LED vs Metal Halide (Coral Magazine Article)

[icedearth15324]

I got this in an email, and thought it was a really interesting read that could potentially help any of those members who are still debating the switch from MH to LED. It's a good read for pretty much anyone actually.

http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2014...rs-of-metal-halide-use-to-radically-new-leds/

I personally started off with LEDs, and although they have taken me awhile to dial them and my acclimation techniques in correctly (had a history of burning SPS in a matter of days), I'm beginning to finally get them working properly and some of my corals are looking really nice and growing well.

 

[7Hogwarts]

I am a fan of LEDs too. I have been using them for years. My first LEDs were AI gen 1. (They came out right after the Solaris debacle.) The lights are just Cree white and blue. I now use AI Hydra. Great color!!!! And easy to program.

 

[Smitty]

Good read...Thanks for sharing.

 

[wld1783]

Good Write Up for the beginner.

Having to augment the Ecotec with MH seems counter productive.

Tuning the Ecotech will give you the look of most any MH and adding an additional to compensate for the PAR would pay for itself in several years.

Using old school Cree Cool White and Royal Blue has been proven to give outstanding growth as the Cree Cool White is close to full spectrum.

The latest run quality fixtures tweak this by adding tertiary colour LEDs for looks.

Ebay Imports compensate their Bridgelux Knockoffs with a grocery list of colours to compensate.

Heat was the main reason I went 100% LEDs and with the Proper heatsink and thermal management the LEDs will last years...One of my first fixtures is still going strong after 5 years.

Given Kids + TVs and lights always left on in my big house I could not accurately quantify my electrical savings over my 570 mixed and 330 SPS / LPS tank.

I do know that I never needed to run a chiller due to my water volume but did see a measured drop of over 20 Amps over both tanks with more controllable and brighter LED Lighting.

My friend with a 90 gal SPS in a two bedroom Chicago Condo was spending $350 a month in the summer just for electricity.

His 90 SPS would have its two 250 watt Radiums come on. Then the Chiller would come on, then the AC would kick in to keep his Condo temp at 78...

It was like a dog chasing its tail with only ComEd coming out a winner.

After he switched to a setup with 96 Cree X series LEDs driven at 700mA his electrical bill dropped to $130 a month.

I hope the next write up will include specifics as the Cree Cool White has over 28 different colour variations along with different intensity Bins

3 Watt LEDs are an extremely vague description like SWF as defined in the urban dictionary.

Before Crash due to RO mishap while on vacation...

Current Pic

Just for fun comparison


Cheers

Bill