LED Lighting Only SPS Tanks

[mcola78]

How many of you guys are using LED's on your sps tanks? I am thinking of switching from Halides to LEDs. Using a system like Galileo or Solaris with no other source of lighting. What are the pros v cons. Opinions welcome...thanks.

[acrodave]

I don't think they would work long term.. They are better for softies and lps

[buck50bmg]

yep

[abereefur]

... i am using the solaris. galileo does not work for sps. my rose mili, which has been under the LED's the longest has grown quite a bit and is very nicely colored up. don't know what you guys are saying about LED's not being suffiicient.

[Robgixxer]

how close to the led's is this peticular animal?

[abereefur]

its... 24" away... midpoint of a 30" tank, and the light is suspended 15" over the tank... wait, that's 30" away

[mcola78]

I've heard the solaris is good for sps...but want firsthand accounts before making the purchase.

Here's my Pros and Possible Cons so far:

PROS:
- Adjustable Spectrum - you can run lights from 6K to 20k (?)
- Low Power Usage, saves on electricty bills
- Low heat, no need for a chiller
- Long life, bulbs need to be replaced about every 10 years (?)

CONS (or at least Questions):
- Wattage...what is the maximum wattage you can get out of these?
- Shimmer effect, do they have one like halides?
- What else?, can they sustain sps? good colors in corals?

[abereefur]

they can sustain sps. max wattage is 4watts per bulb. they do have a shimmer effect. that's what you need to know. also, spectum is 6k to 22k. :)

[mcola78]

Great...thanks.

[ricks]

How many bulbs come in a fixture?? I now have around 3,500 watts of lighting on my system. That would be around 875 bulbs, wonder what that would set me back???

Happy Reefing

[snorvich]

I am less convinced about those PROS after the first one (adjustable spectrum) and certainly am not convinced that they can sustain SPS corals other than a specific few. Just my opinion. Most definitely not a cost issue; if they were functionally equivalent and removed the need for a chiller I would have them.

[mcola78]

I agree....I have tried to look all over for wattage but as far as I can figure the "400W" is if every LED is turned on 100%. Therefore, if you want to dim the LEDs for a different color, you lose Watts.

And avoiding a chiller, lowered electricity costs and less bulb replacement would be huge + + + but only if i can keep sps. If not, I'll pay the extra for halides.

[acrodave]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12483036#post12483036 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
I am less convinced about those PROS after the first one (adjustable spectrum) and certainly am not convinced that they can sustain SPS corals other than a specific few. Just my opinion. Most definitely not a cost issue; if they were functionally equivalent and removed the need for a chiller I would have them.

agreed

[abereefur]

well, the color adjustments comes mainly from playing around with the blue and green LED's. i can show you a picture of the light array.
full power.
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/abeabou/119F4141.jpg

that's 25 per each set of lights. i really enjoy the fact i am getting great growth AND color with the light.

[Justin74]

How long have the acros been under the Solaris abereefer? Do you have a picture you can share?

-Justn

[abereefur]

they have only been under for two months. under my old MH (20k) they kind of browned out. the red is... let's say very red, i only have pictures of it pretty browned out right now, none of the newer, better colors (and some new growth). also have a green tort that browned out. color is coming back nicely (3weeks). :) LED is still new, so i would only be able to have longtime resutls in well... a long time. i will be keeping a journal though in my tank thread.

oh yea... FYI, my photography skillz are lacking so... :o

[ScallopKing]

i've been running a solaris along with halides and have same/better growth coloring with the solaris. i am keeping successfully no issues at all. LED works great for SPS, hands down. i'll post a pic later after work.

[Justin74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12484630#post12484630 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by abereefur
they have only been under for two months. under my old MH (20k) they kind of browned out. the red is... let's say very red, i only have pictures of it pretty browned out right now, none of the newer, better colors (and some new growth). also have a green tort that browned out. color is coming back nicely (3weeks). :) LED is still new, so i would only be able to have longtime resutls in well... a long time. i will be keeping a journal though in my tank thread.

oh yea... FYI, my photography skillz are lacking so... :o

Cool!

-Justin

[snorvich]

This thread is useless without pictures! :D

[abereefur]

i posted a picture... but i guess more wouldn't hurt

keeping a close eye on the new corals (growth and color)

tricolor, the rainbow monti in the back with a hermit climbing on it is ugly because of stupid nudis. did a dip and the color is nicely coming back
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/abeabou/119F4196.jpg

pink catspaw, the monti next to it browned out under MH for some reason, want to see it color up under the LED's
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/abeabou/119F4199.jpg

also have a sunset monti i bought browned out, and it is turning RED... punchline? no pictures of it :D

[ricks]

Amen...

