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08/17/2012, 05:57 PM | #76 |
arrogant reefer
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Really? U think people should wait a year to allow the corals to adjust to new lighting?? For those with thousands of $$ in corals that comment alone is a deal breaker. What about adding a new coral? Gotta wait a year for it to come back? I can buy a coral that came out of the ocean yesterday and within a week it will b adjust and growing under halides.
Wanna spell the end of LEDs? Get the companies to advertise that "in just one year, you will Start to have the same results as a metal halide". Lol. Smh Last edited by Mmiller40gt; 08/17/2012 at 06:20 PM. |
08/17/2012, 06:02 PM | #77 |
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That comment has a lot of truth to it - in a world that wants immediate results having to wait that long to get corals to grow good would make many abandon the hobby. I do have to say though that since I've got the Radion dialed in I've been getting decent results - though it's been less than a month [since I got it dialed in such that it doesn't immediately kill everything in the top half of the tank]. I will have to start taking full tank shots to track progress. I really think people cook their corals with the LEDs and don't realize it not to mention all the questions about spectrum that dog LEDs...
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08/17/2012, 06:14 PM | #78 |
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What I think would help this thread is if those that are having great success with LED would post some pics and give some details on what settings they're using...
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08/17/2012, 06:38 PM | #79 |
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I feel that my post are never read on this site. If you switch from one light tech to another and completely ignore spectrum like I am sure most of you have that switched to led then switched back are doing you are going to have all sorts of issues. You can have the same negative results by changing to different bulbs in a t5 setup or changing to a completely different halide bulb.
Long story short our tanks don't like major change and a major change in spectrum light output is a major change. If you look around you will see some major success of reef tanks switching to LEDs with great results because they tried to match the spectrum output of their current lights Sent from my phone so ignore mistakes |
08/17/2012, 06:41 PM | #80 |
They Call me "RifRaf"
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this is really a pretty good discussion with intelligent and cooler heads prevailing...
would all the contributors and lurkers please give this thread a good rating... I'm voting 5 star.... I especially like the thorough and polite rebuttals from the pro LED hobbyist
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I'm no "Expert", I'm just someone who has failed more than you have The beatings will continue until moral improves Current Tank Info: 90G reef, 150G FOWLR |
08/17/2012, 06:43 PM | #81 | |
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Quote:
regardless of whatever postition one has, that took effort... thanks
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I'm no "Expert", I'm just someone who has failed more than you have The beatings will continue until moral improves Current Tank Info: 90G reef, 150G FOWLR |
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08/17/2012, 06:44 PM | #82 |
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is that sarcasm I detect
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Jerry |
08/17/2012, 06:49 PM | #83 |
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Ok I know there are a lot of you who want to believe In LEDs I was one as well. But in my experience they do not perform as well as mh. Now if you have a tank full of zoas and Lps with some sps you may not notice but with a sps tank you will see... At least I did. Now I want to know for a 48x24x12 frag tank would I be better off with a power module or 2 more 250w radiums. I am already done with LEDs untill somthing drastically changes but the results I have seen for noe dosent compare the the halides
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08/17/2012, 06:52 PM | #84 | |
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Yes, I agree, some of the high end LED fixtures are still expensive. There are many brands that are affordable and of course DIY. So I don't buy the up front cost BS. A Chinese black box LED is $200 that covers 24x24". It has as much controllability as your radium
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08/17/2012, 06:52 PM | #85 |
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but it ignores the initial cost of a MH system while stating the inital cost of a LED system so it's not complete, so let me finish it:
Using the RC electric calculator Cost of lighting to run 650 wattsX 10 hours X0.078 = per month 15.42$ Cost of chiller (same math as above) 1.42 per month Replace that with 200 watts of LED (and the light output wont be near equivalent, but that aside) Would cost me 4.74 per month. Total saving for me to switch 12.10$ a month. Lights cost me 45$ each for 2 pheonix and 19$ each for 2 T5's. Yearly cost of bulbs is 128$. Two Radions would cost me 1500$ and consume 140 watts each. So lets see where MY break even point is. 10 hours a day @ 7.8 cents per kwh A geisman 48" with 2x250 a some T-5 would cost: $1470 http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/lig...2x250-watt-hqi Year one of MH total cost (chiller included) electric plus buying the unit 1470+452.08=1922 Year one two Radions and electric 1579.68 Year two MH replacing bulbs and previous year cost 2252 Year two Radions with previous year cost 1659.36 just by year two you're already saving a lot unless someone knows where to get free MH setups...
