In your opinion the best LED Lighting for reef.

[Reeferman1019]

Reef Breeders


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[reefdude135]

Originally Posted by alton

For me it is still BML, hoping in the future horticulture will slow down and they will go back to making aquarium lighting again. I like the fact they come with a diffused lens so the light looks like T5, the fact they sit on top of the tank and are not suspended 8"+, and no noisy fans to replace. Plus the fact that some of my fixtures are going on 4+ years and still working with very little drop in PAR. ....

Agreed. I wish we could get these again!

The new company has several models, including one called the RAY line of lights; the case looks very similar to the BML lights. Now we just need to convince them to release them with reef LEDs inside and we are golden!!!





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[CaptiveReef]

Here is what I ended up picking up, its a good light.

[CaptiveReef]

[IMG]http://[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/CaptiveReef/media/1-300w-led-aquarium-light-mars-aqua-0124%202.jpg.html][IMG

[kmk2307]

Originally Posted by ProteusReef

Bought the Zeus 150 (36 inch)

Price is-
Unit:$159
Wifi controller: $65
Shipping: $60

Are you happy with it? Where did you order it from?

[CaptiveReef]

I ordered it on Amazon.com

[rlhanks]

I'm waiting for Friday to see what is going to happen with sale prices. Kessil has fixed pricing and most sites will not allow a price change to go with stores promotions. I am leaning toward getting three 160's, mainly because of price. I have a 60" x 24" tank. I was always going to supplement them with the t-5 10,000k and use the majority of the blue spectrum from the Kessils. I have had several el-cheapo Chinese fixtures. The latest was two LED cubes from Amazon that did nothing from. NOTHING! but what do you expect when you buy something for $125 and it to doesn't performs like the $900 unit.

good thing about the Kessils. If this doesn't work out, Ebay or Craigslist will make them disappear for a decent price and I can upgrade unlike the junk from Amazon, those are going nowhere.

[dz6t]

I am curious about what you meant by those al cheapo led doing nothing. Not the right color? No growth?


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[rlhanks]

Originally Posted by dz6t

I am curious about what you meant by those al cheapo led doing nothing. Not the right color? No growth?


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It just lit the tank in a blue color. I replaced a t5 four lamp that I ran nice bulbs that did good, not great but good, but at $100 year for bulbs I decided for two LED unit off Amazon. They looked ok, had two channels, one white other color with intensity. But after a year literally no growth from anything. So I got the t5 unit out but it's time to buy bulbs again.

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[dz6t]

If you use ati bulbs, you can use them for at least 1.5 year. I test the par on 2 year old bulbs and the difference is very small.


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[FLSharkvic]

[QUOTE=CaptiveReef;24777702]Ok I need to be updated on what the best LED Lighting for reef is today. I have a 120 gallon tank (the 48 inch long tank)
I want to use LED.


#CaptiveReef - Well, that all depends on how much Loot you want to spend! I run 2 AI Aquaullumantion Hydra Twenty Six HD's on my 120 and I love them. If you want to drop 1300.00, well then I would go with the new EcoTech Radiants Gen 3, in my opinion, they are the best LED on the market currently for a Reef Tank. Anyhow, here is a pix of my 120 with 2 Hydra HD 26s

TANK INFO:
120 MIXED REEF

[biecacka]

[QUOTE=FLSharkvic;25281780]

Originally Posted by CaptiveReef

Ok I need to be updated on what the best LED Lighting for reef is today. I have a 120 gallon tank (the 48 inch long tank)
I want to use LED.


#CaptiveReef - Well, that all depends on how much Loot you want to spend! I run 2 AI Aquaullumantion Hydra Twenty Six HD's on my 120 and I love them. If you want to drop 1300.00, well then I would go with the new EcoTech Radiants Gen 3, in my opinion, they are the best LED on the market currently for a Reef Tank. Anyhow, here is a pix of my 120 with 2 Hydra HD 26s

TANK INFO:
120 MIXED REEF

What makes the radion generation 3 the best LED on the market for a reef tank? Just curious as to your experience with them and why a clear dominance from that previous generation over the 4th gen, and the many other led options out there.

Corey

[ca1ore]

A little behind the times me thinks. Gen3 Radions aren't new anymore . They work fine, buddy of mine has them, but I'd say the more recent Gen4 are better in most respects.

[Big E]

Radions are best LED on the market because they are hyped/marketed the most and then people just parrot this.

If you do some minimal research based on your tank dimensions you can find the best performance per dollars spent. The new versions of most of the popular brands have the same brand of diodes{Cree, Semiled,ect) and mixes(number of diodes per colors) now as well as color channel control.

They will or all should have diffuser plates so hot spotting/ disco effect is a wash.

So it basically comes down to coverage area per dollars spent.

Kessels are the only outlier in this as they have their own diode matrix design, but I would evaluate them under the same umbrella as the others.

If you're a gadget freak, maybe the software matters to you, but it won't change performance and the corals won't care.

[Zedar]

None of the current LED only fixtures are that great. Just like Metal halide before them, mixing T5 with LED is the best solution for now.
Blending all these different colored LEDs together to try and create the right spectrum just doesn't work that great. Disco ball effect, hot spots, etc. Its a dead end!

