has anyone switched back??
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ran a few for a bit a year ago - they worked better than any of the LEDs I've had (but that could be my own fault because LED's give me too much control).
I moved away only because I was not willing to run a dedicated circuit and the halides were just using too many amps to run safely without one.
I moved away only because I was not willing to run a dedicated circuit and the halides were just using too many amps to run safely without one.
I think there are a few that have switched back. The vast majority stay on led's and either add supplemental led bars with specific diodes or add T5's.
Views on water chemistry have change a good bit in the last 5yrs or so. Ultra low nutrients aren't viewed as the absolute only way to do things anymore.
What are the parameters of your system?
Views on water chemistry have change a good bit in the last 5yrs or so. Ultra low nutrients aren't viewed as the absolute only way to do things anymore.
What are the parameters of your system?
- System volume:
- Salinity:
- Temp:
- pH:
- Alk:
- Cal:
- Mag:
- NO3:
- PO4:
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Call me crazy but....I have never really switched too leds. I did buy a current marine orbit led years ago, but thats not a very good example of a good fixture. I actually just ordered a 6 bulb t5 fixture, should be here tomorrow. To replace my 4 bulb fixture. Before i bought this fixture, i considered two 150w metal halides.
Chris c
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Chris c
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Nothing in the history of lighting can do what MH's do. The growth, the colors, taking away the ability for people to screw with the settings constantly and so on... With that being said, the heat and power consumption is something that is concerning. LED/T5 combo in my opinion is the best option outside of MH and you can get some amazing growth and colors, but growth is slowed for sure compared to MH/T5 combo, but that is the nature of the beast.
I like to say, make sure you do par readings, that is crucial, set the lights that look best in your eye along with the par numbers, set it and forget it! People play with their settings way too much chasing colors and growth and in the end just screw everything up more often than not. These are just my opinions as a hobbyist of over 30 years and reseller of LED's lol.
I like to say, make sure you do par readings, that is crucial, set the lights that look best in your eye along with the par numbers, set it and forget it! People play with their settings way too much chasing colors and growth and in the end just screw everything up more often than not. These are just my opinions as a hobbyist of over 30 years and reseller of LED's lol.
My take on setting leds up is first adjust the par/pur with the near to true UV, Violet, and Blue range 440-495. Set those and forget them with nothing else on if you can.
Once you have that done adjust the White, Red and Green or cyan/mint to what your eye likes. Play with those as much as you feel like just leave the important spectrums alone.
You know in your heart of hearts, nobody does that if they own LED's. 99.9% of every mess with them. I setup my noops, and never touched them again. I am part of the .01% that just leave them alone.
ok i am getting good growth just not like i was with mh, i have ai prime16 hd's with t-5 to help get the bounce of lighting, when i started in 1989ish i just had pc's and a big ol wet dry drip filter, that spun around like a waste water treatment center place...crazy how its changed.
Tell me more about your tank, what is the LxWxH of your system?
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I'm not posting this to knock what you've got. And your tank looks great!
This is just more for info and what I found researching lights last year.
I am not a fan of AI lights of any kind. Maybe back several years ago but since Ecotech bought them these "Budget" lights are a huge profit generator for them. The prime fixtures have the highest cost per led out there and one of the higher costs per watt. Even more than their Cadillac Radion's by a pretty far margin per actual led. For the money spent the Radion's are better. On the budget front @scottw sells the Noopsyche brand.
If I only needed one or two fixtures I'm might have gone with Radion but I'm not spending over $6k on lights, just not going to happen.
I say all of this knowing that down the line you may upgrade and there are much better lights out there than AI. You're going pretty good now and the T5's really help.
I hope you find this info helpful.
i didnt think you were knocking me, i do like them, but i will say this about them, they are not meant,imo, to be inside a canopy. i have openings and fans and with the fish that seem to want to splash all the time the get moisture in them. if not for that part i do really like them also i was able to buy them one or 2 at a time. i have a 6ft 125, with a 120 gallon sump. i have the t-5 which i mentioned. if i had not already taken the plunge i might go another direction because of the canopy.
I was just wondering as the AI 16 aren't made for tanks as deep as your tank, but the T5 will help with the shortfall for sure.
I think AI Prime 16HD's are good for smaller tanks and can be used with larger tanks if supplemented like with T5's. I use the BRS setting for mine on my Waterbox Cube 20 and one is working well for a mixed tank. My Dragon Soul torch frag really took off under it. I wouldn't go for them first if I wanted a full on SPS tank or higher par with depth. @scottw is right the size and depth of the tank makes a big difference with these and the par level quickly falls off. Watch the BRS video to see their recommendations for the AI Prime 16HD's based on tank size. Has anyone tested the Radion G5 Pro with the PHX14 setting versus a metal halide? That profile was made to emulate a metal halide and has been around since the G3's I believe. If anyone has both, I can borrow a spectroradiometer from work to measure the spectrum, peak values, and output intensity.
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I resisted the switch to LEDs mostly due to cost and the fact my system has a chiller so temps are not a problem. I recently swapped out triple 250w Hqi on magnetic ballasts (supposedly overdrives the bulb for max output) with 2 rows of T5 actinic for 3 Kessil A500x units. Went from 14 amps of power for lighting to 4 amps. This is on a 210 72”x24”x30”
I used the clubs PAR meter to measure before readings at ~30 spots around the tank, over various colonies and along the sand bed. I installed the Kessils, adjusted the color to where I liked it and took par readings at those 30 points at various power levels. I adjusted the height of the lights and took more measurements.
I was able to come very close to matching what my halide fixture was producing. As you would expect, some spots were higher, others lower but on average, it was a good match. It ended up being 100% power at 60 color (0 being all blue, 100 all white) to match the par at the height I picked that had good spread.
its been 2 months and I haven’t noticed any real changes. Of course, time will tell.
The one thing I will share is the apparent brightness of 70% power to 100% was not that noticeable visually but the par meter told the story. I wonder if people are not running their LEDs bright enough. Or maybe in some cases, they cant get bright enough.
Also, my chiller still runs 5-6 times a day which is down from 8-9 times with halides but it certainly is still needed in my setup.
I used the clubs PAR meter to measure before readings at ~30 spots around the tank, over various colonies and along the sand bed. I installed the Kessils, adjusted the color to where I liked it and took par readings at those 30 points at various power levels. I adjusted the height of the lights and took more measurements.
I was able to come very close to matching what my halide fixture was producing. As you would expect, some spots were higher, others lower but on average, it was a good match. It ended up being 100% power at 60 color (0 being all blue, 100 all white) to match the par at the height I picked that had good spread.
its been 2 months and I haven’t noticed any real changes. Of course, time will tell.
The one thing I will share is the apparent brightness of 70% power to 100% was not that noticeable visually but the par meter told the story. I wonder if people are not running their LEDs bright enough. Or maybe in some cases, they cant get bright enough.
Also, my chiller still runs 5-6 times a day which is down from 8-9 times with halides but it certainly is still needed in my setup.
