Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

[Mmiller40gt]

Originally Posted by gskidmor

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.

I hope he does. Any supplementations? That is the most proof positive thing I have seen. Great results. Keep that stuff coming

[gskidmor]

I have some links to others, but I don't know that I have their permissions

I had to find a lot of threads where people posted pics of pure LED success so that I didn't give up on LEDs because I kept killing them (I didn't realize that I had it too high)

[sail33]

Originally Posted by advancebc29

+1 to both.
I have been running LEDs for almost 2 years now and have had great results in both growth and color. My LEDs are not the standard B/W setup. I was one of the first to include 420nm LEDs and quickly followed up with Red, Green/Cyan all before it was the kewl thing to do. I strongly feel that 420nm is key. Look at T5 bulbs and how much 420nm is in them.
I did months of research looking at what I considered to be successful tanks and looked at the spectral output of the lights they were using. I feel that I came very close to matching them.
I feel the number one reason for peoples disappoint with switching to LEDS is that they are greatly changing the spectrum of lights in their tanks and it really p1sses off the corals.

That makes a lot of sense to me. Most haven't named which LEDs they are using. Are they 1 watt or 3 watt ? Which colors do they emit? What rating ?

Those answers will help guide us all into wiser choices. I'd like to assume that at least some MFGs are reading this too. Maybe they'll figure out what we want.
I also agree that LEDs are here to stay. They just need a bit more fine tuning. The idea of dual MH or T5 with LED seems to be the answer for now.

By the way, I'm looking for a skimmer to TRADE. Unless I get a bigger sump I'm stuck with 7.5 X 7.5 X 23. If anybody is interested, pm me.
Thanks

[bullitr]

I am using DIY LEDs

The tank was doing great until the bleaching leaching mishap ...

I never read the whole thread but I had anything from Reefkoi to cheap chinese knock off
LEDs is good for energy consumption, produce great color beter than t5 with zoa, lps, and almost everything except for acro because metal halide is still best specially of supplemented by LEDs.

If you want to argue ask Ching Chai ....

Also in LEDs there is such thing as too much lights specially white.

[gskidmor]

thanks Lawrence!

[bullitr]

Originally Posted by Mmiller40gt

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.

There is a few David Saxby , aflynn, jawsee and future TOTM Nineball

[bullitr]

In opinion
Radions are very good check my friend David tank, it has great color, great growth and great energy consumption
Unfortunately he have to repair his AGE tank because of unsightly bubble and scratch.

[James77]

Originally Posted by bullitr

There is a few David Saxby , aflynn, jawsee and future TOTM Nineball

No real time to look into it now, but how many of these were LED long term?

IE....they were not several year old SPS tanks under halides that switched to LEDs a couple months before?

[power boat jim]

Originally Posted by Mmiller40gt

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

Some of us are more patient then others. Also I failed to mention that most of the corals acclimated in a few months, there were a few that did take a year though. As a side note I lost only 1 out of 40 some sps colonies I had during the switch and that one wasnt in the best shape to begin with. I too have had corals I put into the tank and within a week they were off and running. It is usually the monties for some reason.

I do think as more and more suppliers and stores use leds fot their stock lighting you will see a better and shorter acclimation times in our led tanks. I dont know what that willl do the acclimation process for those who have MH.

[gskidmor]

Here are some that have been exclusively LED:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...1852268&page=4

half way down is a tank from ching chai. he did start with MH but the growth as you can see was explosive once he switched to LED (the tank pics are posted by Moser):
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...055941&page=10


It is surprisingly hard to find threads here or on other forums that detail LED growth...maybe I will start a thread on that.

[bullitr]

Actually David have some growth picture Under 12 Radions before he took it down
It's like his corals was on steroid .

[gskidmor]

Do you know where I can find that?

[bullitr]

Here you go Jerry
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...062544&page=42

[mussel and hate]

Originally Posted by James77

No, it is not a MAJOR problem for the majority of halide owners. Most do not even run chillers, all over the country. Rhode Island is pretty hot most the year- you are right next to me in CT, from June on this year it has been well into the 80s most the time. Far from Alaska...would you not agree? Not once has my tank temp been an issue, and I have only run the AC on the really humid days. Even the fans on top the tank rarely come on. I've NEVER needed a chiller on any of my tanks with all sorts of halides from 150 watts to 400 watts.

Sure if you put 800 watts of halides in a closed canopy with the lights 5 inches off the water you will have problems, but that is poor use of them. There are pretty easy steps to managing the heat, simple computer fans solve 90% of most peopls heat issues.

I run a 175w 10" above a 20gallon open top. The temperature jumps 5-6F when the Halide is on... This is the primary reason I'm constructing an LED fixture. Oh btw I'm in Canada. It's not quite Alaska but It's not California.

[cgomez87]

I was using leds befor switched back to halide / ati t5's I get better growth from t5 / halide

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[bbsal]

Originally Posted by James77

Most reefers feel stressed because they believe the animals we keep need a rock solid temperature to make it. Nothing could be further from the truth, and it actually sets them up for disaster should something go wrong. It was by accident that my tank hit 87 one day...I had left the halides on "manual on" by accident with no AC, or normally they would have shut off at 84( THE upper limit according to common belief). The tank never looked happier. After that, I have had my tank approach 88, and that is when I kill the halides. But even then, I truly see zero signs of stress from my animals. However if they went to that temp from a tank that is kept at a rcok solid 80 with a combo of chiller and heater, most would perish.