And he has 25 sets per fixture, at 4 watt each I come up with 100 watts per.... Now granted I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. Looks like a total of 100 watts??? I would need 35 fixtures to match the output of my halide, VHO and PC output.

Still would like the cost per fixture...

Happy Reefing

[Justin74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12485029#post12485029 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ricks
Amen...

And he has 25 sets per fixture, at 4 watt each I come up with 100 watts per.... Now granted I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. Looks like a total of 100 watts???

Amen :lol:

j/k

25 lights per set, and the 48"(which he's currently using) has 3 sets making a total of 300w.

-Justin

[abereefur]

the 48" has 4 sets... 400w. the 72" has 6 sets... 600w, as opposed to the 1200 watts i was gonna use with 3 x 400W MH. ;)

[Justin74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12485069#post12485069 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by abereefur
the 48" has 4 sets... 400w. the 72" has 6 sets... 600w, as opposed to the 1200 watts i was gonna use with 3 x 400W MH. ;)

My calculations were right just not my formula :) I stand corrected!

-Justin

[snguyen77]

i would think taht as long as the LED is strong enough, it would stupport any corals. the light just need to reach teh bottom, so it will all depend on your tank.

[navyav8tr]

Obviously there is alot more experience with the Solaris fixtures but has anyone seen the AquaIllumination modular ones?

[gdm42001]

Tagging Along
I just bought a Elos 120 System and am light shopping.
Elos is in the garage until I decide on lighting.
The Solaris is very attractive heat and power usage wise.
But I have changed my lighting many times, not as many as some.
and don't want to make any more temporary purchases.
Color and Growth pictures are definitely welcome.

[redshirt]

I run a 48 " solaris all led's on my 120 tech tank all SPS and looks great. Alot of people told me they would not work but I just think they have no expertise on the subject as far as using the lights themselves. I run my light and the only problem is growth is a little slower then halides. BUt way worth it when there is no heat and my bill is cheaper each month. I even have clams that thrive under my light as well 1 giga clam 8-9" and 2 Crocera Clams Great colors.

[ScallopKing]

the one downside is that PFO has had bad batch of leds and i've had say to replace 6 strips now. they have worked with me to provide replacements leds but even that they couldn't get right the last batch sent me had the wrong color green strip...even some of the supposed new strips they sent were already bad. also, now my cancel button no longer works and they haven't provided a solution yet. my unit is 5 mos. old. this said, i love the the leds the am still considering buying another and get rid of all my halides.

[hpglow]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12485069#post12485069 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by abereefur
the 48" has 4 sets... 400w. the 72" has 6 sets... 600w, as opposed to the 1200 watts i was gonna use with 3 x 400W MH. ;)

A common mis-conception is that more watts = more light. The problem here is that your comparing apples to oranges. Par is a mesuarment of light. Lux is a meausurement of light. A Watt is a measurement of power usage. Power = Current X Voltage.

A incandescent lamp is only about 8% effecient, therefore, if the lamp is 150 W then 12 Watts makes light and the rest is heat waste. A metal halide and a T-5 with an individual reflector per lamp are both 25 to 35% efficient. So best case a 150 W halide makes 52 Watts to make light and the rest is used up as heat waste. Now I have no idea how efficient a 4W Led is, I do know that over 1W LEDs become drastically less efficient, but the presumption that is going around is that they are far more efficient.

You can now resume your regularly scheduled argument.

[abereefur]

don't quite understand what you are getting at mate. what we were comparing back there was energy consumption. the definition of lux is lumens per square meter. if a 4 watt LED gives off 125 lumens (i think that's what the number is) from thirty inches (.762 meters) away from the ground, the lux would be: 95.25 @ 30". i hope i did my math right... just learned this in physics so i'd be pretty peeved if i missed this one :)

[MCsaxmaster]

Dana Riddle did some work with a similar fixture. He found that the LED fixture was a fair amount brighter than a 250 watt 20K metal halide + reflector combination. I'm not sure I'd buy an LED fixture just yet myself, but a good LED hood can easily give metal halides a run for their money in pretty much every way. I don't think halides will become obsolete in a few years, but I do think that LED fixtures will be a good and sometimes better option.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/10/review/view

[ricks]

Alot of talk.....

I still have yet to see any impressive system running on LED's????

