which LED to use?
- Thread starter 115lol
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mcarroll
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Forget Price and SPS vs Softy
Price buys you features much more than it buys you performance, so don't feel compelled to spend an armload of money if you don't want to.
Shade or No Shade
More important to consider is whether the light you get is a spotlight-type (metal halide, LED pucks and chinaboxs) or area light (T5, LED strips).
In general, spotlights cause shadows and area lights do not.
I've never seen evidence that one is "better" than the other as far as corals are concerned, but people definitely have preferences here. Your best bet is to understand the differences and uses of these types of lighting and know what you like.
Which brings me to...
Look At Lots Of Examples
Try to read lots of lighting threads and coral-related threads to see how different lights look in lots of different situations.
Notice the extent of shadowing; presence of hot spots; and areas like corners that may lack light altogether.
Remember that most photos online are either too good to be representative (DSLR) or too cruddy (cellphone), so take your time and browse a lot of photos.
Look, in person, at as many different live tanks as you can...take your lux meter with you.
Focus on what you like along the way through all that browsing...try not to get caught up in hype, cuz there's a lot of it.
Price buys you features much more than it buys you performance, so don't feel compelled to spend an armload of money if you don't want to.
Shade or No Shade
More important to consider is whether the light you get is a spotlight-type (metal halide, LED pucks and chinaboxs) or area light (T5, LED strips).
In general, spotlights cause shadows and area lights do not.
I've never seen evidence that one is "better" than the other as far as corals are concerned, but people definitely have preferences here. Your best bet is to understand the differences and uses of these types of lighting and know what you like.
Which brings me to...
Look At Lots Of Examples
Try to read lots of lighting threads and coral-related threads to see how different lights look in lots of different situations.
Notice the extent of shadowing; presence of hot spots; and areas like corners that may lack light altogether.
Remember that most photos online are either too good to be representative (DSLR) or too cruddy (cellphone), so take your time and browse a lot of photos.
Look, in person, at as many different live tanks as you can...take your lux meter with you.
Focus on what you like along the way through all that browsing...try not to get caught up in hype, cuz there's a lot of it.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Here are my favorite generic options...
If "best" = cheap: GU10 LED Build Thread (Chinese Ebay Lights)
If best = no shadows: Orbit Marine Pro
If those two main items aren't concerns, I think you can potentially be happy with almost any light on the market these days – lots of great options.
It will help in all cases to understand something about lens angles and lighting, use a lux meter at minimum during setup and adjustments, and (as always) make all changes slowly.
If "best" = cheap: GU10 LED Build Thread (Chinese Ebay Lights)
I've built a few of these and still use one. Love it. Scale it to any size tank. It doesn't get any cheaper. <$600 for your tank.
If best = no shadows: Orbit Marine Pro
Somewhat similar to my preferred DIY above, but with a buzzword-friendly LED selection and nice sunrise/sunset controls. Reasonably priced.
If those two main items aren't concerns, I think you can potentially be happy with almost any light on the market these days – lots of great options.
It will help in all cases to understand something about lens angles and lighting, use a lux meter at minimum during setup and adjustments, and (as always) make all changes slowly.
115lol
Community Member
thanks guy - anyone have experience with orphek v3 plus? cuz i got a friend who can get me new unit for $850 each. versus a gen 4 radion pro its hard to choose. the orphek v3 plus cover 48" x 24", twice as much as radion. and the light pucks is not in clusters as radion. any advantage that will do?
locito277
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The Orphek was an option and I do love the look of the lights themselves. I went with a combination of 4 G4 and 4 G3 Radion 30 and 2 4 bulb 54 watt T5s. I may add a few Kessil 360 for spotlight capabilities. More than one way to skin a cat. If you do get the Orphek I would love to see pics. My tank is on the deep end at 48"
Deep. My fear of the heat caused me to put a AC vent in the canopy over the lights.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Definitely an advantage to having the emitters more spread out, but I would still look at that coverage area as optimistic and plan for healthy overlap between fixtures.
Use, at minimum, a lux meter to assess the lights and coverage between fixtures. There's no good reason to go by your eye.
Lux meter apps are free and a hand held lux meter like my "LX-1010B" is usually less than $15, delivered. (A PAR meter is very nice, but not necessary for this.)
If you haven't seen the reefbreeders lights yet, 4 of our Photon 48-V2s would cover that tank very well. You can program them all on the same controller, and they use Cree LEDs, and include tank mounting legs. If you have any questions just let me know.
Ron Reefman
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I've used everything from MH to t5 and led. In just led from Radion to really cheap Chinese box (really cheap)!
IMHO the light that any of them produce now in 2016 just isn't that much different from one brand to another (as mcarroll said). I have used EverGrow IT2080 fixtures (almost the same as the Reef Breeders Photon) for the last 4 years and my corals (mostly sps) grow faster than I need! I just set up a new tank and got a Reef Breeders Photon V2 (50") and it's both good looking and an incredible fixture. It will do just about anything a fixture that costs 25% more and covers 50% less can do. I paid just over $600 and if I had used Radions or AI's I would have spent between $1200 and $2200! I just don't see the added value. What extras do you get for the additional $600 to $1600 in cost?
IMHO the light that any of them produce now in 2016 just isn't that much different from one brand to another (as mcarroll said). I have used EverGrow IT2080 fixtures (almost the same as the Reef Breeders Photon) for the last 4 years and my corals (mostly sps) grow faster than I need! I just set up a new tank and got a Reef Breeders Photon V2 (50") and it's both good looking and an incredible fixture. It will do just about anything a fixture that costs 25% more and covers 50% less can do. I paid just over $600 and if I had used Radions or AI's I would have spent between $1200 and $2200! I just don't see the added value. What extras do you get for the additional $600 to $1600 in cost?
Breadman03
Valuable Member
Maybe a little bit, but most of the difference is in features for us that don't do a thing for corals. Some of it is in fixture aesthetics or customer support or advertising expenses. I got Radions because my wife likes how they look over the tank, but there are many good options at a wide variety of price points.
