Led

[tshives26]

All over the forums, there are many different opinions on whether to use LEDs or not, and even what kind they prefer. Currently I have T5s but have recently been thinking about switching over to LEDs. It would be nice to have an current updated perspective of LED owners out there.

-Are you Pro or Anti LED and why?
-What brands do you like?
-What size would be good for my 55 gallon (future) reef tank?
-What has your success of failure been with them, especially with coral?

I like the shimmer it adds to the water as movement is a huge plus for me. I have heard mixed feelings about them from meeting members in person. What is your opinion?

 

[jetlink82]

Personally I am pro LED and am sold on them. Prior to LED's I was using metal halides. They of course used a lot more electricity to run and also created heat obviously vs my LED's which stay pretty cool to the touch.

I have been using the "chinese" LED's over my 90 gallon reef, two of the 3x55W Dimmable fixtures found on ebay. They have been on the tank for about a year and a half now and I couldn't be happier with them. They are the same units as the popular reefbreeders.

My tank is SPS dominant, bunch of acros, montis, chalices, RBTA, etc etc. I am shocked at how well my corals have done since the lighting addition. I am watching all my SPS stuff grow by the day. My acros, monti's and chalices are growing like weeds! I am upgrading my tank to a 250 deep dimension tank and will be using the same lights on that setup.

 

[tshives26]

Thanks for your two cents jet! Everyone else with all these LEDs and nothing to add?

 

[heathlindner25]

I've used leds going on four years now.... I'm currently using a reefbreeder and I love it.

 

[mattgee87]

I hated my LEDS. I watched many of my corals brown out with a maxspect razor hung 14" off the water. I switched back to metal halide and low and behold all the corals colored back up and started growing again. My LPS loved the led though and it took them a bit to re adjust to the switch. That was my only and probably last experience with LEDS.

 

[dannyafoster]

This is my first saltwater tank but I also have the ebay leds they seem to work well everything in my talk is growing I mainly have lps the one sps I have is also growing though. If you research the different types of leds you will see that the Chinese leds are very close to the major brands. Different ones use different led nodes such as cree and others. I would do a little research on the Chinese leds vs the big name ones. Just my opinion again I'm new to this hobby so others may have more knowledge than me.

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[dawgface]

Here's the deal as I see it, seen it and believe it.

LED are certainly capable of producing a beautiful growing sps tank. However I don't think the science or rather methodology behind exactly how this produced is fully understood. You'll likely hear a hundred different explanations and opionons however reproducing those efforts I wouldn't expect similar results.

Metal halide and T5 are easy and really can't go wrong. Keep bulbs fresh, off water approximately x inches and a photoperiod of y and your good to go.

For the record, I'm currently running the Kessil 360w. I've had them up for approximately 2 months. At this point I'll only report that I like the shimmer and it appears everything is happy or atleast not irritated by this lighting. No growth yet but with a new tank I really don't expect any significant for another couple months. Only small concern is, as if yet no coralline growth at all of the walls. In all my new tanks in the past I started showing coralline within the first 30 days. If I am remembering that timeline correctly I'm overdue by 60.

 

[paul692]

i have a 300 watt maxspect razor and i love it

 

[tshives26]

Interesting. I really would like to try them out but don't want to take a hit on growth. What size/type would I need for a 55 gallon with a hood?

 

[jetlink82]

One thing I forgot to mention above that I really like is not having to change out costly MH bulbs ever 6 months.

 

[paul692]

if money was no object i would go with reefbrite hybrids they are metal halides with led strips attached to them . when the water temp goes up use the led or use a combination of both.no bulbs or ballasts are included . another plus is the ballasts can be adjusted for output. expensive but nice

 

[kzoo]

LEDs are here to stay, I have good color and maybe a little slower growth but I wouldn't switch back.

 

[motoman]

Jetlink82;954348 wrote: Personally I am pro LED and am sold on them. Prior to LED's I was using metal halides. They of course used a lot more electricity to run and also created heat obviously vs my LED's which stay pretty cool to the touch.

I have been using the "chinese" LED's over my 90 gallon reef, two of the 3x55W Dimmable fixtures found on ebay. They have been on the tank for about a year and a half now and I couldn't be happier with them. They are the same units as the popular reefbreeders.

My tank is SPS dominant, bunch of acros, montis, chalices, RBTA, etc etc. I am shocked at how well my corals have done since the lighting addition. I am watching all my SPS stuff grow by the day. My acros, monti's and chalices are growing like weeds! I am upgrading my tank to a 250 deep dimension tank and will be using the same lights on that setup.

I can attest to this - I have seen all of my coral grow significantly under the taotronics, or Chinese LEDs. The only comment I would make is that the coloration will be different. Notice I said different, and not bad. I just think that the colors you get from halides or T5s is more natural.

Here is some growth examples - I am running one taotronics 120w LED. Notice the montis and the milipora.

Picture taken on January 19, 2014:

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Approximately 3 Months later:

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[tshives26]

Well I stopped at a LFS to check LED prices there. According to them, the lights would cost me $1200! Is this price normal? If so, I might be looking into Chinese LEDs, don't need to get rid of my T5 that fast.

 

[dannyafoster]

The big name brands are very pricey.

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[ringo®]

They were probably giving you the price on 2 Radions. I use ReefBreeders over 2 of my tanks and a T5 unit over my frag tank. They each have there ups and downs.