[sphelps]

All those topics have been discussed and debated several times already so I'm not going to get into all those specifically again, as you can see already people respond aggressively with rhetorical questions rather than proving answers and comments from actual experience. I however will make a few points from my recent experience.

First off you won't notice any substantial power savings, while they do certainly use less power in comparison to some other options you won't be jumping for joy each month when you get your power bill. So if this your only reason forget it.

Next LEDs are not as bright as other options like MH, don't be fooled by PAR readings as LEDs do better as the spectrum is defined in the areas a PAR meter detects. While par may be what you're really after keep in mind you might be surprised at the overall light your tank puts out, this might actually be a benefit as many people find high light aquariums hard to look at, LEDs will fix this but to me the overall wow effect isn't there.

Not all corals will respond to LEDs that well, some seem to do very well but others show washed out color, almost like slight bleaching but not really, corals are still healthy but color is almost somewhat transparent. You may also find the overall color and effect to be somewhat artificial, hard to describe but if you compare side by side it's easy to see.

Controllable features are just gimmicks, while very intriguing you may find the features fairly useless after showing them off to all your friends. In addition the effects of such features result in a constantly changing light pattern which tends to go against stability rules, the effects in the hobby are still somewhat uncertain.

If you're into photography they aren't always ideal, I've found setting WB very difficult and contrast isn't as good as with MH.

Finally count on adding a par meter to your budget as who knows what these things actually put out now and a few years down the road. Also remember LED fixtures are like computers and what's available today will be obsolete after a year or so and of all lighting options LEDs will depreciate the most so resale will kill you.

While there are pros and cons to LEDs, I've found most people tend focus on the pros so I've focused more on the negatives just to show there are too sides.