I have three of the same units A is talking about with no optics on my 180 72x24x24. They work great, low energy cost, no bulb replacement, and low heat. I like no optics because the spread covers the whole tank. My blues are running at about 50% and my whites are at about 20-30%. LEDs can be tricky because they don’t look as bright as say your halide fixture but still provide plenty of light. It’s easy to bleach your corals if you don’t acclimate slowly to them. I had a 3x250 HQI and 4x80 watt t5 ho system. When I switched to the LEDs I think I saved about $40 a month I just electric.
[quote=“mortyn02, post:21, topic:7613”]
I have three of the same units A is talking about with no optics on my 180 72x24x24. They work great, low energy cost, no bulb replacement, and low heat. I like no optics because the spread covers the whole tank. My blues are running at about 50% and my whites are at about 20-30%. LEDs can be tricky because they don’t look as bright as say your halide fixture but still provide plenty of light. It’s easy to bleach your corals if you don’t acclimate slowly to them. I had a 3x250 HQI and 4x80 watt t5 ho system. When I switched to the LEDs I think I saved about $40 a month I just electric.[/quote]
I am in love with the idea of saving $40 a month. But you guys have been playing around with LED’s for 5 years now and I’m still not convinced! lol I’ve never known anyone who said they were having trouble with Halides, and I haven’t met a LED person yet who didn’t bleach off everything during the learning curve. I might just go with what I know but man, those energy savings and bulb replacement savings are so nice.
Am I crazy? Are there any clam/sps folks who are completely satisfied with their LED experience over the last 5 years?
Well, John (houndsbayman) I know use LED for quite some time, but his LED lighting were DIY and not the fixture type. I know he does have success with it. I’m sure he’ll chime in on here sometime and let you know about his experience.
As for myself I did as well when I had my other setup.
[quote=“ClownfishSushi, post:22, topic:7613”]
[quote=“mortyn02, post:21, topic:7613”]
I have three of the same units A is talking about with no optics on my 180 72x24x24. They work great, low energy cost, no bulb replacement, and low heat. I like no optics because the spread covers the whole tank. My blues are running at about 50% and my whites are at about 20-30%. LEDs can be tricky because they don’t look as bright as say your halide fixture but still provide plenty of light. It’s easy to bleach your corals if you don’t acclimate slowly to them. I had a 3x250 HQI and 4x80 watt t5 ho system. When I switched to the LEDs I think I saved about $40 a month I just electric.[/quote]
I am in love with the idea of saving $40 a month. But you guys have been playing around with LED’s for 5 years now and I’m still not convinced! lol I’ve never known anyone who said they were having trouble with Halides, and I haven’t met a LED person yet who didn’t bleach off everything during the learning curve. I might just go with what I know but man, those energy savings and bulb replacement savings are so nice.
Am I crazy? Are there any clam/sps folks who are completely satisfied with their LED experience over the last 5 years?[/quote]
Jason i still use mh! 3-250 20k ushio 2-72"vho, and a diy attinic kit. Not sure i will trade my mh. And with having the basement sump they help maintain water temperature so my heater doesnt run as much. No issues with water temp ever getting too warm! My heaters run in the summer
Halide are great IMO. I got into LED’s with this system and I really like them. I like being able to change the color anytime I want to, can dim them, and the fixture stays cold. I didn’t bleach everything at the beginning but I came pretty close lol.
T5s, Halide, led, can’t go wrong either way IMO.
I think I’m going with my gut on this one and going to stick with the technology that I’m familiar with. I know I’m not going to nuke my tank with a halide/t5 combo.
I was online earlier and read what Matt said about using the Led units over his 180gal, and that A said they were on sale for $89. I have been using a DIY fixture for about 3yrs now, I think, and I wouldn’t go back to MH. IMO, MH lights produce better growth than LEDs. But the fixture I am using only has blue and white LEDs. So I ordered 3 new LED units today, to get a full spectrum LED over my tank. Thanks A for the heads up on the great price from Aquatrader.
I was looking at the Tank of the Month builds and I noticed that 8 out of 10 still use Halides. The only 2 exceptions were a nano tank and a guy who said her prefers the colors of the halides but is doing it strictly for the cost savings. I’m probably in the cost savings boat. I just want to make sure they can support clams at 24".
LEDs can very well support clams. The 2 clams that was bought from me when I had my tank cracked are still alive and kickin, growing as well. And yes, under LED fixtures.
just my few and far between 2 cents, but 24 inches is not really accurate, when you take into account height of sand and distance of lights above water as well as size of the clam, not to mention what kind of clam. leds would work for sure for derasas or squammies, and any croceas or maxi’s should or could easily go on rockwork, again the 24 inches is just a very rough estimate. based on that, i’d certainly say if you have success with clams under mh, there’s no reason not to be successful under leds.
+1 with Paul.
I can add my experience too. i raised an little 1 3/4 inch Derasa, which i got at DPA a few years ago, under 4 VHos, 3 actinic, 1 50/50 in just 9 inches of water with the bulbs about 4 1/2 inches above the water. i think it was about a 6 inch clam with nice colors and mantle when i passed it on to Bryant, our VP, last year. I think it has been doing just as well in his deeper display tank under his DIY mix of hacked LEDs and other stuff. He likes to work a lot of lighting magic.
So i think they are fairly adaptable, as long as there is enough radiant energy provided.
Uhhh, hows it doing these days, Bryant? Do chime in.
I saw the derasa over the summer, it had great growth on its shell, and overall looked really nice.
I’m keeping a black teardrop maxima in my 90 without issues. It’s about halfway up in the rock, and I have 90 degree optics too, which are great for penetration.
Big thanks to casey for giving me a tour today so I could see 3 watt full spectrum with 90 degree optics in action! I really liked what I saw. Its convinced me to give the LED’s a try. I’m convinced. I think I’ll still plan on supplementing with either vho or t5 under the canopy.
Anytime jason, glad to have you guys, welcome here anytime. Glad to have helped with your decision.
I’m finding a lot of 48" t5 54w retrofit kits online for around $100. None of them seem to include a splash guard. I imagine the lights will be 8" off the water if I attach them direct to the hood of the canopy. Am I wrong in thinking that I’m still going to need some sort of protection to prevent a bulb from shattering?
If it were me, I would definitely have one. Not just for potential shattering, but the salt creep can possibly get into wiring if not protected, and if the salt creep gets onto the aluminum reflectors, they will pit and corrode.
[quote=“Sneeyatch, post:37, topic:7613”]
If it were me, I would definitely have one. Not just for potential shattering, but the salt creep can possibly get into wiring if not protected, and if the salt creep gets onto the aluminum reflectors, they will pit and corrode.[/quote]
+1
I’ve been researching algae scrubbers. I’m definitely going to incorporate one into my plans.
Not sure what’s your plans are for your tank. Are you looking to do ULN? (Ultimate Low Nutrient). ATS (Algae Turf Scrubber) are very effective way of striping away nutrients in your tank.
Maybe Jason or Tim will jump on here and give you their idea of why they use it and why they took it off.