LED Lighting?????

[dclegern]

Has anyone had any luck with LED's?
Or is it kinda hoaxy?
And if so............. then what parameters of light per tank/gal?

[alton]

I am sure a bunch will chime in but here are some quick answers
It will grow coral
don't buy the cheapest fixture
75w of LED does not replace 400w of MH
Some colors do not do as well, but others do better
The human eye does not see it as well as MH and Fluorescent
Because of the above people will cook there coral
I have taken a coral that browned out under T5 and under LED has turned green again.
I am sure more will add to this

[KING]

look under equipment..( ai sol super blue) theres some info that can help u..its all resent ..the pass few days.

[jrnannery]

...don't buy the cheapest fixture...

Amen to that, as if any of them were cheap. Stephen would be a great source of info here, but I think the rule is that you have to get the 3 watt LEDs for them to go grow sps, like acros. I don't think the 1 watt LEDs are powerful enough. I think it's Marineland that has some nice looking LED fixtures for regular (non-nano) tanks, but they are not powerful enough to raise sps corals. You'd have to look at AI Sols, as has been stated, and some other high-quality (pricey) setups. But the price is all on the front-end. There is no replacement cost, barring some unforeseen tragedy. No maintenance expense.

[ErikH]

To echo what Alton said THEY ARE NOT THE EQUIVALENT OF A 400W HALIDE. IN NO WAY.

I read and read and read everywhere online that they were, and they absolutely are no where near. Even with 60 degree optics, your main source of light is in the middle. Take what you will think you'd need and double it! Irked at LEDs right now.

[Teeb]

I don't think you need to double it, but don't expect the world out of them. No, 72w of LED's doesn't equal 400w MH, but the 148w over my 48"x18" allow me to grow whatever I want and I'm not running them near capacity.

LED's are powerful, just need to be used properly.

[alton]

I guess I need to clarify my answer, so many times we see where it says "as bright as a 400 watt MH" in some cases is true, but you do not replace 1 MH fixture and replace it with 1 - 75w LED because of the coverage area of a metal halide lamp and reflector is so much more. What is funny is the Marineland fixture was brought up and it is a prime example because that was the LED fixture I was talking about. I got it with store credit and after going through three fixtures due to bad LEDs it seems the last is okay. Using a meter each LED is as bright as a 250 watt MH but there is not enough to get very even coverage, so a 36" fixture only covers 8" of an aquarium so on a 40 long it will not cover the front two inches nor the back two. Which if you are only keeping corals in the middle you will be fine. When I first got the fixture I accidently fried a green birdsnest that was right under one of the LEDs and up high in the tank. If you go LED make sure the fixture is dimmable and borrow a light meter to check lighting levels so not to cook your coral.

[alton]

One more and then I will shut up, I have a friend who had a 200 watt LED on a 36 x 18 x 20 aquarium. The SPS actually grew downward away from the light because it was too much. But then he switched to AI Sols and loved the ramping up part but did not give his corals enough time under bright lights. No problem with ramping up and down just make sure your corals have at least 8 hours of bright light, and you should not be running your at LEDs to start at 100%.

[rrasco]

My input:

-LEDs have a much more narrow spectrum, whereas T5 and MH offer a fuller spectrum; choose your LEDs wisely.
-3w is the standard. 1w may work for shallow tanks and softies, but 3w is where it is.
-Dimming is an absolute necessity. Independent color dimming is even better.
-The spread from an LED is also much more narrow, meaning you don't necessarily need bigger brighter LEDs or optics, you need to space them out more.

There is way too much about LEDs to cover quickly and accurately. I think the biggest issue with LEDs is there are lots of different stories, with different fixtures, with different results. There are specific details that need to be taken into account to make LEDs work effectively: intensity, spread, and spectrum.

[mistaflicksta]

One more thing that I didn't see anybody post is "Dimmable" this is now a must with LEDs. I had to make light hangers that I could lower or raise because my lights were not dimmable. That being said, it easier to turn a knob of push a button than it is to raise and lower lights.

[rrasco]

Agreed; I touched on it in my post. I actually said it's an 'absolute necessity' not only for the reason you mentioned but to allow you to tune your setup to the color temperature to your needs.