This is the future of LED.http://www.nanocotechnologies.com/wh...tions/lighting
No idea how long it will take to come to market for reef tanks.

The advantage is high CRI at any Kelvin you want. Very precise color control.
You will be able to create a light equivalent to a Metal halide Radium or Phoenix bulb, but with all the advantages of LED

This a a great article. Its talking plants, but could easily apply to Corals.
https://www.led-professional.com/res...anoco-lighting

[Nick30G]

LEDS are fine. It's really personal preference for lighting. Some swear by halides or T5s. I'm running a Ocean Revive T247 here on my 37 gallon. Great LED light!

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[blasterman789]

Originally Posted by Zedar

None of the current LED only fixtures are that great. Just like Metal halide before them, mixing T5 with LED is the best solution for now.
Blending all these different colored LEDs together to try and create the right spectrum just doesn't work that great. Disco ball effect, hot spots, etc. Its a dead end!

This is the future of LED.http://www.nanocotechnologies.com/wh...tions/lighting
No idea how long it will take to come to market for reef tanks.

The advantage is high CRI at any Kelvin you want. Very precise color control.
You will be able to create a light equivalent to a Metal halide Radium or Phoenix bulb, but with all the advantages of LED

This a a great article. Its talking plants, but could easily apply to Corals.
https://www.led-professional.com/res...anoco-lighting

That link you provided is just is just marketing material for a specific technology. I've seen about a dozen the past 10 years claiming they'll displace LEDs, but the tech rarely hits the street. PLasma sulphur was supposed to replace all forms of reef lighting a few years, and before that induction. Where are they?

Corals do not require full spectrum lighting and there has never been evidence to prove otherwise. Metal halides have been used for years/decades over reef tanks with great success, and high kelvin metal halides used on reef tanks are some of them most mono-bandwidth light sources available. Would you like me to pull out my spectrometer and show you the live spectrum of a high end 14K halide?

Same with tubes. Fluorescent tubes just produce spikes of the visual and far blue spectrum. There is no such thing as a 'full spectrum' fluorescent tube, and even if you could produce one using every form of exotic phosphor known to man the efficiency would be terrible. Plus, nobody wants 5600k light on their reef tank. Tubes grow SPS well because they distribute the light over a wide area preventing shadowing. Throw some diffusion plastic over your tank with a bunch of Kessils and you'll get the same advantage of tubes.

These screwball black boxes with every disco color of LED available are again just marketing. Once balanced for typical reefing aethestics the coral in getting 90% light in the 450-480nm range and a smidge of orange red. The other colors are a waste of time.

I constantly meet reefers that still bash LEDs, and frankly I don't have time to debate physics and science with somebody making minimum wage in a retail job. The best SPS tanks I've seen lately use basic black boxes with nothing but cool white and royal LEDs. Again, a spectrum that's almost entirely in the energy spectrum of 450-480nm and just a smidge of other colors to not look monochromatic.

Photons are photons. Hit corals with a high weighted value of blue light regardless of any source and they'll grow fine. UVA, full spectrum, blah blah blah have no scientific basis.

[HBtank]

The newest technology always gets the stink-eye.

I love how much respect T5s have now, back in 2006 when I first setup my tank the question was if they even had the power, and everyone bemoaned the lack of "shimmer". Well, they worked phenomenally. It is interesting for to it come full circle in regard to coverage, now the point source nature of some lights are suddenly bad (i.e. shadowing and disco ball), and filling in is now praised by supplementing with T5's!

At the end of the day, if you have the PAR in the right range, coral will grow there; the rest is all just aesthetics.

But of course for a hobby centered on viewing, aesthetics do matter! But I have to stifle a laugh to some degree about LED's not being able to come up to snuff on that... pre-LED systems generally had dusk/dawn, day, and then separate moonlights. Two whole settings, and some sparkle at night.

The choices for aesthetics now are much stronger than they used to be, with so much less hassle. It took 100s of dollars of T5 bulbs and trial and error to even find those TWO modes I liked before!

[Zedar]

Originally Posted by blasterman789

That link you provided is just is just marketing material for a specific technology. I've seen about a dozen the past 10 years claiming they'll displace LEDs, but the tech rarely hits the street. PLasma sulphur was supposed to replace all forms of reef lighting a few years, and before that induction. Where are they?

Corals do not require full spectrum lighting and there has never been evidence to prove otherwise. Metal halides have been used for years/decades over reef tanks with great success, and high kelvin metal halides used on reef tanks are some of them most mono-bandwidth light sources available. Would you like me to pull out my spectrometer and show you the live spectrum of a high end 14K halide?

Same with tubes. Fluorescent tubes just produce spikes of the visual and far blue spectrum. There is no such thing as a 'full spectrum' fluorescent tube, and even if you could produce one using every form of exotic phosphor known to man the efficiency would be terrible. Plus, nobody wants 5600k light on their reef tank. Tubes grow SPS well because they distribute the light over a wide area preventing shadowing. Throw some diffusion plastic over your tank with a bunch of Kessils and you'll get the same advantage of tubes.