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.

I absolutly agree with your post! My tank jumps into the highest of 84 degrees by end of day on a summer month with the halides on and my corals and fish seem perfect and accually my lps looks way better.

Once the tankmates corals and fish get used to temps doing the same thing everyday going from 79 in morning to 83 usually by end of day it dont phase them at all. My tanks been running i guess around 8 months and one time last month i forgot to reconnect my timer so my halides stood on and the tank got to 86 i was scared to death but it once again didnt phase the tank.

But overall i run no chiller and see no problem at all in temps yea most people will say 76 to 78 and hold it steady but i with halides running my tank goes 78 to max 83 in summer everyday that swing dont seem to effect a thing. In the winter my tank dont even reach 80 usually stays at 76 in morning and 78 to 79 by end of day.

[Sps Dream]

That's why i'm still using Mh+T5 combo. Good thread.

[James77]

Originally Posted by mussel and hate

I run a 175w 10" above a 20gallon open top. The temperature jumps 5-6F when the Halide is on... This is the primary reason I'm constructing an LED fixture. Oh btw I'm in Canada. It's not quite Alaska but It's not California.

Ok, every setup is different. That is a small body of water and does not have a lot of volume to dissipate heat. Did you try a small fan? Even with the temp jumping 5-6 degrees with the lights going on, it is harmless to the tank inhabitants....unless you see signs of stress?

[MedRed]

I went from AI Sol Blues to Radions and finally to MH+T5 after a year and a half. My corals grew with LEDs, but the colors were off. After switching to MH+T5 my colors were night and day better and my growth exploded.

[Goldcoastreefs]

Yeah this is what I have noticed, corals still grow under the LED's but colors are off. I have 3 tanks set up, 1 has a Radion, another has DIY Cree 3W on one side and a 250W 20k ushio on the other, and my other tank is 3 250W Radiums. I just like the looks of the Radium and the Growth and colors of the corals are superb. But personally I have never tried t5 and am thinking about going with a Power Module

[sirreal63]

Originally Posted by 20584810

Originally Posted by bhazard451

When they grow your coral and they are thriving, I have achieved all of this within the past 6 months of starting up my new tank, compared to originally using MH/T5 for 3 years over it.

Is this the current pic of your tank? I am curious which corals in the tank have had growth, it is an empty tank? What am I missing here? What have you actually achieved in the past 6 months in this tank?

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by sirreal63

Is this the current pic of your tank? I am curious which corals in the tank have had growth, it is an empty tank? What am I missing here? What have you actually achieved in the past 6 months in this tank?

The tank itself crashed 3 months ago from an ATO failure, bad hitchikers, and all sorts of things that required a full breakdown. It was running MH/T5 for 3 years, and LED for 3 months. That is the tank just starting back up again, and the Pukani rock used is leaching phosphates which I'm hesitant to start adding a lot back in yet. Even still, there are a few pieces with good growth that I'll try to capture a month at a time.

This is the tank before the crash.

[sirreal63]

Ok, so to be clear it was a tank of mostly soft corals, LPS and anemone's that had LED's on it for 3 months. I'll have to take your word on the great growth with what was in the tank. It seems a little premature to claim anything on a tank that crashed and currently has nothing in it, wouldn't you agree?

All of lighting you are recommending on the Chinese LED thread is coming from a tank that has nothing in it and nothing to show that the lighting you are recommending is growing anything and doesn't even have the Chinese LED's in it, you replaced them all to improve the fixture. Seems odd to me to be telling people to use something you aren't even using and haven't used with success. Maybe I am looking at it wrong though. While I like what you have done with the fixture and believe it will work great, it hasn't actually worked great yet.

[loup]

On my old tank i ran mh with t5 supplement. When the ai sol white came out 2.5 yrs ago, i switch over to led. The growth exploded on my sps tank but the color was not there so i added the t5 back to supplement and the color came back. Basically i switch mh for leds. If your led is just blue and white you wont get that color. All the new led now have multi color now and my new tank will run one of those new leds.

I wonder if most ppl switching back were running only blue and white?

[MedRed]

Originally Posted by sirreal63

ok, so to be clear it was a tank of mostly soft corals, lps and anemone's that had led's on it for 3 months. I'll have to take your word on the great growth with what was in the tank. It seems a little premature to claim anything on a tank that crashed and currently has nothing in it, wouldn't you agree?

All of lighting you are recommending on the chinese led thread is coming from a tank that has nothing in it and nothing to show that the lighting you are recommending is growing anything and doesn't even have the chinese led's in it, you replaced them all to improve the fixture. Seems odd to me to be telling people to use something you aren't even using and haven't used with success. Maybe i am looking at it wrong though. While i like what you have done with the fixture and believe it will work great, it hasn't actually worked great yet.

+1

Originally Posted by loup

On my old tank i ran mh with t5 supplement. When the ai sol white came out 2.5 yrs ago, i switch over to led. The growth exploded on my sps tank but the color was not there so i added the t5 back to supplement and the color came back. Basically i switch mh for leds. If your led is just blue and white you wont get that color. All the new led now have multi color now and my new tank will run one of those new leds.

I wonder if most ppl switching back were running only blue and white?

I switched from sol blues to radions... I was still missing color.