Upgrading from MH to LED

Jmar101786 · Nov 3, 2013

Hey All -

So I am taking the leap into the LED world and I guess I'm just looking for advice. I figure plenty of reefers have already made the switch and i'm hoping that maybe I can learn from any mistakes made previously so that I don't make them myself.

Currently I have a 220 Gal mixed reef that tends to be heavier on the sps side. The corals in this tank have always been under (2) 400 Watt 20K Radium Metal Halides. I don't have any other supplemental lighting, just the metal halides.

The dimensions on the tank are 72" Long, 24"High and 30" Deep.

I picked up 3 Radion Pro's and have them all set up on the hanging kit, however I have yet to put them physically over my tank.

Currently I am in the process of trying to figure out how to program them and i'm getting a little caught up so if anyone can offer advice there i'd appreciate it.

Secondly in regards to the actual switch - can anyone offer advice on how to go about doing it so that I don't do any damage to my coral; I've read some horror stories where people burnt their pieces because they were too close to the water or because they didn't acclimate them slowly enough to the new type of lighting.

Any and all information would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Joe

dcsaquarium · Nov 4, 2013

I've always been told to start it at 50% and slowly go up to what seems to do best for the corals and what you like. It seem the most common height to hang above what is between 8 and 12 inches. Sorry thats about the best I can help. I'm new to the led thing also but talked with a couple of knowledgeable people and thats what they said.

specialk · Nov 4, 2013

dcsaquarium said:
I've always been told to start it at 50% and slowly go up to what seems to do best for the corals and what you like. It seem the most common height to hang above what is between 8 and 12 inches. Sorry thats about the best I can help. I'm new to the led thing also but talked with a couple of knowledgeable people and thats what they said.

+1 Started mine which are 8 inches above the water surface at 45% for the blues and 20% for the whites .. (tank is also 72 inches long) and then bumped those up about 15% every week. It worked well for me .. corals are doing great. I have 3 over my tank as well

IBEW41 · Nov 4, 2013

how old are the radiums that you are using? if the lamps are less than 6 months old you would be fine to start at 55-60% since you where using 400w lamps and run them at 20k settings

Jmar101786 · Nov 4, 2013

The date for them is Feb 2013

ifarmer · Nov 8, 2013

so what made you switched to LED?

Jmar101786 · Nov 8, 2013

A few factors contributed to me making the choice to switch over from MH to LED but I think the main two are:

- Evolution/Progression of the hobby
- My monthly electric bill

I've been in the marine side of hobby for right around 13 years...
prior to that I had a Fresh and a Brackish system for about 3 years and with my systems I have always liked to research as much as possible so that I can try and have the best handle on all the aspects of the hobby that applied to me and even some that didn't.

With that being said I have followed the evolution of LED in this hobby since just before Solaris came out. I thought it was the coolest idea to grow a succesful and beautiful reef with LEDs - these little energy efficient light bulbs - the idea alone blew my mind as I always associated growth, color and success with mindset that the reefer with the biggest electric bill will have the biggest and nicest pieces lol....Granted this new technology had its kinks as does nearly anything brand new to a market but none the less it intrigued me in a big way.

So after all this time, all the research I've done, all the success stories I've read and the horror stories that I've learned from I wanted to finally take the jump.

427HISS · Nov 12, 2013

Joe, "all the research I've done, all the success stories I've read and the horror stories that I've learned from I wanted to finally take the jump".

I hear you, as I'm looking to change from my old (90's) VHO 75gal. tank to LED's, but I'm scared to step in the pond. If you would like for me to start my own thread I will, but I thought since we have basically same questions and concerns, that I could just join in on your thread. Being new to LED's, I know nothing about them, cost seems very high, picking out the best colors FOR THE CORALS, not my eye's, par readings, watts, which company's to trust & buy from, warranties, etc....???
I don't want to buy a expensive system and find out it's a piece or crap.

My 440 watts of VHO's back in the day, worked and looked great, although I never had sps, but wanting some this time around. All my corals grew just fine, including the clams, and never had a issue.
The reason for wanting change, is just like you stated,..." Evolution/Progression of the hobby, My monthly electric bill".

One other reason is the heat created, although I never needed a chiller, I did use a fan blowing across the surface.

Below is a quote from a member about MH. I realize,.....everyone has their own opinion & what they prefer.

