steven@reev.com

With the various kinds on the market, your challenge will be to find some that don't get too hot ( as that shortens the lifespan of the fixture) and has decent spread / coverage (which is unusual for LEDs since they are pinpoint light). It's a little too soon to be declarative with any one fixture. Which ones are you considering? Maybe we can help you select the best option from your list.

at this point I am just researching the concept. so any and all advise is great.

By comparison, I'm setting up a larger tank (400g) that will only use 3 MH bulbs and two VHOs (unless I opt to add more for more actinic pop!). It seems like you really like blue because of your current bulb selection. My guess is that your 250w 20,000K would look better if they were 400w 20,000K instead.

Have you tried Phoenix 14k's? They are more 20k-ish than most 20k bulbs and put out more PAR as well. Fifty bucks a pop. Depending on what you keep, you could use x3 phoenix MH's with some daylight PAR38 bulbs for supplementation on high light corals. That and the only thing the phoenix lacks is warm colors in the 6500-8k range.

Just throwing ideas.

Have you looked into Icecap's new (well semi new they've been out a while) LED "bulbs". They look like a T5 bulb and mount easily into the canopy and all you have to do is plug them in. At $80 a piece, i've had my eye on them for a while, for that slight touch of actinic to go along with my halides.

Originally Posted by melev

By comparison, I'm setting up a larger tank (400g) that will only use 3 MH bulbs and two VHOs (unless I opt to add more for more actinic pop!). It seems like you really like blue because of your current bulb selection. My guess is that your 250w 20,000K would look better if they were 400w 20,000K instead.

I used to have 10k bulbs but the soft corals just grow too fast, it is crazy and some corals seem to not do too well under the 10K's it is not that I love the blue just trying to get the colors of the corals to "POP" at the lfs they have some LED's on a tank but they are about 4 inches off the water and that just wont work for me.

How would the 400w 20k's help me? my tank is only 34 inches deep?

A 400w 20,000k looks better than a 250w 20,000k. They burn bluer, usually. 20,000k has less PAR which allows for more wattage without blasting the corals.

These Italian L.E.D.'s are ahead of the game. If you had these you wouldnt even need the the T5's MH's or anything else. The price on this custom fixture is to high for me, but here's the fixture in action and all its glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6LAJ...layer_embedded


Here are more pics of the fixture.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...1852268&page=6

I like to look of the corals under the LED's but my main concern is how close they have to be to the water. And the price too.
Marc, if I changed to 400w 20k MH do I need different fixtures? or can I just use the same fixtures with new ballast's and bulbs?
-Steven

What fixture is it? Some are designed to handle 250w / 400w bulbs. Is this a mogul socket, where bulbs screw in, or is it DE where you snap in double-ended bulbs?

Sorry Marc, been busy for a while finishing up my fish room. they are screw in moguls 250's currently.

You have been busy. Took a couple of months to reply. We want new pictures to see what you were doing.