Are LED's really that great of an idea?

[spoonman]

Got a question for all of you light guys (and gals) out there. Have been considering going to LED's and see a lot of them for sale in my LFS. Seems that people are selling them and going back to t5ho or halides. Here seems to be the issue with most of the people that are getting rid of them.

They buy the lights and acclimate their corals and fish. After the process, the tank is doing great and they get more corals or fish (mostly corals are the problem). They take them from the halides or t5ho's at the LFS and put them in their tank only to have them bleach, burn or die. I would think if you are taking them from LED at the LFS and to your LED, this would not be a problem. How do you acclimate from a LFS that has t5ho or halide to an established LED tank? I am not sure how to avoid this problem. Most LFS's that I deal with do not have LED's on their shop tanks. Thoughts????

 

[Holygral]

I went from 2x250 MH 4 inches off the water to 160 watt razors and have had 0 issues, was concerned with 1 of my 5 nems being unhappy with the change and move, but have had no problems going from MH to LED's, started them out at 80% and after 3 weeks 100%, I personal would never go back.

 

[spoonman]

I understand when you acclimate the corals you already have. What happens when you get a new coral from a shop that has them under t5ho's? How do you acclimate? Do you find a shaded area to make the transition slower? I wouldn't think you could take them from t5ho at the LFS directly to your 100% LED's, do you?

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Start them at the bottom off to the side. If you look at your tank every day you can see when there getting to much or not enough and adjust accordingly. Never going back either.

 

[mr_X]

Bottom line is they are more efficient than anything else to date. Very low wattage and yes, they penetrate very well. What appears dim to the naked eye still has the potential to cook stuff on the sand bed that isn't ready for it.
People who return their LEDs before they give them a chance are short changing themselves. Some corals and anemones have taken months to acclimate. many months in some cases. They do acclimate eventually. You can view my tank thread for proof.
There are many misconceptions circulating around the internet about LED lighting.

A PAR meter is not accurate on LEDs (200 PAR out of a LED unit will cook things that were under 200 PAR from T5 or halides IME), and no article on the internet has actual PUR measurements from any LED fixture. Most of the ones I have read state things they have absolutely no data to back up.

Also, many folks believe you need multicolored LEDs to grow and color up corals. Most of these people are the ones who sold their fixtures and went back to the old lighting.
This has been proven to be false information as well.

All you need are dimmable fixture(s) that you can adjust over time. As stated, place new additions strategically, so that they don't get blasted with light, no matter how dim your fixture looks.

 

[Big Tex]

Bottom line is they are more efficient than anything else to date. Very low wattage and yes, they penetrate very well. What appears dim to the naked eye still has the potential to cook stuff on the sand bed that isn't ready for it.
People who return their LEDs before they give them a chance are short changing themselves. Some corals and anemones have taken months to acclimate. many months in some cases. They do acclimate eventually. You can view my tank thread for proof.
There are many misconceptions circulating around the internet about LED lighting.

A PAR meter is not accurate on LEDs (200 PAR out of a LED unit will cook things that were under 200 PAR from T5 or halides IME), and no article on the internet has actual PUR measurements from any LED fixture. Most of the ones I have read state things they have absolutely no data to back up.

Also, many folks believe you need multicolored LEDs to grow and color up corals. Most of these people are the ones who sold their fixtures and went back to the old lighting.
This has been proven to be false information as well.

All you need are dimmable fixture(s) that you can adjust over time. As stated, place new additions strategically, so that they don't get blasted with light, no matter how dim your fixture looks.

not to mention the excess heat and evaporation from t5ho's and especially halides.. geez its nuts on some tanks
oh and the multicolored "full spectrum" lighting is just so you can see all the color on fish and coral ive heard it has no effect on growth or health of fish and coral at all, thats more of a freshwater setup IMO.

 

[mr_X]

Actually, the straight white and blue models make everything pop just fine IME.

 

[Big Tex]

Actually, the straight white and blue models make everything pop just fine IME.

exactly my point, i love just the white and blue, but thats the selling point they use, its "full spectrum" for full coloration blah blah blah

 

[MarinaClown]

I don't have that problem because my LFS uses A.I. Sol so coral acclimation is not an issue for me. I keep my light at 30-50% for at least a day.i have LED lights. Never tried MH or T5s

 

[Gregcoyote]

I agree with what's said here. I personally think the "full spectrum" led is okay IMO, but the coral doesn't grow any faster under them.

LEDs produce more usable light for marine photosynthesis and as a result can look dimmer to the eye. It's why so many people bleach corals under LED at first, including me.

I would never consider going back to T5 or even worse MH. Look at my threads as well and I don't think you will see any negative effects of LEDs on my system.

A dimming LED helps for acclimation, but since I have existing coral, I don't want to turn them down for a new frag, so I intentionally have some darker corners I start the frags out in, then over weeks I move them under a brighter area.

Sanjay, one of my favorite people I follow did this analysis, wish he had covered our favorite Chinese fixtures, but still a good read.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/1/aafeature

 

[Animal-Chin]

The only think Id do differently is not get 90 degree optics. I have 2 units with optics and the light is super intense. I find my tank without optics just gets a nice spread and I don't burn/bleach with them.

 

[mr_X]

You should be able to pop them right off.

 

[Gregcoyote]

You should be able to pop them right off.

Sometime, several companies glue them on.

 

[Animal-Chin]

Oh you're kidding. I'll have to check that out. I guess I just uncrew the unit and acces them eh. I had no idea they could come off....

 

[mr_X]

The ones with optics don't have a plastic splash shield over them, do they? I believe if they aren't glued you should be able to just yank on them. I have some optics here I was going to try on one of my fixtures and these just snap on.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I've got both kinds. The earlier fixtures didn't use the snap on lenses.

 

[spoonman]

Thanks guys! I have an opportunity to buy 2 dimmables for $200. They are brand new. They have the royal blue and cool white with 90 degree optics. Gonna make the purchase I think.

 

[Big Tex]

Thanks guys! I have an opportunity to buy 2 dimmables for $200. They are brand new. They have the royal blue and cool white with 90 degree optics. Gonna make the purchase I think.

if they look anything like the taotronics fixtures (2 power supplies, 2 dimmers, hanging kit etc) then thats a good buy, theyre $120 brand new i think.

 

[Animal-Chin]

Thanks guys! I have an opportunity to buy 2 dimmables for $200. They are brand new. They have the royal blue and cool white with 90 degree optics. Gonna make the purchase I think.

Dim those bad boys way down to start. Like 30 - 40 % on at first and slowly turn them up. I have those on my 55 and I'm leaving them at 50% and everything grows like crazy.