confused about lighting

[uncle deisel]

Ive never been so confused in my life about a purchase.Iam setting up a new 225 gal system and i have not skimped on any of my equipment but for the life of me i cant make a decision on led or mh lighting.iam a first time reefer i only have knowlege on fish only and my reading tells me that lighting is very very important anyone have any imput for me.

 

[Killerdrgn]

The only question you really need to ask about led or MH lights is if you want to pay now or do you want to pay later?
MH lights are decently cheap right now, but they use alot of electricity.
LED lights are pretty darn expensive, but use less electricity.
May take several years for the initial LED price to equal the price of MH operation.

 

[Reefsaint]

Nothing exceeds like excess! buy the most bang for your buck! Led is the light of the future now! I put them on my Pico and they are outstanding!

 

[clownlover]

i have the 72" solaris. my tank seems pretty happy. and i have an old one, the new ones r def better. all my corals are splitting like crazy. the only thing is it may not be good for sps. my sps dont have the really good color u would get out of it under mh's. so like said b4 its do u wanna pay now and save later , vice versa, and lastly what do you want to keep in it

 

[tosiek]

You won't be as happy with the LED's as you would with the MH's + supplimentation. Get yourself the MH's =0) I know few people with the LED's, and i haven;t heard any rave posts about them beeing better than MH or equal. They are good, do their job, and have all the cool features/lighting effects.

For a small pico, yeah LED's are great because there isn't enough room for a MH without lighting up the rest of the desk. :fishhit: And the lighting of the future isn't LED's, they are gonna go down the drain once those plasma bulbs come into production =0)

 

[KathyC]

Just a little food for thought...I was on the phone last week with LIPA and we were figuring out just how much my MH's cost to run on a monthly basis..if on for 8 hours a day 3x 250 w - my cost to run them was slightly less than $41/mo...granted that is only for my lighting (that's 2 tanks btw..2 on 1 tank and a single bulb on the other..) Not awful considering how much we spend on the other aspects of this hobby!

IMO I'd stick with proven MH's for now until the cost of LEDS come down AND when they work more of the bugs out. Do entire grids of them still go out when something breaks on them??

 

[clownlover]

Just a little food for thought...I was on the phone last week with LIPA and we were figuring out just how much my MH's cost to run on a monthly basis..if on for 8 hours a day 3x 250 w - my cost to run them was slightly less than $41/mo...granted that is only for my lighting (that's 2 tanks btw..2 on 1 tank and a single bulb on the other..) Not awful considering how much we spend on the other aspects of this hobby!

IMO I'd stick with proven MH's for now until the cost of LEDS come down AND when they work more of the bugs out. Do entire grids of them still go out when something breaks on them??

yes in mine that happens, not sure about the new ones

 

[Killerdrgn]

if on for 8 hours a day 3x 250 w - my cost to run them was slightly less than $41/mo...granted that is only for my lighting (that's 2 tanks btw..2 on 1 tank and a single bulb on the other..) Not awful considering how much we spend on the other aspects of this hobby!

Ahhh think of the greenhouse all gases that are created! we should conserve electricity, whats the point of owning the tanks if we kill all the wild species out there? :tongueani
Now that being said I also use MH lights, though I do want to get T-5's or LED's if I get the money together.

 

[ssmtcarlo]

I use a 6 bulb t5 fixture and love it. I have never used halides but with the results i have gotten from T5 i don't think i ever will. Before my 6 bulb i used a 4 bulb. I wanted to get a better coverage so i upgraded

 

[uncle deisel]

lights

i have the 72" solaris. my tank seems pretty happy. and i have an old one, the new ones r def better. all my corals are splitting like crazy. the only thing is it may not be good for sps. my sps dont have the really good color u would get out of it under mh's. so like said b4 its do u wanna pay now and save later , vice versa, and lastly what do you want to keep in it[/QUOTEdose

dose the fixture light the tank enough to enjoy the tank @ night or is it a dull effect like ive read about.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

You won't be as happy with the LED's as you would with the MH's + supplimentation. Get yourself the MH's =0) I know few people with the LED's, and i haven;t heard any rave posts about them beeing better than MH or equal. They are good, do their job, and have all the cool features/lighting effects.

