Best light hands down for coral tank

[zoaprince]

I was actually looking at the radions. Would you go with the pro or the blue?

it's very much a decision only you can make. However it's a pretty simple decision: do you prefer bluer or whiter light?

 

[Reefnoob5]

it's very much a decision only you can make. However it's a pretty simple decision: do you prefer bluer or whiter light?

That is something I’ll have to look into. I feel like I like the whiter look better.

 

[ZoWhat]

Hands down the best light with saltwater filtering out most of the yellows, oranges and red wavelengths

 

[Reefnoob5]

Hands down the best light

 

[GeoSquid]

I have LED's now but I sure miss my old 250w 14000k metal halides.

 

[PeterC99]

That is something I’ll have to look into. I feel like I like the whiter look better.

Notice that the the Radion blue lights tend to be the ones For Sale on the Marketplace threads. Think most people get the Pro version (white).

 

[Reefnoob5]

So spoke with brs and they recommend for my setup I should get the hydra 32 led lights. Two of them for now and then a third one once I get the hang of things.

 

[rtparty]

That is accurate but completely misleading. Yes all lights create heat. Any electrical component consuming electricity produces heat. However LED bulbs are much more efficient in converting electricity to light than are metal halides. So a 200 watt mh and a 200 watt led produce the same amount of heat, but that is only half the story. 200 watts of led produce much more light than 200 watt metal halide.

I say this as a big fan of MH lights, but there is a lot of good reason the hobby has largely moved away from them. They are inefficient relative to LED and they project the heat into the tank rather than led where it can be sucked into a heatsink and dissipated away from the tank.

If cost was not a factor i would still use all MH and would argue it is the best. However to get equal amounts of light between the two it takes much more electricity(and heat)

Not really though. Only white LEDs are super efficient when it comes to lumens per watt (which is all but pointless for our application.)

When it comes to PAR per watt (assuming identical spectrums), LEDs aren't that far ahead of halides, if at all. For example, I ran 210w of LEDs over a 24x24 area and took PAR. Peak PAR and spread was worse than my 250w halide (which is running right around 250w.) Tullio has a great MACNA talk talking about this. (Or maybe he was telling me about it on the phone. I don't recall right now.)

 

[dhnguyen]

That is something I’ll have to look into. I feel like I like the whiter look better.

You might want to go to a shop and see them in person first before ponying out the $$$
I've seen the Radions and I personally don't like them that much.

 

[dhnguyen]

I'll have to say that the lighting I used to have was the best in terms of growth and colour.
2 X 400W Radium MH

But man did it generate a lot of heat.

 

[zalick]

Halide/T5 combo with LED strips to suit your color needs. Hands down.

 

[rtparty]

So spoke with brs and they recommend for my setup I should get the hydra 32 led lights. Two of them for now and then a third one once I get the hang of things.

Mounting height will play a big role when selecting lights as well. AI lights do need to be mounted a little higher. I think 12-14" was the sweet spot

 

[Kfactor]

Pic the light for what corals your going to keep I’m my new sps dominated tank I went with 2 250 w halides but if I were to go led it would be kessil for sure there colour can’t be beat and that’s what’s going over my frag tank

 

[mdb_talon]

Not really though. Only white LEDs are super efficient when it comes to lumens per watt (which is all but pointless for our application.)

When it comes to PAR per watt (assuming identical spectrums), LEDs aren't that far ahead of halides, if at all. For example, I ran 210w of LEDs over a 24x24 area and took PAR. Peak PAR and spread was worse than my 250w halide (which is running right around 250w.) Tullio has a great MACNA talk talking about this. (Or maybe he was telling me about it on the phone. I don't recall right now.)

The sad thing is how many people actually believe this. There is mounds of scientific data validating the efficiency gains of led and why it is basically become the standard for almost any lighting. FYI 210watts of led would not be running at 210 watts in all likelihood. 250 watt mh is likely using between 270 and 285 watts(the ballast of MH adds to their inefficiency and it takes more watts to run an led than the actual bulb rating.