LED after 2 years. Observations/retrospect

[Santoki]

First off, I would like to request that this thread not turn into a "which lighting technology is better" thread, as there are already too many on RC. I personally believe people should use whatever method works for them. If they are happy, there is no reason to convince others that it is the best. What's best for one may not be for another.
For those that are interested in seeing my original build thread with some PAR numbers, that thread is located here.


It has been roughly two years since I switched over to LED lighting. I was running 3X250w MH on Lumentek electronic ballasts before the switch. My main reason (there were other reasons as well) for the switch was fixture aesthetics. I could not find compact fixtures which used the bulbs I wanted (SE MH) and had the look I wanted in a living room. With these LEDs, I was able to mount the lights higher up like some of the spot-lit Japanese tanks I had seen. I feel now that I've had some time with these lights, I can now make some observations and comparisons. Keep in mind that my observations cannot be used to judge commercial LED systems since I have no experience with them.

Growth:
I want to assure anyone who has any doubts about LED's ability to grow corals, I can say they definitely do not have any problems growing corals. It has grown corals as well as any lighting I've used in the past. In addition, please remember that I am still using the same original fixtures I built two years ago. There have been multiple advances in LED technology since then.

Cost:
I believe I spend around a grand in materials at the end of 2009 when all is said and done (mounting hardwhere included) to build these three pendents. There has been no maintenance of any kind or any burnt out emitters since they went into service two years ago. With my previous MH setup, I would have spent around $480 on bulb replacements at this point. This is with a replacement interval of 6 months. Factoring in the cost of the ballasts and retrofit fixture parts, I believe I am about even now. There may be other long term cost benefits that may apply to you (ie. chiller, energy consumption, etc…)

Color:
First off, I think there are two separate sub-topics when talking about color. The first is how the corals immediately look under a certain light. The second is how the colors develop as the corals grow under that light. This is what I would like to talk about more in depth. In my experience, the latter is most certainly related to water chemistry and has very little to do with light, as long as the light spectrum is in the correct range. I find what does seem to change color seems to be intensity. Spectrum is directly related to intensity, as I believe intensity goes down when you approach the ends of what is considered "correct" spectrum, or PAR. The best documented example I have of this is the large Acro colony on the left side of the tank. In the earlier photos as well as the pictures, you can see how much color is in the base compared to the top areas where the colony is receiving most light. Later photo documentation of the same Acro shows the main colony losing most of that color and becoming what the top portion was before, with the top portion lightening even more. At this point, it is logical to assume that the switch in lighting caused the Acro to lose its colors. However, frags of the same Acro sitting at the very bottom of display develop the same color and color intensity as the mother colony before the switch to LED. Now it seems obvious that intensity directly affects coloration. In short, assuming the lighting used meets PAR requirements, adjusting intensity will allow adjustments in the coral's true color. Keep in mind this change happens in weeks if not months. Now back to the first sub-topic.. As long as you like the way your corals look under lighting which meets PAR requirements, you should be good to go. Remember when we were growing Acros under yellow sodium vapor bulbs?

Shimmer Aesthetics:
Assume natural sunlight is the benchmark. When diving, you can see that shimmer lines are long, and ebb slowly into and out of one another. In an aquarium, the same exact shimmer lines are almost never reproduced due to the multiple light sources needed to provide the needed coverage and intensity. The way LEDs are built and used thus far pulls us further from that by introducing even more sources of point intensity. Depending on how far apart these LEDs are mounted, some have complained of a "disco ball" effect. This effect is certainly real and is a valid concern. Seeing an LED fixture in action is a prerequisite before considering any kind of switch.

I personally will definitely use LED in my next tank (if we ever move). However, I will definitely have some modifications to make!

Now on to the pictures.
The display has remained mostly unchanged since the pendents went into service in 2010. At some point, a second MP40 was added to increase flow as corals grew in. I recently moved the return to the right side and installed a bigger return pump in efforts to introduce more flow on the right side. Flow has been blocked due to the growing colonies on the left.
Changes in fish stock due to outgrowing and a major power outage in 2011 which killed most of the smaller fish (non-tangs). I now have a generator.
Coral wise, I have dealt with my share of pests and vowed to never add anything new as long as this tank is running. I have been successful with this self imposed restraint with only the addition of the Heteractis Crispa in April of 2011. Here are some select pics from beginning and present.

