are LEDs worth it

jelly · Aug 19, 2011

tried to post this in LED section but didnt get much for opinion so lets try it here
with LEDs being coming more common are they really worth it. i know they save a lot on energy and a lot on heat. is the technology really there there yet or would you say in a few years it would be much more worth it

Murfman · Aug 19, 2011

IMO it is. I run 3 120 watt units over my 30" deep 300.

Come Monday · Aug 19, 2011

I have the Evolution 120w over my Solana34, now I'm keeping SPS and other higher end corals. They are super-bright! Glad I made the switch.

sts04c · Aug 19, 2011

spscrazy · Aug 19, 2011

I love my leds I got from Luke at reeffiltration my 95g sps tank has never looked so good colors & growth on corals are much better & love that the tank stays so much cooler

jaytizzle · Aug 19, 2011

I've got the cheap chinese "black box" style led fixtures on two of my tanks and have had them running for over 1.5 years now. They are a good buy, IMO. I'm also about to DIY a Cree fixture over my third tank. I am anticipating that setup being very top notch so I can say that yes, they are very much worth it.

jelly · Aug 19, 2011

what about DIY LEDs from places like Rapid LED and others are they worth it?

Come Monday · Aug 19, 2011

jelly, there is a guy in my reef club that builds custom LEDs. His name on r2r is poolkeeper, he's built lights systems for our lfs.

Come Monday · Aug 19, 2011

sry, poolkeeper1

dhutcheson · Aug 19, 2011

I will say certain LEDs are...... I ran a DIY 3W Cree for a year with no other lights. I belive there is not a one perfect light including LEDs and I am now constructing a system utilizing LEDs, T5, and MH the triple threat as it has come to be know and used by several others in the forum. LED's are getting better all the time and do belive they will soon become the best in class in the near future but caution has to be taken or you will cook your corals.