Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
Apolloreefled.com
This gentleman has done some nice quantitative tests with the LED panels I started using a year ago on my 300 gallon reef. I got tired of MH and the expense associated with running them for the past 18 years. I bought 3 of these units and 1 for my algae turf scrubber. I went from 1000 watts of MH to 330 watts of LED on the display tank. Went from 500 watts to 150 watts on the turf scrubber. As I have posted and shown before, coral growth has been very good and there has been zero down side to the move. Watch the YouTube video he has done where he measures PAR at 24" to be at over 300. It's a good video. YouTube
These units are only $350 each and should last 50,000 hours. Do the math, changing MH bulbs, power bill, chiller requirements, etc. In my view, these easy to use LED panels are superior to anything I have had in the past.
I also think they are safer. No big ballast to short out and catch fire (yes, this happens, I lost one of my LFS as a result of a ballast fire), no dangerous high pressure bulbs to remove and dispose of, and much less chance of getting burned from super hot bulbs.
I have gotten much flak about LEDs on this forum because there are so many overpriced LED units and so many LED units that are simply junk. This is different in my experience and should be looked at carefully before investing in MH or T5.
This gentleman has done some nice quantitative tests with the LED panels I started using a year ago on my 300 gallon reef. I got tired of MH and the expense associated with running them for the past 18 years. I bought 3 of these units and 1 for my algae turf scrubber. I went from 1000 watts of MH to 330 watts of LED on the display tank. Went from 500 watts to 150 watts on the turf scrubber. As I have posted and shown before, coral growth has been very good and there has been zero down side to the move. Watch the YouTube video he has done where he measures PAR at 24" to be at over 300. It's a good video. YouTube
These units are only $350 each and should last 50,000 hours. Do the math, changing MH bulbs, power bill, chiller requirements, etc. In my view, these easy to use LED panels are superior to anything I have had in the past.
I also think they are safer. No big ballast to short out and catch fire (yes, this happens, I lost one of my LFS as a result of a ballast fire), no dangerous high pressure bulbs to remove and dispose of, and much less chance of getting burned from super hot bulbs.
I have gotten much flak about LEDs on this forum because there are so many overpriced LED units and so many LED units that are simply junk. This is different in my experience and should be looked at carefully before investing in MH or T5.