Replacing 400W MH Pendants w/ LED Floodlights?

[oreo54]

My preference goes to halide/T5s, besides natural light over the natural reef. Go complete! Go halide/T5 and call it a "great sunny day"!
Please go watch the video from post #21!

You have very Liberal idea of "natural"
There is nothing "natural " about t5, mh, OR led. Regardless of growth, color ect.

Nm to nm vs nature they are all poor substitutes except for a very few, mostly in the 6500k range.

The Kyocera leds I posted above are the closest ,overall , of producing "natural" at a "natural" depth..

Second point is one typically wants to do better than nature Perfect feeding perfect temp ect. ect.

 

[A. grandis]

You have very Liberal idea of "natural"
There is nothing "natural " about t5, mh, OR led. Regardless of growth, color ect.

Nm to nm vs nature they are all poor substitutes except for a very few, mostly in the 6500k range.

The Kyocera leds I posted above are the closest ,overall , of producing "natural" at a "natural" depth..

Second point is one typically wants to do better than nature Perfect feeding perfect temp ect. ect.

I think you're the only one who really doesn't get it!

 

[oreo54]

Why? You can say what you want about better. Natural...no
Plain and simple.
Actual ligh spectrum at 3m vs Ushio 140000K

 

[A. grandis]

Why? You can say what you want about better. Natural...no
Plain and simple.
Actual ligh spectrum at 3m vs Ushio 140000K

... and probably never will until you actually become a reefer.

 

[oreo54]

... and probably never will until you actually become a reefer.

I worked in greenhouses,used and built successful lights for fw and vivariums.
Degree in Botany and Masters work in Natural Resources w/ emphasis on forestry and envir. measurements.
Besides not part. liking blue there are times the Dogma of sw is a turn off.

Se I accept your point of view more than you accept mine...that is for sure..
IF you actually bothered to
read w/ out judgement thought my personal favorite lighting would be Iwasaki 6500K Mh's. Thing w /me is Id want to modernize it w/ LED's
Maybe it wouldn't be as magical as a mh's but most if not all of th issue is pure #'s of photons..
Sorry "right spectrum" is sort of obvious.
Anyways.. food for thought from the hort. world.

 

[ElussssvReefSD]

Alright! I have decided. I am going to remain with Metal Halide for now, until a better, and more cost-effective LED solution that fits my needs presents itself.

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate the lively discussion.

 

[oreo54]

Alright! I have decided. I am going to remain with Metal Halide for now, until a better, and more cost-effective LED solution that fits my needs presents itself.

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate the lively discussion.

Did you ever contact Orphek?
Starting from scratch (as I would be) they were the only real contender here though I've never been real impressed w/ them as a company..personal observation.
Just curious.

 

[alton]

You didn't mention your ballast but if they are 250 to 400 try lowering to 250 watt MH. Less heat and power usage and maybe your corals will not even notice?

 

[ElussssvReefSD]

Did you ever contact Orphek?
Starting from scratch (as I would be) they were the only real contender here though I've never been real impressed w/ them as a company..personal observation.
Just curious.

Yes to Kessil and Maxspect (Coralvue), Orphek didn't get back to me. Def will be checking in periodically to see what improvements or changes come about.

 

[ElussssvReefSD]

You didn't mention your ballast but if they are 250 to 400 try lowering to 250 watt MH. Less heat and power usage and maybe your corals will not even notice?

I'm okay with keeping them at 400, it's a deep tank and they're high off the water so if anything, I'd probably need to turn them UP as things grow in.

