Led Lighting Good Bad?

[smelly shelley]

Hi i am looking to buy led lights aquabeam 1000 hd unit. are the any good, comments please to make up my mind.
if to buy or not to buy.

 

[ben1987]

expensive imo, and would depend what you plan to keep under it?

 

[john.o]

Ditto and like ben has said it would depend on what you’re planning to keep and what size of tank you have. if you’re going to need more than 1x Hd1000 then there are other options out there like the led Eco-Lamps or if you’re not bothered to much about buying used, you could properly pick up 4 x second hand aquaray 500,s for a little more than the price of one hd1000 , and there’s no need to worry about them going faulty as Mr wescote from TMC is very very good, his customer service is second to none he sorted me out with no hassle at all after I bought a second hand set of 500,s and they went faulty

 

[smelly shelley]

My tank is 1m by 250mm by 300mm depth. I have a full stocked tank of live/soft coral and many types of fish. Just want to improve the lightening for the tank for less money.

 

[Morri]

My tank is 1m by 250mm by 300mm depth. I have a full stocked tank of live/soft coral and many types of fish. Just want to improve the lightening for the tank for less money.

I would go for a ATI Sunpower 4 or 6 tubes dependaning what you wish to keep LEDs are good enough for most corals in the right configuration over a 3ft tank you would need at least 2 tiles and 4 aquaras 500 cheaper to run and less heat issues than MH or T5 but very expensive to purchase. T5s are one of the best options available at the moment they give great colour and are not as pricey as MH to run.

 

[ben1987]

i would 2nd going for T5s over that tank

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah T5's are probably still a better choice if you arent keeping sps. Though running costs over time should be considered. I have 6 T5 tubes over mine which cost at least £500 a year to run + replacing the bulbs every 6 months (another £50-80). So over the course of a few years LEDS will be a whole lot cheaper.

The problem with LEDS is that you need to have the cash all in one go to go out and buy them.

I'm planning in looking at the eco-lamps in the future and have been speaking to a manufacturer about them, their suitability and possibility of getting them made in different colour temps (they are generally 6500K). From the research I have done they could probably match T5/LED output in shallower tanks but water penetration might be an issue. Also the colour temp means having to run additional lighting to balance the colour out (unless you can live with the yellow colour). This probably removes the benefit of running them in the first place (less lamps that have a longer life and dont use as much power). Planning to test these out in the near future but having a hard time getting hold of a PAR meter at the moment (and cant afford to go out and buy one to test something that might be worthless).

 

[Morri]

I would have to disagree with Barney some of the best SPS tanks around are running T5s

There are a lot of people switchng from MH to T5s as long as you put the right amount in

My SPS are doing very well under T5s as long as you have enough T5s they are the way to go

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I would have to disagree with Barney some of the best SPS tanks around are running T5s

There are a lot of people switchng from MH to T5s as long as you put the right amount in

My SPS are doing very well under T5s as long as you have enough T5s they are the way to go

Sorry my answer was probably a bit misleading. You can certainly keep SPS under T5 lighting, if you have enough tubes. However if you are looking at cost factors as well then the cost of running enough T5 tubes for light demanding SPS and things like clams makes it impratical when compared to MH. In otherwords the MH give you more bang for your buck so if you want high light demanding corals and dont want the cost of replacing 6-10 tubes every 6 months you are better off getting MH lights rather then stacking up a bunch of T5 tubes.

On the other side of that T5's do give you a lot more options regarding colour temps but just cost a load to replace a lot of tubes every 6 months.

Going off topic but how many tubes are you running Morri (cant remember seeing it in your journal but I have slept since then ).

Like I said I'm running 6 54w tubes at the moment and have considered switching to MH for better light coverage and less running costs but do really like the adatability of T5's (plus I already have the kit so dont need to buy more) so still undecided. Have been considering going into SPS corals as well which is also a factor.

 

[Morri]

6 x 39w with 2 x Aquarays for shimmer Adding a clam in about 10 weeks once tank is mature enough

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Cool I did go back and re-read your journal (and noticed my question was answered on the first page... sorry).

That makes me feel a bit more confident about going down the SPS route with the lighting I have then as your tank looks amazing and the corals are obviously healthy with a similar setup.

 

[Morri]

Thanks Barney I took a lot of advise from someone whom is TOTM winner on UR there are still a lot of die hard MH people out there but there are some absouloutly stunning SPS T5 tanks out there as well now I know a lot of the Italians are using T5s and they are some of the nicest tanks I have ever seen