For a small pico, yeah LED's are great because there isn't enough room for a MH without lighting up the rest of the desk. :fishhit: And the lighting of the future isn't LED's, they are gonna go down the drain once those plasma bulbs come into production =0)

Not necessarily The two techs are still developing. No one can really foresee the winner. If you were impressed by the You Tube thing someone posted, I seen that 2 years ago, and yet few company wants to further developed it-not to mention marketable. Plasma output is bright to our eyes but to harder to control the wavelength which translate to more energy consuming-that's why they loose out to the LCD in recent TV/Monitor development. Plasma's output are closer to MH because it give out many wavelengths at the same time thus waste more energy Unlike LCD which output is very mono wavelength therefore, if manufacturer are designing coral special LED, they could be very energy efficient. I am not saying which one will be the winner but the fact is, you have to consider the manufacturing side of the equation. If no one makes it what good is a good technology.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

i have the 72" solaris. my tank seems pretty happy. and i have an old one, the new ones r def better. all my corals are splitting like crazy. the only thing is it may not be good for sps. my sps dont have the really good color u would get out of it under mh's. so like said b4 its do u wanna pay now and save later , vice versa, and lastly what do you want to keep in it[/QUOTEdose

dose the fixture light the tank enough to enjoy the tank @ night or is it a dull effect like ive read about.

I believe you are reading stories about a certain brand but there are other more powerful choices.

BTW I heard Solaris is going to be in the swap, you can see it in person and come to me afterwards-I can then calculated how much more light I can get you.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Do entire grids of them still go out when something breaks on them??

Depends on the design. A manufacturer can make each individual LED replaceable or change a strip. it could be a strip of 6, 5 , 3 .... All depends on how well thought the manufacturer design it. When a section of 4' T5 goes, the whole tube goes away too. So don't be too alarmed for 5 LEDs out 250 go away.

 

[uncle deisel]

I believe you are reading stories about a certain brand but there are other more powerful choices.

BTW I heard Solaris is going to be in the swap, you can see it in person and come to me afterwards-I can then calculated how much more light I can get you.

when and where is the swap iam there

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Oh my god where have you been????? all these two months the first banner in MR is about the swap!

The swap is yesterday Sunday April 27th!!!

:tongue1::tongue1::tongue1::tongue1::tongue1:
:tongueani:tongue1::tongue1::tongue1:
:tongue1::tongue1::tongue1::tongue1::tongue1:

when and where is the swap iam there

 

[uncle deisel]

oh man sorry iwas bed riddin all weekend with the flu still under the weather a little sorry didnt mean to insult anyone.

 

[clownlover]

i have the 72" solaris. my tank seems pretty happy. and i have an old one, the new ones r def better. all my corals are splitting like crazy. the only thing is it may not be good for sps. my sps dont have the really good color u would get out of it under mh's. so like said b4 its do u wanna pay now and save later , vice versa, and lastly what do you want to keep in it[/QUOTEdose

dose the fixture light the tank enough to enjoy the tank @ night or is it a dull effect like ive read about.

maybe i havent read this post wll enought but who said its dull at night? at night the LEDS's work beautifully. i mean even MH users get led moonlights for the most part. as for the day light when its working ( i have the first g series and it does have its share of problems although it does look like the company supports it well) it works really well for what i have- softies zoas... again its about what you would like to keep in ur tank and the dimensions of your tank.

 

[clownlover]

And the lighting of the future isn't LED's, they are gonna go down the drain once those plasma bulbs come into production =0)

not sure where ur info is from but they already have a 300 lumen per watt LED prototype which is more then double that of the plasma bulb last i checked (it has been awhile). also as far as i know the plasmas only come in 6000k. i think more reefers r into the 10k to 20k range which leds can provide. LED's are not going anywhere for awhile.

 

[uncle deisel]

lights

My tank has a way to go so i am not going to rush my decision but if it were you what would u do.I want to house sps, polyp,mushrom, lps, some sea fans, inverts and fish.I am going to take my time and do as much reserch as possible before my purchase anyone with info is more than welcome to answer. I welcome any and all coments.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

not sure where ur info is from but they already have a 300 lumen per watt LED prototype which is more then double that of the plasma bulb last i checked (it has been awhile). also as far as i know the plasmas only come in 6000k. i think more reefers r into the 10k to 20k range which leds can provide. LED's are not going anywhere for awhile.

Do you mean plasma or both plasma and leds are not going anywhere for awhile?:scratch: