Reviews on LED Ligths

[John Kh]

Hello,

Does anyone has any idea about Galileo LED Light Fixtures by PFO Lighting and Solaris LED Light Fixtures by PFO Lighting. Did anyone here used LED ligths for a TANK with Stony Corals before? Please if you have any reviw or comment about those 2 products let me know. Whether you advise it or not? And why? Is it better then MH?

J,

 

[Len]

John,

While I haven't tried LED as my main lighting (only moon lighting) due to cost, there's been two professional reviews published that might be of interest to you:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/10/review
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/8/review2/

 

[livingstone]

Even though these, I'm sure, are quality products, are you sure you want to purchase the goods of an out-of-business company?

 

[John Kh]

Solaris and Galileo are out of business? Why? The products are not efficient enough? I was simply asking for some reviews since I do not know anything about the products and I encoutered them in my search.

J,

 

[Anonymous]

PFO were caught up in a legal case earlier this year. I'm not sure if anything's happened recently, but it led to them being unable to sell or even deal with existing customers. However, there are other options out there. Anemonebuff started a thread recently about some LED lights he'd bought. Might be worth checking out.

 

[Anonymous]

Here you go...

http://www.reefs.org/forums/topic129174.html

 

[John Kh]

Thank you Tom.

 

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, LED lights do not give enough spread when the optics are on, without them they are not bright enough. On a 125 gallon, I would need 12 $145 panels to light my tank. Just too expensive. Plus the punch with 1 watt LEDs is ok, but not MH. Maybe down the road they will make fixtures with 3 or 5 watt LEDs, now those may get the punch you need for a larger tank. For now I'd say their usage is better served on a nano tank, where the spread is good and heat issues are a bigger concern.

 

[drewread]

Unfortunately, LED lights do not give enough spread when the optics are on, without them they are not bright enough. On a 125 gallon, I would need 12 $145 panels to light my tank. Just too expensive. Plus the punch with 1 watt LEDs is ok, but not MH. Maybe down the road they will make fixtures with 3 or 5 watt LEDs, now those may get the punch you need for a larger tank. For now I'd say their usage is better served on a nano tank, where the spread is good and heat issues are a bigger concern.

Can you substantiate this please?

 

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, LED lights do not give enough spread when the optics are on, without them they are not bright enough. On a 125 gallon, I would need 12 $145 panels to light my tank. Just too expensive. Plus the punch with 1 watt LEDs is ok, but not MH. Maybe down the road they will make fixtures with 3 or 5 watt LEDs, now those may get the punch you need for a larger tank. For now I'd say their usage is better served on a nano tank, where the spread is good and heat issues are a bigger concern.

Can you substantiate this please?

If you looked at the link I posted above, I assume he's talking from personal experience. Nice necropost btw.

 

[drewread]

If you looked at the link I posted above, I assume he's talking from personal experience. Nice necropost btw.

necropost? it's only been a few months..

His statement blanket covers all LEDs, when he only tested one led array, as far as I can tell.

I hardly think that his statement is fair or justified, when he tested an array build of LEDs that have no bin rating.

This board has almost no LED posts. so giving this one some life didn't seem like such a bad idea...

 

[Anonymous]

If you looked at the link I posted above, I assume he's talking from personal experience. Nice necropost btw.

necropost? it's only been a few months..

His statement blanket covers all LEDs, when he only tested one led array, as far as I can tell.

I hardly think that his statement is fair or justified, when he tested an array build of LEDs that have no bin rating.

This board has almost no LED posts. so giving this one some life didn't seem like such a bad idea...

Certainly a great idea to get more opinions flowing back and forth on LED lighting. Lots of people would be interested. I just thought it was a bit harsh on Anemonebuff to question his opinion from several months back with a 5 word question that sounded a bit like a request for a duel.

He can only speak from his experience. So, what's your experience. Can they punch that deep? :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I've seen several of the older PFO fixtures in operation. They appeared very dim. I was not at all impressed. I've also seen some well designed DIY LED projects that were much brighter, and were comparable to HOT5, though on a much shallower (18") tank. But even as DIY projects they were very expensive. Sfiligoi makes a very nice LED fixture, with great output, but it costs so much that it makes any potential energy/heat savings seem insignificant.

