thoughs on mh vs led
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Forum Name: Equipment
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URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=64904
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Topic: thoughs on mh vs led
Posted By: sniper1js
Subject: thoughs on mh vs led
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 12:32pm
| Hey eveyone I'm looking to buy lights for my tank. Its a 300 gallon tank and curious on everyones thoughts on the Leds vs the mh pc style. My other question is what's the cost power wise difference on something like that thanks. |
Replies:
Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 12:35pm
|
I went with a DIY kit from stevesleds.com and I love it! Here's a link to their answer "Why LEDs?" %20" rel="nofollow - http://stevesleds.com/whyleds.html |
Posted By: sniper1js
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 12:42pm
| How's the growth difference |
Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 1:06pm
| First tank and only 2 coral colonies. My Hammer coral has nearly doubled in size in a matter of 4 weeks. I have a colony of button polyps that started out 6 weeks ago with about 9 polyps and now has about 12. Sorry I can't speak for SPS growth...yet. |
Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 1:22pm
|
I'm in the same boat you are... I currently have metal halides over my 150g, but they're on the way out. I'm looking into an LED setup...so I decided to incorporate this as my graduate engineering project. I think there are plenty of "ok" options out there...and a few really good ones...but nothing that has convinced me yet. In your case, metal halides may be the cheapest for such a large tank. However, you may have to run a chiller...which means LEDs may beat it out on price. Here's a plot for the price break over my tank:  ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |
Posted By: suiso man
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 1:22pm
|
power wise its way cheaper to run the leds. I went from pc to 175 watt mh and my bill jumped 30 bucks higher 275 or 400 for your tank would be a lot higher not to mention the cost of the bulbs. however if you go the mh route get your bulbs from 1000bulbs.com you will save a lot of money. |
Posted By: sniper1js
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 2:19pm
| The other thing beyond price is color. I have yet to see a led thatakes the coral look as good as the mh /pc why is that |
Posted By: Krazie4Acans
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 2:40pm
|
Number one reason is spectrum of light and not just any spectrum but usable spectrum. The newer LED kits come with much more than just blue and white LED's and that is to round out the areas that corals use to grown. Personally I think that there are still some gaps in the usable spectrum of the available LED's, but I run LED's exclusivly and wouldn't go back to MH. The other nice thing about LED's is as they get better and improve, there is almost always a way to upgrade/add the newer colors for very little cost.
Plus the dimmable aspect of LED's is really the huge win for me. Even if you choose not to put them on a controller, the fact that you can acclimate new corals without having to change your timers is big. Just turn down the dimmer control and slowly ramp it back over time. ------------- My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63568&title=krazies-nano-paradise" rel="nofollow - Tank Thread: |
Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 3:04pm
|
Exactly what Krazie said. My research project is comparing existing led fixture spectrums to those of what corals want...and existing metal halide fixtures. Most of the LED spectrums are just in the blue with a tiny bit elsewhere. Metal halides often have a nice spike in the reds as well. ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |
Posted By: sniper1js
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 3:34pm
| .So is there any led system that's not a crap load. Meaning like the radions and stuff. If so what n where ?? Say for a 55 bulb led pendant. How many colors or what would you want?? |
Posted By: Krazie4Acans
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 4:19pm
|
Most of the high end LED pendants are catching on the the spectrum gaps and are adding the other colors. However, I stil believe that the LED manufacturers are struggling to come up with the exact spectrum that corals need. They are getting much closer and the best part is that with all of this new technology has also come some great information on what spectrums our corals actually use.
There are tons of threads on LEDs and the colors to mix, etc. Your best bet may be to give Bill a call at Saltwater Paradise and talk to him about building some custom DIY's for you to add spetrum and still provide coverage. I just ordered my next set of colors from him and will be adding them in the next month or so. ------------- My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63568&title=krazies-nano-paradise" rel="nofollow - Tank Thread: |
Posted By: sniper1js
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 5:04pm
| Awesome thanks everyone for your help and info |