Need help Switching to led from mh/t5

[coraltastic]

I am wanting to switch from my 3 bulb 250 watt mh and 4 64 watt t5 fixture to prestige gamma LEDs. I need someone to talk me into it. I am still hesatant to do the switch. Don't want to spend 1500$ to just switch back to old fixture and still need new bulbs and have to put my chiller back online.

 

[mike007]

I just switched from halides to leds myself. I did alot of research before deciding on what brand. I decided on Orphec leds after reading there par ratings and test results. They are not cheap but my corals are not cheap either and i wanted the best. In the long run they will pay for themselves. I have already seen a decrease in my electic bill in the short time i have had them. Not to mention how well my corals are doing.

 

[coraltastic]

Just how much$ r we talking about?

 

[mfinn]

I made the change last weekend from 3 x 250 watt mh and 4 x 160 watt VHO.
I was planning on using Reef Breeders for 3 fixtures that came to around $990, give or take a buck.
Instead my wife convinced me to get 3 gen 1 Radions for the big tank, because I was so happy with the results from using one on my 50.
She told me to use our income tax return.
I love these Radions and the programming they bring.

 

[gmoney243]

You might not.be happy with just leds mh+T5 is better. But led+t5 is the best imo. You get all the.intensity and color you want without having so much spent on chillers bulbs and electricity. You just cant beat t5 accent lighting. Not to mention it gets rid of the major shadow effect leds have.

Im not sure why everyone expects leds by themselves to beat mh+t5. Combo lighting is always the best. Any combo of the 3 main types will beat any single lightng type.

Sent from my VS930 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[coraltastic]

The prestige gamma LEDs do have t5s on it.

 

[acrosps]

I went from using 400 watt radiums with the pfo hqi ballast and vho actinic bulbs and had incredible growth and color. Now I have the radions went from gen 1 to the pros and my corals could not look any better extremely satisfied, plus saving a ton of money on the electric bill from running a large chiller and changing out $100.00 bulbs every 8 months. Actually now I may upgrade and get a larger tank. I went from a 180 gallon to a 60 gallon cube because of the cost associated with these exspenses, that are no longer required when you go with leds.

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

I was also looking at the prestige fixture, not many reviews on them.

 

[coraltastic]

I have talked to the new owners of prestige and at this time they aren't honoring the previous owners discount. I like that they use Cree LEDs, that they have t5s built in, and that each fixture has a built in timer. This way I could start with one side of the tank on the sunrise and sunset and then have middle start later and then the other side start last same as sunset but start dimming at the same way they start up. I do like the Apollo led fixtures as well for the price would be about 500$ cheaper than prestige. They use bridglux LEDs which is the next best to Cree. I think Apollo uses mean well drivers witch is top of the line. I don't think prestige uses these, not sure what they use. I still haven't made up my mind if I am going to order anything yet. Got the ok from wife just a lot of money to spend on something that I am not sure that will make the tank better.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

I have talked to the new owners of prestige and at this time they aren't honoring the previous owners discount. I like that they use Cree LEDs, that they have t5s built in, and that each fixture has a built in timer. This way I could start with one side of the tank on the sunrise and sunset and then have middle start later and then the other side start last same as sunset but start dimming at the same way they start up. I do like the Apollo led fixtures as well for the price would be about 500$ cheaper than prestige. They use bridglux LEDs which is the next best to Cree. I think Apollo uses mean well drivers witch is top of the line. I don't think prestige uses these, not sure what they use. I still haven't made up my mind if I am going to order anything yet. Got the ok from wife just a lot of money to spend on something that I am not sure that will make the tank better.

When ordering a Cree Fixture ensure the LED are Binned. Otherwise you may have a yellow or flat looking tank.

Bridgelux fixtures offer less efficiency but the importers are able to control the looks better as the Bridgelux LEDs have a tighter spectrum than Cree.

Bill

 

[coraltastic]

So what do u recommend? Would u look at prestige led,and Apollo LEDs and see. I really don't want to hear my wife say I told u so! She said I can order but if it was here she wouldn't switch.