's actually eager to start. Then we will test it out on some hardy shrooms and just see how well they respond. This should be fun :)

 

[daugherty]

it is a gas that when a current is driven througt it it gets very bright and i do not think they put off any more heat than a led

 

[dcantucson]

Plasma lights! I'm ready for them. Guess there are more street lights than aquarium lights. Probably we'll be the last to get them. :(

 

[yote]

From the LED lights I've seen in person,I dont think I would hang them over my tank.But thats JMO.I dont like how the light beams through the water.
Now I LOVE my MH/T-5s,but they are kinda expensive to replace the bulbs.

 

[project5k]

well.....let me just whoop out my slide rule, and lay down some knowledge on ya'll... hehehehe just kidding...

seriously, the way i see it, it isnt gettign the parts, i can order in bulk, but its the spectrum of light. if you build your hood with all LED's in it, then if and or when you wanna change the spectrum of light your putting into the tank, well, its considerably more complex than just changing out a regular bulb... you can order LED's with specific color temps, but the more specific you are, the more expensive they are...

as for a driver circuit, nah, you really dont need one... all you really need is a voltage regulator that can carry the current draw of all the led's.

Why do you have to have a dimming system? why not just have "zones" and turn on sections of lights, just like we do now with our multi-bulb systems, its enough day simulation, so why over complicate this?

Plasma, well, in one sense, is the 4th state of matter, solid, liquid, gas, plasma.

if you have the money and can trust what they say, then go for it, personally, i've seen many many tanks with t5's over them, and they work, and they are easy to work on.. so...

the other thing to think about, if you wanna build your own LED fixture, is that you will need a way to measure how much of which spectrums your system is producing, i personally dont have the equipment that it would take to make these measurements, but... if you did, then you could set up a "known" system next to your led prototype, and start making adjustments...

 

[wontonflip]

Nice input, project. We're still in the planning (more like scheming) stage right now. Since I'm not populating w/ corals yet, we may go ahead and do led's for the 125, and test on some mushrooms.

 

[project5k]

well... lemme know what i can do to help, and if i can, i will....

it would seem to me that the first step would be to do a little math and see what the average output of say a 5000k led is, then figure out what it will take(how many) then figure the current load, and go from there.. just remember that different led's in different spectrums will have different mCd outputs.
oh, and dont forget we're gonna need to know what we're trying to "duplicate" as well, say, an 8 bulb 4 foot t5 system? what bulbs would you put in that, so that we can know which led's to pick from....