In my opinion there still isn't a commercially available LED fixture that can compete with either T5 or MH. I'm starting to wonder if LEDs will just be leapfrogged by a newer technology, like Plasma Bulbs.

 

[Anonymous]

In the indoor plant-growing world LEDs are a complete and total waste of time (unless you're growing nothing more demanding than a philodendron).

Now, the plasma bulbs..? Those are the SHTI! But you're also still looking at around $1,500 a pop I think (last time I spoke with a fellow I knew whose company was developing a line of plasmas).

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, those plasma bulbs look amazing. You'd hope the price would fall with production output increasing.

 

[drewread]

In the indoor plant-growing world LEDs are a complete and total waste of time (unless you're growing nothing more demanding than a philodendron).

Now, the plasma bulbs..? Those are the SHTI! But you're also still looking at around $1,500 a pop I think (last time I spoke with a fellow I knew whose company was developing a line of plasmas).

Out of curiosity, why would you base any assumptions about the quality of light for coral growth on the growth of indoor plants? Wouldn't that be more of the algae growing spectrum, which we don't want.. which would make LEDs better for the aquarium environment.

 

[Anonymous]

In the indoor plant-growing world LEDs are a complete and total waste of time (unless you're growing nothing more demanding than a philodendron).

Now, the plasma bulbs..? Those are the SHTI! But you're also still looking at around $1,500 a pop I think (last time I spoke with a fellow I knew whose company was developing a line of plasmas).

Out of curiosity, why would you base any assumptions about the quality of light for coral growth on the growth of indoor plants? Wouldn't that be more of the algae growing spectrum, which we don't want.. which would make LEDs better for the aquarium environment.

Out of curiosity, why would you say I've said something I haven't? Another curiosity is that algae requires a spectrum different from the environs it evolved in, but that's another issue entirely.

 

[drewread]

In the indoor plant-growing world LEDs are a complete and total waste of time (unless you're growing nothing more demanding than a philodendron).

Now, the plasma bulbs..? Those are the SHTI! But you're also still looking at around $1,500 a pop I think (last time I spoke with a fellow I knew whose company was developing a line of plasmas).

Out of curiosity, why would you base any assumptions about the quality of light for coral growth on the growth of indoor plants? Wouldn't that be more of the algae growing spectrum, which we don't want.. which would make LEDs better for the aquarium environment.

Out of curiosity, why would you say I've said something I haven't? Another curiosity is that algae requires a spectrum different from the environs it evolved in, but that's another issue entirely.

Was it not you that said: "In the indoor plant-growing world LEDs are a complete and total waste of time" in the middle of a discusion about using LEDs on a marine aquarium? It would be safe to assume that you made that comment based on the current conversation, would it not? :?:

Does anyone has any idea about Galileo LED Light Fixtures by PFO Lighting and Solaris LED Light Fixtures by PFO Lighting. Did anyone here used LED ligths for a TANK with Stony Corals before? Please if you have any reviw or comment about those 2 products let me know. Whether you advise it or not? And why? Is it better then MH?

Remember.. this is where this thread started.. growing stony corals (SPS), not philodendrons. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

So! Drew, do you actually have something to add to the conversation, or are you going to keep yourself busy picking apart the meaning of a few sentences? I stand by my previous statements, and chose not to elaborate there as I already have elsewhere.

 

[drewread]

Actually, I am actually in the planning stages of a DIY LED fixture for my 135 gallon aquarium, so I was hoping to get the opinions of some people that have actually used LEDs in a fixture, which was of course, the original purpose of this conversation, however, most of the opinions given so far have not been based on user experiences. Have no fear, once my fixture is up and running, I will be providing a full, detailed report on the matter. Until then, I am looking for useful information on the TOPIC that can be validated.

So far Reef Central has much more of that information than reefs.org. I was only trying to get another opinion, again, on the topic at hand.