 

[Semisonyx]

I went from 3 250w Radiums to 3 Viparspectra 165w fixtures over my 180 almost a year ago. I couldn’t justify making the switch at the price point of Radions and the like, but 3 Vipars cost me about two years worth of Radium bulb changes. I don’t have a par meter, but I was getting about 35,000-40,000 lux w the halides. I swapped one fixture a week over three weeks, tuning the color and lux as closely as I could to the radium as a starting point. I was surprised that I was only at about 50% blue and 20-25% white. That’s only about 250w across all three fixtures compared to the 990w or so the Radiums were pulling on M80 ballasts. I was running 2 6’ VHO actinic bulbs with the halides that I still run with the Viparspectra, but may try switching them out for t5 when my supply runs out next year. Color and growth are pretty much the same. My a/c doesn’t run as much, my living room isn’t as humid, and my electric bill is a few bucks a month cheaper. I’ve increased the intensity significantly over the last couple months (70/35%), but growth and alk consumption have slowed down indicating I probably hit a photosaturation point (75,000 lux on the surface ) The clock on the fixtures is a little wonky, and there is no sunrise/sunset, but I’m too busy to be bothered about those things. I’ve been reefing with halides since the 90’s and finally don’t miss them enough to pull them out of storage.

The TL;DR - Try replacing one or two halide fixtures with a viparspectra or two. Mount them high (14”+) and match the lux at the water surface. Sell it to a local reefer if you don’t like it. You’ll probably be surprised.

 

[oreo54]

. I swapped one fixture a week over three weeks, tuning the color and lux as closely as I could to the radium as a starting point. I was surprised that I was only at about 50% blue and 20-25% white. That’s only about 250w across all three fixtures compared to the 990w or so the Radiums were pulling on M80 ballasts. I was running 2 6’ VHO actinic bulbs with the halides that I still run with the Viparspectra, but may try switching them out for t5 when my supply runs out next year. Color and growth are pretty much the same. My a/c doesn’t run as much, my living room isn’t as humid, and my electric bill is a few bucks a month cheaper. I’ve increased the intensity significantly over the last couple months (70/35%), but growth and alk consumption have slowed down indicating I probably hit a photosaturation point (75,000 lux on the surface ) I’ve been reefing with halides since the 90’s and finally don’t miss them enough to pull them out of storage.

3 Vipaspectra LEDs only run at about 110W each...roughly 55W/channel.. same mW driver..roughly same V(f)..
though there are a few more diodes on the blue string .
330
so 165 total per channel ( 3 fixtures..55W each channel on 100%)
82.5 + 41.25W = 123.75W actual (est.) for the 3 leds.
Should be able to verify w/ a kiilawatt thingy.

Actual Power Consumption::

105W±3%

VIPARSPECTRA Timer Control 165W LED Aquarium Light For Coral Reef Grow Fish Tank 640206933377| eBay

Timer 165W led aquarium light Specifications: - Dimension:15.8x8.3x2.4 inches - Weight: 6.8 lbs - One light is ideal for 24x24x24” tank - Max Coverage at 8" Height: 30x24” - Core Coverage at 8" Height: 24x24” - LED Quantity: 55pcs 3W LEDs - Channel one: Violet/Indigo(420nm), Royal Blue(450nm)...

www.ebay.com

 

[Semisonyx]

Thanks for that, my quick guesstimate was definitely some bad algebra! Nice to know I’m using even less wattage than I thought . The 90 degree optics on these units are pretty good for the money, so higher above waterline helps for blending since they have a fair amount of punch. It satisfied a lot of my own personal requirements for switching to LEDs, especially living in the Alabama heat, and think they might fulfill the same requirements for the op.

3 Vipaspectra LEDs only run at about 110W each...roughly 55W/channel.. same mW driver..roughly same V(f)..
though there are a few more diodes on the blue string .
330
so 165 total per channel ( 3 fixtures..55W each channel on 100%)
82.5 + 41.25W = 123.75W actual (est.) for the 3 leds.
Should be able to verify w/ a kiilawatt thingy.

Actual Power Consumption::

105W±3%

VIPARSPECTRA Timer Control 165W LED Aquarium Light For Coral Reef Grow Fish Tank 640206933377| eBay

Timer 165W led aquarium light Specifications: - Dimension:15.8x8.3x2.4 inches - Weight: 6.8 lbs - One light is ideal for 24x24x24” tank - Max Coverage at 8" Height: 30x24” - Core Coverage at 8" Height: 24x24” - LED Quantity: 55pcs 3W LEDs - Channel one: Violet/Indigo(420nm), Royal Blue(450nm)...

www.ebay.com