You can talk about Par, and Lumens and the very low wattage they produce. But until I SEE a really nice SPS system, running for some time on LED. I my mind, it's just alot of talk... Pictures????


Happy Reefing

[mcola78]

Interesting Product Review - thanks MCSaxmaster.

I agree that pictures would be great.

Also, those using these systems...are you getting the shimmering effect that you typically get from halides?

[abereefur]

i get a major shimmer effect from the LEDs. i have started a photo journal of my sps growth in my tank thread :) so far, in one week both my milis have colored up very well, and my gree tort is encrusting

[acrylic_300]

I have a hard time believing that they have a 10 year bulb life. The Led moonlights in most combo fixtures are the first to go...usually before the regular bulbs are ready to be changed.

That's my experience with Current USA additional moonlight products anyway. Perhaps something not made in China would be better though.

[ricks]

abereefur

The lights do not show very good color. Mostly tan and brown. My other concern is coraline algae growth, I see none in your system, just alot of bare rocks. Is this because your system is very new, low Cal and Alk, or just the low light output of the LED lights?

I still hold out hope that a successful full blown SPS reef can survive long term on LED lights.. Anyone with pictures is welcome to post???

Happy Reefing

[ScallopKing]

my system is combo led/halide. i will post some pics tonight.

[abereefur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12544241#post12544241 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ricks
abereefur

The lights do not show very good color. Mostly tan and brown. My other concern is coraline algae growth, I see none in your system, just alot of bare rocks. Is this because your system is very new, low Cal and Alk, or just the low light output of the LED lights?

I still hold out hope that a successful full blown SPS reef can survive long term on LED lights.. Anyone with pictures is welcome to post???

Happy Reefing

system is only 2 months old. mainly why it looks yellow. i still need to add UV to the tank as well. but even so, the color has improved alot. i only have small patches of coraline popping up right now, no real nice pieces, except all the way on top, where i put the rocks from my 2.5 yr old 65gallon tank. when the rock colors up it should look nice. also, much of the color is lost in my camera for some reason. need to play around with the settings. the tank is actually pretty bright and colorful in person.

here's a shot of one of my healthy sps in the system right now. it has started to encrust :)

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/abeabou/119F4384.jpg

anyone know how to adjust f setting on a cannon eos 1D? and what setting gives best color?

[spsfreak]

PICS!!!

[2farNorth]

I always thought the LED systems would be 'neat' to have,,, but then I seen the prices..... Doesn't it seem like it would take a couple years of running them compared to the halides to make up the difference in power consumption?

But, by then there will be better technology, or you may even run the risk of having problems like scallopking..... then that would suck......

I agree,, Pictures of long-term SPS please!!!

[nattarbox]

abereefur, setting the white balance will help more with the color. If you have a white balance adjustment on the camera, you'll want to put a solid white item (dinner plate works well) under the aquarium lights, and focus on that while performing the adjustment. Then your camera will know how to more accurately represent the colors.

[abereefur]

cool thanks, then i'll have new shots by tomorrow hopefully. :)

[MCsaxmaster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12543594#post12543594 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ricks
Alot of talk.....

I still have yet to see any impressive system running on LED's????

You can talk about Par, and Lumens and the very low wattage they produce. But until I SEE a really nice SPS system, running for some time on LED. I my mind, it's just alot of talk... Pictures????


Happy Reefing

Ha, but how long have these been available? How many people actually own them?

You could've said the same thing when people started to use metal halides, or metal halides with a color temp higher than 4000 K, or VHOs or T5's or any new technology at all.

Chris

[abereefur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12547802#post12547802 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MCsaxmaster
Ha, but how long have these been available? How many people actually own them?

You could've said the same thing when people started to use metal halides, or metal halides with a color temp higher than 4000 K, or VHOs or T5's or any new technology at all.

Chris

good point :) oh well. there seems to be a few people who have systems running on LED (including myself) people who want a decent review are just going to have to wait a while, aren't they?

[dme330i]

What levels of UV light do SPS require? Don't know the research, but I'm guessing that they are used to being exposed to some amount (considering their natural habitat). And, while we shield our MH lighting systems, some UV is still transmitted.

Current LED fixtures on the market don't produce any UV - may be why SPS coloration/success has not been as profound even thought light intensity is similar to MH.

[InsaneClownFish]

LEDs can certainly grow and color up SPS nicely. Here's a local reefer of ours with a 72" AI LED fixture on his 150g with growth shots:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1400532