MEMBER QUOTED-

As much as I hate to admit it with the thousands I've spent trying to make leds work for me I have to consede to what Anthony Calfo said at the Southest Reef confence a couple of years back, Leds are like hunting with a bow n arrow to point source and he'd prefer a shotgun good old MH. It really hit home with me after selling some sps that ended up in mh lit tank then seeing them after a couple months, to date I've removed the leds from my frag system and replaced with T5s as well as adding four 80watt T5s to my display system which also has 144 3watt leds emitters with spectums of 405nm 425nm 450nm 460nm 475nm 530nm and 660nm. With only two weeks run time of T5s over frag system I've seen improvement in colors of my frags and waiting till Black Friday to order new MH pendents for display tank, already dusted my old chiller off LOL

reefernutz · Nov 13, 2013

I just switched from 2x250w Radiums to 3 Evergrow d120s. My tank is 60L x 30W x 27H. I started the LEDs at 40% and increased them 10% per week. My LPS didn't even blink but I did have my Cali Tort show some distress......but that was only 1 out of 18 SPS in the tank. Listen to the advice above and just go slow. It's going to take you a bit to find the exact setting that you like. Hell, I've had mine for 3 months and I'm still fooling with the color. Good luck.

Jmar101786 · Nov 13, 2013

Thanks for your input.

While cleaning the tank this weekend I accidently knocked my elbow against my metal halide electrical line running to the mogul and somehow the connections were loose and the wire fell in the water...it wasn't more than a second that it was in there but at that point I was forced to hang my LED's sooner than I anticipated.

As of right now they are programmed to turn on at 2 PM and shut at 10 PM under the radiant predesigned graph. I have them on acclimation mode starting out at 30% and gradually going up to 65% over the course of 5 weeks.

I'm not sure I like this program just yet but as a quick "throw together" its what I used until this weekend when I have more time to calibrate.

Jmar101786 · Nov 13, 2013

Not sure if i'm doing this right from my phone....hopefully the picture attaches.

427HISS · Nov 13, 2013

The pic is a little blurry & blue, but the layout & corals look awesome Joe !

reefernutz · Nov 14, 2013

Keep us posted on how things are going. Hopefully starting off low like you are you won't have any issues.

Jmar101786 · Nov 23, 2013

Okay - So here we are - 13 Day into the LED upgrade and I am concerned at the moment. I have some corals that have stayed the same - such as a Bubble Gum Monster chalice and a Miami Hurricane chalice which both sit on my sand bed and have not changed one bit. While I have other corals such as my Pagoda cup and my Cyphastrea which hardly open up and look like garbage....and then I have my bonsai and my red planet which have dulled out a lot. I am fearful and brave at the same time, part of me wants to push forward and just see if this is a low point that I need to get passed before the BIG improvement and the other part wants to run to my garage, wipe down my metal halides and put them back up. So... there we are - 13 days in and conflicted on what to do :/

specialk · Nov 23, 2013

reefernutz said:
Hell, I've had mine for 3 months and I'm still fooling with the color. Good luck.

+1 ... what he said! Jmar, I was in the same boat switching from MH to LED. I am 3 months in and for some reason, some of my corals did not make the transition all that well. I am not sure if I did not do the acclimating long enough or what exactly the case was. But just like you I had a few corals (2 of them to be exact) that are looking like they are struggling to hold on. BUT I will say, I have added some SPS frags that are growing like crazy!!! I swear it seems everytime I look there is new growth. I am thrilled! Also my other lps and softies are growing faster then they did under the MH. In fact it was only about 3 weeks into my LEDs and some trumpets started splitting and growing right away and they never split or grew for 7 months under my MH for some reason. So for my money, I will never go back to the MH and I could not be more pleased.

evan.lundberg4 · Nov 23, 2013

I've been using LEDs for a year now on one of my tanks and I have noticed that done corals take to them right away and others do not. It takes time but everything I have put in there over time has come around to the LEDs. Just some of my observations. I'm running a DIY aquastyle.com kit over my 20. I know it's not the same situation but just to give you an idea. One good thing is you guys have dimmable lights which makes acclimating easier.

Jmar101786 · Nov 24, 2013

Thanks for the reply - I am going to stick it out. I have my graph set for a 5 week acclimation starting at 35% and ending at 65%... I am thinking that maybe its a possibility that going from twin 400 watt metal halides to LED's and bringing them down to 35% may be not enough light and that's why they are struggling - but I don't know if upping the percentage of output is the right thing to do.

evan.lundberg4 · Nov 24, 2013

That is definitely possible then if they were under 400s. I do know that it's something about the light that LEDs give off that's more intense or something. I'll see if I can find the thread about it. It's on another forum.

evan.lundberg4 · Nov 24, 2013

Well I can't post the thread link because it's on the members only forum but to summarize basically the reason corals can't take the LEDs is they're used to more indirect light. Light that's reflected off various things before it reaches them. With LEDs even though the intensity is set low it's still a very direct and intense form light. Corals do not get this type of lighting, focused light might not be as easy to handle compared to a refracted MH or a dispersed T5.