metal halide vs led

[Darylb]

hey guys i want to know your honest opinions on what you think about this topic. what do you think about the light qualiity of both. i know metal halide is more expensive in the long run but the lighting is more natural. led are better for your pocket but is the light as close to natural as halides. please discuss what you think thanks

 

[Sillyfishies]

I like LEDs. They run cool, they last for years, and can be dirt cheap. Not to mention you can get them dimmable.

 

[Jolee0722]

Kessil leds have more shimmer than a metal halide and leds are much cooler and use less electricity. Personally, I think leds are better.

 

[Darylb]

I am going a bit overkill with my lights I got a fixture that's got 2 400watt halides they are gonna sit 2 and a bit foot over the top and run fans hopefully I don't cook everything

 

[Jolee0722]

Working under those must be hard and very hot.

 

[Darylb]

I haven't set it up just yet I'm going to do it when I have a week or so off work so I can't try acclimate my corals to the light and I'm building a stand for the tank the steel should be arriving tomorrow so I can begin

 

[mr_X]

I think it's a mistake using 800 watts of metal halide when you can probably get away with 240 watts of LED, and never change a bulb for the life of your tank. LEDs can grow and color corals just as well as metal halide.

 

[nhelw1]

It really depends on what you have in your tank, if it's a reef you will need some powerful LEDs but if it's just a community tank what ever lights the tank will really do.

I had MT until a few months ago when I changed over to a full programmable led system and honestly it took about a month for the corals to be themselves again but now I'm seeing growth like never before. But that's hard to determine what exactly is causing it. It could just be the photoperiod that's programmed... I currently have the lunar cycle programmed which was a pretty cool option!

Also depending on what corals you have. Is your tank full of sps or Lps...

Each tank is different and just from my experience in 5 tanks over 20 years each ecosystem was running a little different to what was in the water.

 

[Darylb]

I'm getting the fixture for free it's the best I can do for now especially since my gf is having our baby in just over a month money's got a bit tight the power bill will be bad but we can cope for a while

 

[Darylb]

And iv only got a 2ft t5ho on my 4ft tank right now :/

 

[mr_X]

The power bill will be bad enough that you will end up paying for the LEDs in a short time. If the fixture is free, you are going to need new lamps right away most likely. They are between 60 and 100 dollars (U.S.) You can buy LED fixtures for around the same price as high end halide lamps.
There is a reason why it's free.

 

[Darylb]

Ill have to look into it the stand I'm building is going to be able to house the halides and led when I change over because no doubt I will ill try them out iv got new globes already

 

[MarinaClown]

LEDs all day. I can think of many reasons not to use MH and no reason not to use LEDs...honestly. For every bulb you have to replace and electric bill you will have to pay you can use that money to either buy corals and fish, or put that money to upgrade your filtration. Same analogy applies for T5 lighting vs LEDs. The key is to buy good LED lights. Someone mentioned Kessil. I bought two yesterday to replace my previous LED lights and absolutely love them.

 

[Jolee0722]

Yes, the shimmer of kessil is unbeatable, even by metal halides.

 

[bribo12]

Yay kessils!! I love mine as well. Shimmer is insane and my sps have phenomenal color

 

[eck07]

I have never dealt with halides personally, but I went from T5s to LEDs and I am very happy. Even at the cost of T5 bulbs the LEDs pay for themselves pretty quickly.

 

[Gregcoyote]

It's funny, as little as three years ago, your question would have raised a fire storm of comments. Most of us old timers clung to our tried and true MH systems as long as we could until it became obvious we were on the wrong train. MH grows corals great without doubt, but the downsides greatly outweigh the few advantages. Get LEDs when you can, don't invest a lot of money on MH. Come to Missouri, I have a barn full of MH fixtures I'll give you.

 

[Darylb]

I wish I could go there Greg but the plane ticket from aus to there would be a bit much

 

[Gregcoyote]

LOL. It would be a bit far. I have some projects to do there in a few months , but I doubt I could get thru security with a suitcase full of old MH fixtures.

 

[huma-huma]

New Dimmable 120W Aquarium Coral Reef Fish Tank White Blue LED Light Black Shell | eBay
these fixtures are $98 a piece, and have the equivalent power of $200-250w MH, have prob 10% the heat generation, and id say maybe a 1/3 the power waste. as pretty much everyone has stated so far. MH were absolutely amazing and great for their time, but that was a previous time. LEDS are the way to go now and theres more and more evidence to show their here to stay. as for your fixture, try to clean it up and sell it to help pay for leds. just as a quick reference of how much overkill 800w of MH is on a 4 ft tank. at my previous job, they had 2-800w MH fixtures over their 400g cube......