Seeking a quick "re-education in technology advances"

[dgasmd]

I had been in the hobby for a long time, and I was what I would have considered "very educated" in all reef and reef related equipment up until about 5 years ago. I got out of the hobby then for personal reasons. Entire system went dry and in storage. Yes, every time I look at the equipment, tank, etc. it breaks my heart. I kept pretty much everything in hopes of setting it up again "in a couple of years", but 5 years later I haven't been able to do so.

I started to think about it today seriously, so I came back to RC to do so "checking it out". That was until I quickly realized that in 5 years the one thing that has seriously advanced is lighting. I have a 120"Lx48"Wx30"T tank that was lit by 6 x 400 watt MH and a tons of VHO actinics. I always found the lighting more than appropriate, but it was extremely inefficient in terms of heat production and electricity consumption. I required a huge chiller, which meant more electricity and money burning. I always strived to make the tank as energy efficient as possible, I was dreaming of when LED would get to the point of replacing al of those MH and VHO.

My main question is:

Where is LED today in terms of intensity, cost, and spectrum compared to MH and VHO?? Some links to articles would be helpful.

[thegrun]

LED pricing is coming down, but still a large up-front investment. Long term they are less expensive to run, I made the switch from MH to LED last year and have been very happy. No more chiller (my heaters do need to run more frequently now) and electricity bills are down big time in the summer. Intensity is as high or higher than MH depending on wattage and lenses. Spectrum is coming along, with most of the high end systems allowing customization of color.

[jon99]

Ha! Funny you asked... I'm in the process of setting up a 220g (72"X24"X30") and was looking into LED lighting myself. I recently (about a year ago) purchased lighting for the tank (3X 250w icecap ballasts and lumenarc mini pendents). Yes, it's been a year since I've had lighting for this thing and there is STILL no water in it, lol. Guess I'm just taking my time and looking forward to the day this thing is up and running like you. Any way, from my very brief research on rapidled, it looks like approximately a 24 "ultra premium" LED is equivalent to a 250 watt MH light (someone please corect me if this is wrong). With the heat sink and dimable driver your looking at roughly $250 to replace a 250w metal halide. I paid $60 for a lumenarc mini, $60 for the ballast (both used) and $60 for the bulb, $180 total.

I slightly regret getting the MH kits instead of LED, but to my understadning LED's are still relatively new and getting better and more efficeint every day... and probably cheaper. I plan on running my MH for a couple years and keeping my eye on LED's.
In your case, with 6 400w light!!!!!! Time to switch may be now.

Sorry, I don't have any info on power consumption of the LED kits I netion above. I checked the site and didn't see anthing. Maybe someone else will know.

[jon99]

Hey Grun. Could you please elaborate a little? What wattage MH did you replace and with what LED systems? DIY kit or a plug and play unit? What was the upfront cost and what kind of power consumption are you seeing from the LED's?

Sorry to hijack

[dgasmd]

Well, it is not only about electrical consumption. They also have to compare in terms of spread, penetration, AND spectrum. But this is a start..........

[Agu]

I have multiple nano tanks that had CFL lighting and no chillers so this may be irrelevant, By my calculations switching to LED lighting will pay for itself in electricity costs and bulb replacement costs in under three years. Obviously LEDs for larger tanks cost substantially more and the payback will change.

Hypothetically LEDs have an 8-10 year life, if they last five years I've saved enough money to pay for even cheaper future LED fixtures.

They also have to compare in terms of spread, penetration, AND spectrum.

IMHO they outperform in all three categories.

[DonaldLL]

Ok here you go...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature2

[tkeracer619]

A 10 foot by 4 foot tank is going to take a CRAP TON of LEDs.

I would consider getting better reflectors for your 400w bulbs ad run them higher up to reduce heat. If your ballasts can handle it I would go with 6 luminarc reflectors and 20k radiums. Maybe run a few VHOs simply for morning and evening viewing.

[dgasmd]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

A 10 foot by 4 foot tank is going to take a CRAP TON of LEDs.

I would consider getting better reflectors for your 400w bulbs ad run them higher up to reduce heat. If your ballasts can handle it I would go with 6 luminarc reflectors and 20k radiums. Maybe run a few VHOs simply for morning and evening viewing.

Already have Lumenarc reflectors. Raising them way above the tank defeats the purpose of the intensity of 400 Watt MH, although it does help with heat some and spread of light. As far as I know, unless things have drastically changed in the last 5 years, Radium bulbs are some of the most inefficient bulbs in terms of PAR and longevity. I ran them for a while, but by 4 months they were already crapping out. Ushio would easily last me 12-15 months before considerable drop in PAR. Lighting schedule is not the issue either. Dealing with heat and inefficiency of MH is the issue. You don't really appreciate that until you are in FL. I lived in MD and it was not so much of an issue there, especially for most of the year when it is not 100 degrees at 2 AM!

I'll go read the link above.

[Steve175]

Keep the 400 halides and change the VHOs to T5s and enjoy the growth and the water ripples. (Despite the risk of being flamed) LEDs are not yet ready for prime time on a large reef (although they are awesome on my refugium).

[BuckeyeTodd]

t5's would be much more energy efficient too, and since you left the hobby have proven themselves to be quite effective. LED's are the future, but I think we've got two years before they are cost effective on a large tank.