led vs pc or mh

[shockme69]

can led lights really put out enough light to grow corals as pc or mh lights,just wondering running 500 watts of pc lights now corals seem to be doing fine but thinking of diy led to cut down on electric and heat

 

[robsreefs]

From what I hear yes but I think its best to run leds with t5s but don't take my word for it I font have leds yet but hopefully soon

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jcharrsn]

My LFS is running exclusively lit LED tanks with incredible results.

 

[wysiwyg]

yes leds are very suitable to grow corals with the same results as mhs and pc

 

[Tinola]

Yep, My LFS's internet sales tank(Super expensive stuff) has leds on it. They are also converting all their tanks to LEDs in the next few months.

 

[7Reefer]

LED!!!! I removed 1500 watts of metal Halide and replaced them with 500 watts of DIY LED. My tank looks great, took my chiller offline, and don't burn myself anymore when I go in the tank!

 

[chort55]

pc's dont compare to LED or MH out of the 3 pc are the worst LOL

3w LEDs is where its at

 

[ritter6788]

3w LEDs is where its at

1w LEDs aren't bad either.

 

[Saltgator]

Definitely following this one. I agree, PC is not for light demanding coral. I've been possibly considering a switch to LEDs, but goin over the cost vs just proceedings on with my mh, I'm still not sure a switch is justified. My mh and vho setup costs $180 (mh) and $80 (vho) in bulb replacement each year. That's still under the cost of 1 (I'll need 4) fixtures that are quality. My electric bill is (IMO), not as bad as most may think here in SWFL. Looking at my electric bill running my 1070 watts each day vs my brother in law's bill (and he has no reef, just a cat) I'm beating him by 30 more dollars running everything (PC's, TVs, water heater, AC at equal temps, ect) at the same amount. The amount of $30 isn't enough for me to complain, yet. I haven't ran a chiller.... ever on my system too. Maybe I'm crazy (still thinking about a switch to LEDs from one of our sponsors). I think LEDs are the future of reefing. Also, my main reason for a possible switch to LEDs... My reef is in my man cave along with my Xbox 360. While playing, the heat is felt. Again, my .02 only.

Country boy using tapatalk on a HTC Evo

 

[Ace25]

In laymens terms, PC = Nightlight, MH = Street Light, LED = Sunlight in terms of output/intensity.

My LED light puts out the same spectrum and PAR as the sun does at noon on June 20th with no clouds (most sunlight of the year in the northern hemishpere. 2200 PAR tested on the sidewalk and surface of my tank). Obviosuly that is a big generaliztion and many other factors come into play. 1 3w LED does not = 1 65w PC, but from my testing, you can get the same output out of 4 3w LEDs (12w) with optics as you can a 65w PC. As far as MH to LED, I use 100w of LEDs, and I get 2x as much output out of them than I did when I ran 400w of MH, so for my setup, 100w of LEDs = 800w of MH, again, many factors come into play so that isn't a general statement for all LEDs.