FTS March 2010
[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/r1g3gp.jpg[/IMG]
FTS April 2011
[IMG]http://i53.*******.com/111r1v8.jpg[/IMG]
FTS Feb 2012
[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/35lg6zr.jpg[/IMG]

Stag growth
April 2010
[IMG]http://i54.*******.com/11hqhvo.jpg[/IMG]
April 2011
[IMG]http://i53.*******.com/2mhzzty.jpg[/IMG]
Feb 2012
[IMG]http://i39.*******.com/i1wsi0.jpg[/IMG]

Right side:
[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/2s1p57c.jpg[/IMG]

Left Side:
[IMG]http://i41.*******.com/xnf51h.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i40.*******.com/117e074.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/fnbi4o.jpg[/IMG]

[Santoki]

Top downs:
Center acro resting and growing off of brown stag
[IMG]http://i44.*******.com/6ozkhz.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/n3nhjm.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/576uc.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i39.*******.com/2lwnfo0.jpg[/IMG]


Video from January of 2010:


February of 2012:


hope this post has been informative.
-Robert

[ganjero]

Nice, very informative. Did you remove (or die) the green corals (slimmer?) from the first picture? or did it change color?

[Santoki]

Green slimers don't really grow, or grow very slowly in my tank, so I snipped it to open the right side. You can still see the base in the pictures.

[reelfishy]

Nice write up and sweet tank. I just made the switch myself.

[wewalton]

very nice, thanks for sharing.

[scoly]

Good job! Nice tank and nice collection!

[gmate]

Gorgeous pictures, excellent reefing. Keep it up.

[Saadatski]

Beautiful tank. Good job on making a thread on results rather than starting a debate. I really do love the hanging light and spotlighting the tank. I did this with my LEDs and loved the way it looked, but then i switched back to MH and could only mount it, which i hate.

[mess7777]

yup i am jealous, that is some awesome growth!

[Bigcefa]

That table coral is beautiful, is that a named coral? What is it

[Santoki]

thanks for the positive comments everyone

Bigcefa,
I've been asked that before. Unfortunately, I don't know what that coral is. I always thought it was some type of Tricolor Nana, but I can't explain why it is growing in a table pattern.
For comparison, it was the small colony on the bottom left next to the green encrusting montipora in the original 2010 video. I moved it up to the shelf soon after the LEDs went into service. You can see it on the shelf in the first picture "FTS March 2010".
It started life in this display originally as a 1 inch branch frag in the middle of a 1.5 inch circular frag disc and infested with redbugs.

[reefnewbie83177]

I really like the color. What ratio of blues/whites did you use? I have to 24LED pendents that I put over a 90 and am looking to add some more. I have a 50:50 mix of Royal blues:Cool white, and it is a bit to white for me. My corals don't really pop until the end of the day when the dimmer kicks in.

[Macropora]

Nice write up! Even with the lights hanging so high, you get decent SPS growth.

[Santoki]

All build related data can be found in my original thread.
I used a 1:1 RB:CW ratio in this original build. The Cree XR-E Cool Whites used were the older Q4 emitters which were a bit less intense than the Q5 emitters which came out soon after. As a result I think my overall color is a touch more blue than the majority of the builds which used Q5 emitters with the same RB:CW ratio of 1:1. I think the video still shows more blue that it appears in person.

[MarkGP]

Very nice tank. This will definitely ease people's minds on whether or not leds provide good growth. Good job!

[Curious George]

I don't have either- LED's or MH. I used to have MH and thought that LEDs couldn't compare to the benefits.

BUT your thread and experience really opened my eyes to seeing all the cost saving advantages and decent growth in corals. Very nice work!

[fjpod]

Cool. In more ways than one.

[Reefing Newbie]

Very nice tank!! I can't get over the growth and color of your corals.

I am quite perplexed on the color portion of the OP. Could you explain it a little more? Well if you don't mind of course. I am thinking of doing LEDs on my DT, but T5s on my frag tank and I don't want to get a major loss in color when frags are moved into the DT or the other way around.

[Santoki]

Kyle,
If you have a specific question on the color portion of the original post, I will try to clarify as much as possible...
The best way to avoid color loss is to map out your tank with a PAR meter. Start frags in areas below 125 PAR. There has been many accounts of bleaching when a coral is moved from a MH or T5 environment into an LED environment of equal PAR. I think it also has been established that most PAR meters are reading lower than real world PAR numbers on LED systems since it is not too efficient at picking up PAR on the blue end of the spectrum. If you don't have access to a PAR meter, start the frag out in an area which you perceive to be too dim, then work your way up over weeks. I do believe that the majority of the new LED users are shocking their corals when making the switch. I had the same experience initially, but almost all the new builds I see are using greater numbers and more powerful emitters than the setup over my current display. This will most certainly result in stunted or slow growth and/or loss of color due to photoinhibition.
-Robert

[Seefour]

Which optics are you running? I like the look of the higher lights.

[westreef]

Very nice documentation and good results of extended use of led for reef tank.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Really impressive - both the tank itself, the LED rig, and your effort to document and share info. I'm bookmarking this thread!

[Palting]

Darn!! You've made a believer out of me. Now I gotta start saving up, hoping that my MH and T5 bulbs can last long enough until I get the dough!!

[Humuhumunuku]

Absolutely beautiful. You mentioned if you were to do this build again now, you would make some changes. What did you have in mind?