LEDs offer numerous advantages in the reef aquarium
LED Lights on Reef Tanks are simply awesome, colour control is easy. The benefits of LED Lights on a reef tank overwhelmingly out weigh the advantages of Metal Halide or T5 lights.
The following is a list of advantages LEDs have in reef lighting over Metal Halide or T5 lighting
Energy Efficient
LEDs are the most cost effective way to light your aquarium.LEDs use about 1/2 to 1/3 the electricity of standard aquarium lights. They our Cree XR-E Cool White LEDs are rated for 50,000 hours. After that they will produce 75% of their original light. Normally we drive the Cree XR-E between 650-900mA which means the Cree XR-E lifespan can be much longer. 50,000 hours is 11.41years at 12 hours a day at full power after that who knows how much longer they will last. Our 60 LED fixture has the same PAR as a 400 watt MH Radium and less than 200 watts.
Low Heat Generation
LEDs do generate some heat but nowhere the amount of a Metal Halide or T5. They do produce a very high spot heat and need a quality heatsink to last long. We highly recommend and only provide heatsinsks from Heatsink USA as their heatsinks have the proper mass and surface area to keep the LEDs cool. A simple pair of Cool Tron Fans will on this heatsink will keep your fixture temp around 90 Degrees Fahrenheit.
Shimmering Effect
The Shimmering Effect of LEDs is outstanding. Corbins Exotic Pets in Buffalo Grove Illinois uses our LEDs for this effect and the results trump any available reef lighting.
Safer than T5 or Metal Halides
LEDs are low voltage and much safer than a 400 watt MH. With our LED Seal your fixture can be water resistant. MH and T5 are nowhere near as safe… Check out this you tube of one of our fixtures we provided for a LFS dunked in water…Please do not try this at home with a Hair Dryer, Toaster, MH, T5 fixture or a Beta VCR.
Dimmable with Sunrise/Sunset, Moonlight and Storm/Cloud Simulation
With the proper driver, Cree LEDs can be dimmable to control PAR and controlled with a controller like the APEX or ProFilux. They can simulate simulate Sunrise & Sunset with our ELN 60-48D Drivers through a 1-10Vdc input from the controller. Also this function can simulate cloud movement and moon phases.
Improves Coral Colour
Our Cree XR-E Royal Blue really makes the coral colour pop. Its very close if not better than an Actinic T5. The only Bin in Royal Blue we carry is the Cree D316 as this has given us the best colour. You can also tailor the colour to suit your preferences through dimming or adding more LEDs. A one Cree Cool White for every Cree Royal Blue will give you a 10-12K colour. One Cree Cool White for every two Cree Royal Blue will give you close to a 20K colour. You can also tweak the colour further by adding a few reds or greens into the mix.
Best PAR per Watt
We’ve done extensive Cree XR-E PAR and LUX testing and found that 48-60 Cree XR-E provide the same or better PAR than a MH Light at 24″ over a 30″x24″ area. Here is a link to our optics evaluation on our site and the reef forum Reef2Reef
http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-led-lights/47719-led-optics-test.html
http://www.reefledlights.com/how-to-diy-led/optics-evaluation/