48" LED Array - Up and Running...Mostly

[Canadian]

so I can safly say that a good LED set up such as Ron's will blow any T5 out of the watter, most 150 watt setups, and some of the 250 watt setups.

Please see the picture above of a typical good T5 setup. Would you seriously contend it blows any T5 out of the water? The numbers for the less-than-optimal T5 setup above (I only quickly grabbed those pics because I knew they existed and didn't have to spend a great deal of time searching) are not far off those that Ron is reporting with his fixture.

if he would have gone a little tighter spacing which allowed for 40 degree optics with out spotlighting I can say you would be hard to find a MH system that would be a higher output, and it would be pointless to try as at that output level would it realy matter?

Part of the fun of DIY LED I suppose - trying to optimize spacing with optic angle with height above the water without getting unattractive spotlighting. Even the better manufactured LED fixtures such as AI produce some really ugly spotlighting when suspended at suboptimal heights.

Is this because you spent to much on your T5 set up and are haveing buyers regrets Andrew?

As I've stated several times I actually want to run LEDs and have for well over a year. I'm not anti LED revolution. I'm anti hype based on fuzzy numbers and marketing. I replaced my Giesemann fixture with the ATI I have now and will likely replace the ATI with a couple AI modules in the future. No buyer's remorse. I just want the best of both worlds: efficiency and PAR (not to mention "controlability") in an attractive mass produced product. But I want to make the change based on objective data and not marketing hype.

And this isn't an issue of T5s versus the world. I generally comment on comparison threads when garage "scientists" take it upon themselves to make comparisons as if they're conducting controlled experiments (not that Ron did this or is a "garage scientist" but I didn't want others to try to make comparisons as if the two fixtures were representative examples). The comparison to T5 lighting in this thread is not representative. Had Ron compared his DIY LED fixture to a Coralife MH fixture with a one year old 20,000K MH bulb I would have made similar comments about unfair comparisons. Likewise, I think Sanjay's comparison of the older model AI module to a crappy MH setup with 20,000K lamp is hardly a fair and representative comparison.

I love that you guys are helping develop LED fixtures and ideas for those of us who don't want to go the DIY route. You'll help push manufacturers to make better hobbyist fixtures. And I love that you guys are so enthusiastic about what you're doing. What my concern is, is that some people are getting caught up in the enthusiasm (and blatant marketing hype) and losing site of objectivity. Historically, the same thing happens with new lighting technology coming to the hobby. Reports about T5 longevity and PAR were completely off base for several years until real hard data started to be compiled. The same thing is happening with LEDs to some extent right now. Fortunately, LED lighting is still in it infancy (especially for use in our hobby) and is bound to improve and at the same time some controlled quasi-experimental data will start to emerge.