These screwball black boxes with every disco color of LED available are again just marketing. Once balanced for typical reefing aethestics the coral in getting 90% light in the 450-480nm range and a smidge of orange red. The other colors are a waste of time.

I constantly meet reefers that still bash LEDs, and frankly I don't have time to debate physics and science with somebody making minimum wage in a retail job. The best SPS tanks I've seen lately use basic black boxes with nothing but cool white and royal LEDs. Again, a spectrum that's almost entirely in the energy spectrum of 450-480nm and just a smidge of other colors to not look monochromatic.

Photons are photons. Hit corals with a high weighted value of blue light regardless of any source and they'll grow fine. UVA, full spectrum, blah blah blah have no scientific basis.

Plasma sulfur etc never made it, but Quantum dot is already here. Right now Photo-enhanced is on the market. The questionable future is in Emissive.

[Zedar]

Originally Posted by HBtank

The newest technology always gets the stink-eye.

I love how much respect T5s have now, back in 2006 when I first setup my tank the question was if they even had the power, and everyone bemoaned the lack of "shimmer". Well, they worked phenomenally. It is interesting for to it come full circle in regard to coverage, now the point source nature of some lights are suddenly bad (i.e. shadowing and disco ball), and filling in is now praised by supplementing with T5's!

At the end of the day, if you have the PAR in the right range, coral will grow there; the rest is all just aesthetics.

But of course for a hobby centered on viewing, aesthetics do matter! But I have to stifle a laugh to some degree about LED's not being able to come up to snuff on that... pre-LED systems generally had dusk/dawn, day, and then separate moonlights. Two whole settings, and some sparkle at night.

The choices for aesthetics now are much stronger than they used to be, with so much less hassle. It took 100s of dollars of T5 bulbs and trial and error to even find those TWO modes I liked before!

I use LED. And the cheap ones Im not bashing it. Just sharing info.
The Radion G4 uses new lenses to try and mitigate the inherent problem with LED.

[crankbait09]

Has anyone switched from AI Hydra's to the Kessil A360 and been disappointed?
Yes, I'm considering. I can't stand the app controller anymore. Have them running for two years now, and not user friendly. IMO

[Hydrus]

No one has mentioned the Current Orbit IC Pro's (it has 2 light strips so take all the specs x2). Are these not even a contender? $350 which also has the bluetooth LOOP system. I was thinking of putting them on my 75 as my lights just shorted out yesterday. I don't have any SPS but have always wanted to try them. What are your thoughts?

https://www.marinedepot.com/Current_...LTFILD-vi.html

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[dz6t]

Well, $317 for a 72w led with poor spectrum, I pass.


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[reefdude135]

Originally Posted by dz6t

Well, $317 for a 72w led with poor spectrum, I pass.


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I'd 100% agree. woul d look at the new Razor or a Kessil long before these... coul d be ok for softies but....


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[dz6t]

Originally Posted by blasterman789

That link you provided is just is just marketing material for a specific technology. I've seen about a dozen the past 10 years claiming they'll displace LEDs, but the tech rarely hits the street. PLasma sulphur was supposed to replace all forms of reef lighting a few years, and before that induction. Where are they?



Corals do not require full spectrum lighting and there has never been evidence to prove otherwise. Metal halides have been used for years/decades over reef tanks with great success, and high kelvin metal halides used on reef tanks are some of them most mono-bandwidth light sources available. Would you like me to pull out my spectrometer and show you the live spectrum of a high end 14K halide?



Same with tubes. Fluorescent tubes just produce spikes of the visual and far blue spectrum. There is no such thing as a 'full spectrum' fluorescent tube, and even if you could produce one using every form of exotic phosphor known to man the efficiency would be terrible. Plus, nobody wants 5600k light on their reef tank. Tubes grow SPS well because they distribute the light over a wide area preventing shadowing. Throw some diffusion plastic over your tank with a bunch of Kessils and you'll get the same advantage of tubes.



These screwball black boxes with every disco color of LED available are again just marketing. Once balanced for typical reefing aethestics the coral in getting 90% light in the 450-480nm range and a smidge of orange red. The other colors are a waste of time.



I constantly meet reefers that still bash LEDs, and frankly I don't have time to debate physics and science with somebody making minimum wage in a retail job. The best SPS tanks I've seen lately use basic black boxes with nothing but cool white and royal LEDs. Again, a spectrum that's almost entirely in the energy spectrum of 450-480nm and just a smidge of other colors to not look monochromatic.



Photons are photons. Hit corals with a high weighted value of blue light regardless of any source and they'll grow fine. UVA, full spectrum, blah blah blah have no scientific basis.

First of all, the white led has a very broad spectrum, it can be considered as full spectrum. So basically people using black box led do have full spectrum, the red and green led just for show mostly.

Photons are photons if they have the same wavelength.

There are plenty of scientific research show that coral do utilize full spectrum, especially a mix reef.

By the way, I do have a PhD in chemistry and I do research on coral aquaculture. I hope that I did not waste your time. Thanks


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