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08/17/2012, 07:01 PM | #86 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
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08/17/2012, 07:05 PM | #87 | |
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Quote:
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Jim Current Tank Info: 120g Mixed Reef and 75g Freshwater |
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08/17/2012, 07:05 PM | #88 |
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The chiller electricity costs are also underestimated as the heat they output will also raise the ambient temperature of the house which will cost more to cool as well, unless it vents externally. The flip side is that a MH system probably uses the heater less but it would appear most people have more trouble keeping tanks cool than the reverse. I currently don't have a chiller on my tank, my old one did, and the highest it reached this summer was 81 degrees with two Radions over it. With MH's there is no way I'd be able to go chillerless.
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150DD Starphire w/Herbie | 2xEcotech Radion Pro - articulated mount | MP40wES w/ Batt BB | Apex Neptune | SeaSwirl | Laguna MaxFlo 1500 w/manifold | Proflex Mod2 sump | modded SWC 160 cone | Avast ATO Current Tank Info: Sheet PVC build http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2168214 |
08/17/2012, 07:13 PM | #89 |
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I've never run a chiller, and actually have it wokred so that my heater almost never comes on except for the coldest of months. I let my tank hit the mid 80s daily in the summer....ther is nothing wrong with temp swings if acclimated to that. There are also reflectors that can be hung higher, almost wiping out the raiant heat which is the problem with halides.
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08/17/2012, 07:15 PM | #90 |
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I don't think there is anything wrong with temp swings - bring a thermometer while you scuba and you will notice 8 degree or more temp swings from 2 in the afternoon as compared to a night dive...and look at corals at low tide - the sun is beating down on them and those temps are sometimes 100+ but I'm now way off topic
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08/17/2012, 07:25 PM | #91 | |
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Quote:
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150DD Starphire w/Herbie | 2xEcotech Radion Pro - articulated mount | MP40wES w/ Batt BB | Apex Neptune | SeaSwirl | Laguna MaxFlo 1500 w/manifold | Proflex Mod2 sump | modded SWC 160 cone | Avast ATO Current Tank Info: Sheet PVC build http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2168214 |
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08/17/2012, 07:45 PM | #92 | |
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I could run the tank cooler if I wanted, but I dont even kick the fans on until it hits 83-84 on my tanks. The swings that high are only in the hottest of summer. The peak this year has been 86 tank temp. This is also with a velcoity 110 watt pump, known for adding heat. I could ditch that and the pemp would easily fall 2-4 degrees. Not all my heat is halides, though it is obvious from temp graphs when they come on.
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08/17/2012, 08:19 PM | #93 | |
arrogant reefer
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Quote:
Last edited by Mmiller40gt; 08/17/2012 at 08:26 PM. |
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08/17/2012, 08:30 PM | #94 |
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No, to dumping my LEDs that is.
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Mike Current Tank Info: 77g sumpless sw with rock, sand, a few critters, fishes & polyps. Lights, pumps..... |
08/17/2012, 08:40 PM | #95 |
There is no substitute.
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I have all leds from halides now. I won't be going back any time soon.
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08/17/2012, 08:48 PM | #96 |
arrogant reefer
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Whats the gold standard of RC and the reef community? The TOTM. Where are those guys with the led setups? I don't see them? Maybe I missed one. When you start seeing several Tank of the month winners running LEDs then you can disregard the led naysayers.
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08/17/2012, 09:12 PM | #97 |
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There are a couple TOTM that have switched to LEDS...but that is a gray area, as all the growth and success was from the previous lighting and the LEDs are just now stepping in.
Not saying LEDs are incapable of fantastic SPS tanks....but I'd like to see a good number of LED SPS tanks that started as LEDs and are still LEDs.
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08/17/2012, 09:13 PM | #98 |
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I've nominated a couple of LED tanks but they didn't win...
Here is one from my local club I nominated for tank of the month: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2198945 Edit: his has had the growth with LEDs
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08/17/2012, 09:15 PM | #99 | |
arrogant reefer
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That looks great! What is he using? |
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08/17/2012, 09:20 PM | #100 |
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he did it DIY - it looks much better in person...I think it is one of the true drawbacks of LEDs - they don't take pics well unless you do a lot of post-processing
Edit: and I believe it was pretty cheap too. I did PM Lawrence so he might chime in. I know he had tried the chinese LEDs first and they burned evertyhing. He did it DIY and they recovered in a couple of months and growth exploded. Second edit: and by "don't take pics well" i mean that it can look more red in the pics than to the naked eye - in real life the different colors of the LEDs blend much nicer than the do in the pic
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