Are LED's worth it?

[ChuckNorris]

I am buying a new tank tomorrow and am deciding on a light to buy. I had over 500 gallons of tanks a few years back but got out of the hobby for a bit. I always used T5 lights and loved them so I was thinking of going with T5's again but I am reading a lot about LED's. They are quite expensive but are they worth the money? Opinions?

[mbingha]

You just opened Pandoras box. Seriously you will ask ten people and get ten answers.

[fijisrfr]

What do you mean by worth it?
If you mean is the money spent justified by the growth, coloration & health of your animals? Debatable.

Is it worth the money spent justified by operating cost ( electricity, bulb replacement) absolutely.

If you decide to go with led's, then the next battle begins, picking one!!!!!

[ChuckNorris]

Every time I see someone recommending a brand it costs like $700 for a 48" which is out of the price range. The only ones I am seeing around the $400 range are marineland and I have heard some mixed reviews about them.

[quantim0]

I don't know a lot of reefers personally, but the handful I do know that have gone from T5 to LED are all going back to T5. Total of 4 or 5.

I think LED is best left to the more advanced aquarist vs something like T5/MH that's really just set and forget. All the research was done years ago and established methods are already available.

[rtparty]

Originally Posted by mbingha

You just opened Pandoras box. Seriously you will ask ten people and get ten answers.

False...you will get 12 different answers....

Originally Posted by ChuckNorris

Every time I see someone recommending a brand it costs like $700 for a 48" which is out of the price range. The only ones I am seeing around the $400 range are marineland and I have heard some mixed reviews about them.

You have to pay to play with LEDs. Marineland is about the worst you can get. A quality MH or T5 setup is a much better choice IMO.

[stancfii]

To get your money's worth out of LEDs, you have to run THE SAME FIXTURE for an average of 5 years to recoup the high cost to buy it. Most people here don't run the same fixture for 5 months.

[i3oosted]

Originally Posted by fijisrfr

What do you mean by worth it?
If you mean is the money spent justified by the growth, coloration & health of your animals? Debatable.

Is it worth the money spent justified by operating cost ( electricity, bulb replacement) absolutely.

If you decide to go with led's, then the next battle begins, picking one!!!!!

Agree, growth, color, etc is debatable but the savings in electricity, bulb replacement is a big factor.

My MAIN deciding factor was heat. I have my tank in a room that can already get warm at times due to other electronics in there so I needed something that would put out minimal heat and so LED was the choice for me.

[power boat jim]

Hard to give advice on what type equipment you should get without knowing what you want to put in the tank. Once you tell us that, the real arguments can begin.

[ChuckNorris]

No SPS, just LPS and zoas

[ChuckNorris]

Standard 75 gallon tank

[power boat jim]

Then there wont be such a big argument. LED seem to cause less problems with those species then with sps. Just turn them way down. As far as are they worth it, That is 100% personal opinion. For me, it is way worth it. There are plenty of full spectrum LEDs out there that you can run for the foreseeable future with no more of an investment necessary then you make on it today. That cant be said for any other lighting system. However the initial investment will be larger with the LEDs.

[evolutionZ]

reefbreeders the way to go.

[meshwheel]

My Opinion:
I honestly feel that led's have grown into a monster on this forum. Many(NOT ALL) but many, blame led's on their corals not growing, or having bad coloration.
When the truth be known, these individuals would have had the same problems with any other lights.
I just purchased a reefbreeders photon32 fixture and man I love it! It's cool, I am using less then 100 watts and have it hanging over a holding tank until I finish my new tank.
You can dial in your colors, set your programmer and watch it change colors in the sunrise to fun noon, then sunset.
I have two sets on customers tanks, and let me tell you they can grow mushrooms, polyps, leathers etc. with spectacular results.
Now do I think a 1000-2000.00 price tag is worth it? Ehhhh, probably not. But I may change my mind later and try out a Mitras. But for now the Reefbreeders has alot more to give me. Probably more then I will ever use.
My high noon for 4 hours is at 50%blue 40%white. And the fixture is 20 inches above my holding tank. Corals are responding extremely well. I am using right at almost 95 watts at high noon for 4 hours. HA! Thats it!
Pretty awesome light so far. We will see how it does with SPS. However, I cannot see why there would be any sort of problem!

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by stancfii

To get your money's worth out of LEDs, you have to run THE SAME FIXTURE for an average of 5 years to recoup the high cost to buy it. Most people here don't run the same fixture for 5 months.

Certainly not true that you need 5 years to recoup initial high investment, which isn't all that much higher if you shop sensibly. Buy a ReefBreeders fixture and you'll save money after a year. For folks who swap out their lights after 5 months - no help, sorry

Whether LEDs are a better quality light source for your tanks is very debatable - the economics are not.

[Eastamherstbias]

I have used Radions for the last three years on all my tanks and I have good color and a ton of growth on my sps. Just remember to acclimate your corals properly, don't have a crazy long photoperiods and you will be on your way.