Why did you choose the Led you have ?

[reefstarter]

I have been considering changing over to LED instead of my beloved Halides . the energy usage is just too much . While I never make a choice without first doing the research , flip flopping multiple times and driving my wife crazy . I wanted to hear why everyone who is running leds over their tanks reasoning for choosing the brand and unit that you all did . Right now I am on the fence between the Hydra 52's and the kessil either AP700 or 360w x 4 for a 6 ft 210 gallon tank . This is not a debate I just want the reason why YOU picked what you did and if you had to do again which would you go with .

Thanks in advance for contributing

 

[mpsteve]

I have radion pros. Can't say how well they grow coral yet because I just setup up my new tank with the LEDs today. But I can say I am very happy with the light output over my 4'x2' 120g

 

[s_kelley]

Spent $600 on a reefbreeder photo 48, kept for a year and went back to halides, just wasn't getting the results I was
Still happy w my halides

 

[reefstarter]

I have radion pros. Can't say how well they grow coral yet because I just setup up my new tank with the LEDs today. But I can say I am very happy with the light output over my 4'x2' 120g

Nice , be carefull with those bad boys they are Par Monsters

 

[reefstarter]

also what made you choose them over the other options out there ?

 

[dz6t]

I went with "some" LED because the heat is too much in summer with 20+ 250w metal halides.
So I have to compromise in summer by switch all but two metal halides in summers.
I keep two Radium 250w halide over my prize display tank at all time.
I found t5 is a nice option in between, I am using more and more t-5 right now.

 

[reefstarter]

Spent $600 on a reefbreeder photo 48, kept for a year and went back to halides, just wasn't getting the results I was
Still happy w my halides

its not that I am not happy with mine , but energy cost is a bit much for my system . since I can not find a suitable return pump that uses less than 300 watts lighting is my only place to cut cost . Thought about T5 only but would miss the shimmer too much

 

[dz6t]

For LED, I use mostly AI and some Maxspect.
I have Kessil, it has the best shimmer and I can't say much about them otherwise.

 

[reefstarter]

I went with "some" LED because the heat is too much in summer with 20+ 250w metal halides.
So I have to compromise in summer by switch all but two metal halides in summers.
I keep two Radium 250w halide over my prize display tank at all time.
I found t5 is a nice option in between, I am using more and more t-5 right now.

I hsve a chiller but if I can help it I'd rather it didn't run . that would only add to the energy usuage in summer with Ac's running halides yikes !!!

 

[Platehead]

A watt is a watt. 8x54 T5 basically equals 2x250w halide.

 

[Coffee with Mango]

I purchased Build My Led lights about 3 years ago because they allowed me to customize which wavelength chips went into the fixture and they had a good selection of wavelengths between 400 and 450. They also helped me match the Fiji Purple Geismann bulb -- leading to their "Purple Wave" fixture that I love. I also didn't have any place to put a chiller so I wanted to avoid heat.

I don't have a lot of SPS but the Stylo I bought as a 2" frag two years ago is now the size of a cantaloupe, the monti's I've gotten from Dong have all doubled/tripled this past year. The lights are too strong for my rics at the bottom of the 21" tank -- had to move rics under a rock ledge.

I am upgrading to a 120g and I will probably purchase the same again for the new tank.

 

[mpsteve]

I have had vortechs for lots of years now and love them. So I'm kind of loyal to the brand at this point. Also have the vectra m1 as a return pump. But everything I read leading up to purchasing the radion pros was that they are very capable of growing sps and that what this new tank is going to be is an sps tank

 

[Technorch]

I went with Radions as leds and I didn't get good results with them. I ditched those leds and went to an ATI t5 and supplementing with a Kessil and I'm really loving the change. Corals have popped in color and growth. Personally I don't think I'll ever go back to leds again.

 

[aresangel]

I went with leds for the sole purpose of cheaper lighting. I currently have a Fluval Reef and Marine LED. Getting the PAR meter sometime this week and will let you know PAR readings. Mainly I wanted LED's but I didn't want to spend 600-800 dollars for lights for a 4' tank. I was looking at getting a Reefbrite, since I have one on my 24"x25" x 12" tank, but that bar is still 300 dollars. So ... When a member posted the Fluval I went with that. I may still upgrade in the future to reefbrite, but hey... I am mainly looking for softies and LPS. So I am ok with lower PAR's and less light.

Even though it may not penetrate with high PAR according to other analysis I have seen, it is BRIGHT and gives nice light coverage.

-Tim

 

[dz6t]

Fluval LED are under rated by many but it is a very capable LED. By utilizing hundreds of low wattage LED, it has excellent color blending and very high par/watt ration. It also has the best water proofing.
It is not programmable though.

 

[jah-hoeva]

I have the fluval 2.0 marine and reef led. There wifi controller and app to program them are now available.

 

[cilyjr]

I went with sol blues . 4 on my 180. I bought them because in 2011 they and redeons were the top of the line. The sols were billed as upgradable (which they still are. Hydra 52 kit for 200 or 300 I think). And they ran about 200 cheaper at 400 over Radeon which were 600. I've used them for just about 5 years now. They will grow pretty much any coral. I have to say though that about 2 years ago I added 2 t5 bulbs to grab some of the spectrum the older sols lack ( true Uv in the 390 to 410 nm range and reds in the 650 to 750 nm range). I've found a much happier tank since.

When I bought, my goal was to save money by not buying new bulbs every year as the electricity savings was insignificant (I guessed then, now I've got 5 years of electric bills as proof ) and I knew that upgrading would not be an option until I got my moneys worth which would be next year.

Overall I am happy with the purchase and it's comforting to know that I can upgrade to the newest product they offer at about 1/2 the price as new. There were times when I debated going back to mh. And I may have before I bought the t5 supplements had I not sold all my mh stuff. But in the end I'm happy I did not. At this point I still believe that were I to upgrade tomorrow I would still run the t5 tubes but both would supplement the Uv range. I have yet to see a UV led I think will do the job. The hydra uses the edison opto 400nm which runs at 410nm that's on the high end of uv.

That's my experience

 

[shrkbait]

I switched over to the Reefbreeders 48" from a mix of MH and power compact. I was in need of new bulbs anyways and the energy costs were appealing. The light itself has made the tank stunning to look at. Everything is popping. I went with the Reefbreeders because it had a built in timer that can ramp up and down as desired, had a built in stand, and had a good spread of LED over the 48 inches. I have never really had the best growth but that is more due to lazy water changes. Nothing has died and they all show better colors.

 

[dz6t]

I still have a group of AI sol blue running and they are well proven lights to grow coral.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[twiddledog]

As an advocate for MH\T5 combos...I found when I entered the wold of LEDs for a year was that my heaters were much more so I did not see much of an energy savings. Also..think about return on investment since you already have lights that you are happy with (except the power usage)

How many years will it take you return the money you saved by purchasing and switching to LEDs??????? LEDs are expensive to buy. Personally I think you should stay with MH..it is tried and true and works great