? on dif. between CF and LEDs

kimba · Nov 16, 2015

I have had my 12 gal JBJ for about 9 yrs. It has the CF. Tomorrow I am getting a new JBJ 12 gal with LEDs and wondering what the difference will be.

Will my coral just grow quicker, better, have better color?

Are there any corals I COULDN'T have with CF that I can now with LEDs. I mostly have softies now, but in the past had frog spawn and candy cane coral and a sun coral. Would like to get back to LSP.

Thanks

TheEngineer · Nov 16, 2015

The compact fluorescents are 24W, the LEDs appear to be 6 @ 1.5W. That's pretty low power in both cases. You'll notice less heat in the canopy, it will use less electricity, but I don't think you'll notice much difference in the way of growth.

At that power you are going to be limited to low-to-medium light corals like mushrooms, LPS and zoanthids. You won't be able to grow SPS in there.

kimba · Nov 16, 2015

Do they have to be replaced every year like CF?

I only want to do softies and LSP, not interested in SPS
Thanks

TheEngineer · Nov 17, 2015

Nope. The nice thing about LEDs is that they typically last 7-10 years if you run them properly.

kimba · Nov 17, 2015

What do you mean by run them properly?

TheEngineer · Nov 17, 2015

LED lifespan is greatly affected by temperature. The hotter they run, the faster their color shifts and they become less useful. My guess is these are on/off rather than dimmable. Is that right? If so, I'd assume that the manufacturer has them setup to run cool enough for them to last at least several years.