LED experience for under $2

[freezetyle]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

To get a real representation of the coral color, I take frags outside. If I wanted to artificially color them, I could tint the glass blue and purple

Seriously, MH has another 10 years on my tank before it's outdated. I have yet to see a tank with LED that I like, and I sure wouldn't spend money on doing that to my tank. No, I haven't seen a lot of tanks lit by LED, but of those I've seen, I haven't liked any yet.

Brad, are you free tomorrow (tuesday) night or the night after? Come over and take a gander at the new tank. i think i might be able to sway you on the Led.

I think the main thing causes your bias to MH is based on the fact that many people who add led tend to sway away from the 10-14k spectrum. So you get the over saturated florescence which can look cool for party tricks but in my mind is a little bit much

[Aquattro]

Jon, I might be, but it's not the color, it's the flicker of blue vs white shadow. If the light was only 1 color, that might remove that issue.
And, I'd really need to see a full blown SPS tank after 3 years to ensure a constant output. Time will tell, but I love MH, and since I have MH, it works out well

[toytech]

I agree that the blue/white flicker is kinda annoying , but being able to fine tune your color temp by dimming the different color LEDs is a huge plus . Next tank i light will be with a diy led setup , probably from rapid led . Now i just have to hurry up and get a new tank .

[sphelps]

MHs are certainly not outdated, still by far my personal favourite for color and effect. LEDs can't offer the effect from the single source which creates stunning rays and shadows for contrast. By far the most natural lighting and the best lighting for photography is MH. Also for actinic effect fluorescents take that prize not LEDs.

[Skimmerking]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Jon, I might be, but it's not the color, it's the flicker of blue vs white shadow. If the light was only 1 color, that might remove that issue.
And, I'd really need to see a full blown SPS tank after 3 years to ensure a constant output. Time will tell, but I love MH, and since I have MH, it works out well

yup I'm with you Brad MH hasn't failed after how many years

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by freezetyle

I think the main thing causes your bias to MH is based on the fact that many people who add led tend to sway away from the 10-14k spectrum.

Bingo. I for one do not like 14K or higher, but rather a crisp 12K. so when I build my LEDs I will be build them so thats what I get when both colors are on full.

as for Naesco's statments.. sorry I have to go with Brad on this one.. when you see a coral in the wild during the day you are seeing the true color. I used to do the same as Brad with my corals.. take them outside for a true color. when in the tank especialy when lit with RB leds you are getting a floressence line you stated and yes the corals has thoes emzines but you do not see that in the wild, except for some cases of deep water corals where there is no real visable light.

yes there is floressence in shallow reef but to a very small degree, for a small period at sunrise and sunset there will be more but no where near the amount you see in artificialy lit reefs.

Steve