Are MH use dying because of LED

[genxbigboy]

Since there are so many benefits from LED will Metal halide bulbs be leaving our hobby?. If that happens will we need chillers?

[jimrawr]

Doubt it myself. At least not for many years to come

[SWINGRRRR]

Having had LED, I just bought my first true MH pendant. What attracted me was the plug and play. Not to mention MH are becoming dirt cheap since people are unloading them. :-)

[Lorenz725]

LED's are still growing in the hobby and in the end I think MH will always be around in this hobby. When setting up my new tank I looked into LED's a lot and in the end went with MH still to many unknowns about LED's for me.

[genxbigboy]

Very good points I never saw it that way.

[C Dog]

Its like when flat screen tvs came out. Cost alot of $$$$ but after awhile they are dirt cheap. I bet eventually LEDs will drop in price. Just a mater of when.

[allsps40]

No way I am still a hard core MH user. LEDs do have me interested but no way would I invest and run my sps tank with just LED at this point.

[mkengr45]

I think Mh will be around for a long time, but eventually they will be old technology. This may not be the case for many years though. I will stick to my simple halides until prices drop on the LEDs.

[James77]

Having had both, halides will be around for a very long time. LEDs nay be better options for some people with heat problems and high electric rates, and halides may be better for those with wide coverage needs or who have cheap electric rates. I like the color and my coral seems to far prefer the halides I have than when I tried LED.

[chilwil84]

i think leds are putting more of a hit on t5s than halides

[dh350twin]

I think its a bit of a craze right now,,,,time will tell but imo t5's will still be around as well as MH

[trmiv]

Just bought a new Cayman Sun pendant, 250w radium bulb and galaxy select-a-watt ballast for my new tank. Switching from the T5 I run currently. LEDs interest me, but I'm not ready to move to them now.

[tank121]

What about plasma lights ? Sounds like they will beat out leds and halides.

[cody6766]

I heard a bit of talk about plasma lights a year or so ago, but the color/cost seems to lose the race with LEDs. They apparently put out more light, but LEDs are getting very cheap and common relative to plasma tech. Unless I'm really missing something, LEDs, single and multichip, will probably be the future of our lighting needs.

that said, I"m not ready to ditch my T5s or MH for LEDs on my bigger tanks. The cost benefit is just not there for me yet. Once LEDs 'bottom out' in their pricing, I'll consider the swap. I fall into that cheap electric crowd w/o heat issues, so I don't have a NEED for LEDs. A want? maybe, but not a need. The flat screen TV analogy above is probably pretty accurate here. I don't see MH dieing out anytime soon. I think we'll have a dominant three lighting types instead of a dominant two types like we have now.

[Southreef]

Originally Posted by chilwil84

i think leds are putting more of a hit on t5s than halides

I would agree if it weren't for the EXTREME pricing of LEDs! I giggle every time I see a new led come out with a $500 + price tag.

[Kolognekoral]

of course, I'm 100% pro LEDs, and for quite a few reasons, such as power consumption, heat, controlability, etc, but that isn't the question. I agree, LEDs may well push T5s right out of the market in a few years, but this will be followed by the halides, as well. I think their intensity will be interesting for deeper display for a few years more. In the end, the energy consumption will win out and, as far as pricing, I think they are already cheaper than any other type of lighting out there, even the expensive Illumina that I use. No lamp replacement, less tank cooling, easily up-datable, plus the best looking corals I've ever had. In the end, it's a no brainer. I'm saving a bundle on electricity costs.

The biggest hurdle for most is simply to adapt themselves to a different technology, but we have had that with all the previous lighting systems. History repeats, once again. I won't be pining for the good old days!

Plasma will be interesting to watch, but, as this point, there are a lot of problems with spectrum and life. I would think at some time solvable, but not for a decade I would expect.

[alton]

Originally Posted by chilwil84

i think leds are putting more of a hit on t5s than halides

I agree, the people I know who changed to LED had T5HO not MH.

[Creetin]

They are a good choice for replacing actinic vho,t-5's. They have a couple years to go before i say they can out compete halides. I got rid of my halides as my tank is mixed and the sps i do have are pretty hearty and dont require to be baked. Most of the tank is zoa's and lps that look 100 times better with LED. My chalices GLOW and montis pop like never under halides and vho/t-5's.
I tried some royal blue leds to see what it looked like in my tank, Now going over the whole tank.

[Cipher43]

No matter how ya look at it there will always be MHs and even the T-5s around. I doubt they would even disappear if LEDs become alot better and cheaper. Its like being an old car fan.... Once a classic Camaro fan always a classic Camaro fan!

[Creetin]

I would not compare it to a classic car but i would say lighting is under appreciated in this hobby. You still have people using PC bulbs when there is so much better out there. If halide never go's in a few years then they will be pictured as PC's are pictured now. Obsolete.
That wont happen overnight mind you, But it will happen, IMO

[Amoore311]

I've tried a couple LED fixtures. New tank is lit by a 250 Watt DE Phoenix 14k w/ a lumenbrite reflector.

LED's have some cool features, but bulb life right now is completely unproven IMO. That is really the only place I'd really save money myself going with LED. The power savings is negligible at best for me.

1 x 250 Watt Halide --> 250 Watts

I would need a minimum of 2 Radeon fixtures to get the coverage on my tank.
2 Radeon @ 188 Watt --> 376 Watts

My power numbers might be a bit off on the Radeon. I can't find the numbers published myself, so I went and added up the total wattages of all the LEDS in the fixture.

[DustinB]

I don't see it going anywhere. Personally, I hate the look of LED's and will never try them again. I get the same response from many people.

[raskal311]

It will be around much like PC bulbs maybe a bit better. MH are still way better the LED in term of sps growth.

[C Dog]

Originally Posted by raskal311

MH are still way better the LED in term of sps growth.

Really? LEDs have proven to grow SPS the same or better as a MH

[heckeng]

Friday I will be installing a 3 AI Sol setup over my 90 to see how it compares to my 2 250w Phoenix and T5 setup. I have tested 4 different sets of halide bulbs to get the right ones, and was 100% happy until I saw an actual AI Sol tank while visiting Florida.

I don't think MH will go anywhere for a long time, but I think T5 will be killed off by them. I think we will start seeing MH/LED fixtures get popular because if you have your MH fixture 12+ inches above your tank like I do, the T5's just don't do anything to help the coloration because the light is too dilluted by the time it hits the corals. LEDs will help immensely due to them being so much more directional.