How many of you have went back to halides or t5s

I wouldn't listen to the LED propaganda being spewed on various websites. So far, LED's have fallen way below the hype. Most fixtures need replacing after a year or 2 as they are burning up as quickly as MH. I'd bet my 2 year old Radiums put out a far better spectrum than a brand new LED fixture, and far more usable light. You couldn't give me a used LED fixture, I already have a few collecting dust in my closet....
 
went from t5 to the AI SOL blues for 1 year.....and i did not like the results at all....in 13 years of reefin i had the worst growth of any year..went back to a ATI Dimmable t5 unit and everything came back ten fold in growth...color and overall health. Something was severly lacking in those AI units, this was 2 years ago so maybe the tech has gotten better but i wont buy another led light until it is the only option out there and its perfected.
 
I am still waiting for an LED comapany to set up 4 identical tanks, with the same corals in the same areas. Two tanks with either halide or T5 and two tanks with LED, and then compare growth and health.

But for some reason I dont see any companies doing that. I think that marketing would be a lot more effective than a graph showing me wave lengths. A graph that was produced by the same company that wants my money.

I think that eventualy LED s will be awesome, but I still dont think that we are there yet. I will give it another 4-5 years.
 
I'm positive LEDS are fully capable of halide performance... I think part of the problem some people have is what they're buying... Some people are selling because they realize they want dimmers, or controllers, fuller spectrum etc... LEDS may look dimmer from in front of a tank but that's because the beam of light is so concentrated it doesn't spill outside the tank.. There is an amazing article on advancedaquarist. Com that explains in too much detail the ins and outs of spectrum
 
Current breed of LED are focusing on user experience, such as remote control, ability to dial in a color that a user prefer, loaded with features such as lighting storm and even claimed to mimic light spectrum at various location around the world.
The reason LED lit tanks are hard to photograph is due to the poor CRI (color rendering index) from LED. With that said, how can LED mimic sun light for coral growth when it is one of the poorest CRI lighting methods on the market?
 
Not going to get into a debate again, because we all know if a mind is already made up, it's not going to change unless it wants to change.

My stand is same as Dave from Vivid -- all lights are good; some corals will grow better under some lights, others, under others. I chose LEDs for our 1000 gallon system, with over $15k invested in corals right now. As Dave said in that great video (thanks Dan for the link), some corals colored up better under MH, others, under LEDs. If actual pictures aren't enough, then I don't know what is.

That being said, since Dave from Vivid is already doing an experiment with the MH vs LED, I'll start our T5 vs LED. I will not be bad mouthing a technology just because ___________ (fill in the blank).

I would strongly urge everyone to do their due diligence and research on the internet, instead of trying to get "opinions" here. Opinions are great, but you need to realize that most people base their judgements on older gen LEDs. Not to mention that lights aren't the "only" factor that affect growth and coral colors. Am I saying LEDs are better than MH or T5 in all different parts of the arena? Of course not -- "every light has it's pros and cons"

Here's one really good link I found during my research: http://aquarium-digest.com/tag/led/#overview
If you scour advancedaquarist, you'll find many many more.

As the need is pretty much here for me to start up our last bin (and go to 100% capacity), I'll try to find a 24" T5 fixture to light it with. That'll be our "experiment" bin.
 
thank you guys i like where this is going so far ,i also wann thank everyone for keeping it friendly and informative .
 
Dong is one of the handful of members i trust on here, but the following photo is taken under 3 Radions with my iPhone. Dont mind the warped appearance, it is a panoramic.

Edit to say that the color are represented almost perfectly.

untitled_zps80b3d39e.jpg
 
Dan, great tank! Corals are looking great.
Are you using 1st or 2nd generation Radions?
 
Here's one really good link I found during my research: http://aquarium-digest.com/tag/led/#overview
If you scour advancedaquarist, you'll find many many more.
.

the article you cited is great information, but I can't help but notice this paragraph in the article (copy and paste):

ANOTHER popular trend is LED fixtures that allow the user to control color temperatures. These misleading RGB and Capacitive Touch features are completely useless. Controlling your RGB (Red, Green, Blue) of your light has little bearing on obtaining the exacting nanometer spikes necessary for photosynthetic life. The bottom line is there is no benefit from the RGB feature and in fact, they’re stressful/harmful to coral (which this feature is my main complaint with the otherwise good Pacific Sun LED).
 
Josh - That cap has been the same color since i have had it. Started out under 20K Coralife 400w Halides. That was for about a month. I switched the halides for 8x54w tech fixture. Had 2 Geismann actinics, 2 ATI Blue+, 3 ATI Aquablue Special, 1 ATI Purple+. The cap grew and remained that color. The Radions have been on the tank for 2 weeks only. I started at 50 percent and the following week bumped them to 60. that picture is under 60 percent lighting. I will move to 65-70 this weekend. It has yet to show any colow switch. Nothing in my tank has changed colors yet for that matter but the closest i have to anything red is that cap, a digi, and pink acans. The picture was only to show that photos can be taken under LEDs.


Dong - Thanks for the compliment. They are the second generation Radions. I have had them for about 2 weeks now. The brain in the lower right is the big guy i got from you.
 
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Dong, I urge you not to make it a debate. Of all the articles I have in my arsenal, I posted that specific one on purpose and you have proved my point. One sees what one wants to see.

If you want to make this a debate, pm me or call me. We will capture all the points and post on a new thread.

As far as rgb, 2 things :

1. I have seen better colors in my corals with other colors included.
2. This is a hobby -- not a competition on whose coral grew faster than whose. I, along with a lot of people, like the look of corals under leds. Adding rgb makes that nice look even nicer -- especially when you have fish. And their reds and greens pop out thanks to the additional colors.

I don't want to pollute this thread anymore. I think its quite apparent where this will go if I continue.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
 
I will post this pic of my tank under T5s as a comparison. Notice the green cap and how dull it is compared to the radion pic. The radion pic is with my iphone, T5 pic with my Nikon D200.

DSC_0004_zps5a810361.jpg
 
if people would like to have friendly debates to help other reefers pick ther lighting .........i dont have a problem with that ..just dont want no one getting nasty and love the reef and dong im sure............... will not make it thet so feel free guys


and i see alot ore sps with the t5s danny lol .....and the red mushrooms cought my eye imidietly any pics of those with radion


but the green is stunning with the radion
 
I will say the only tank that I have witnessed utilizing LEDS that has had prolonged success comparable to MH/T5 is reefkeeper2's. That tank is amazing.
 
i will get a [ic of the red shrooms after work under radions. I moved my tank around a little and the mushrroms just didnt get captured in the radion pic. I assure you, all the SPS is there. In the center of the Nikon pic is a green pavona. Its in the center of the radion pic too. IDK, you tell me. I have a Rommels rainbow frag too. Unfortunately, i dont have a T5 pic of it. But i can tell you, the rainbow shows more for me under the radion. Was a lil blah under the T5.
 
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