Change is good, a summation of a transition from metal halide to ...
It’s easier to warm a tank than it is to cool it. Reduced glare and light spillage: My fixture illuminates the tank, not the room or the ground in front of the aquarium. I prefer open topped aquariums, but hated the fact that my lights blinded my 2ft tall toddler. LED’s will have a narrow light distribution and create a dimmer and shadier tank: It depends on the tank dimensions and light fixture. It is easily avoided by choosing a fixture that incorporates Warm White LEDs, or includes red and greed LEDs to balance the narrow spectrum that you get with just Cool White and Blue LEDs. Most LED fixtures place a lot of emphasis on Blue and Cool White LEDs, which results in a lot of intensity in a narrow range. After reviewing the Mazarra LED light on a 180-gallon and the AI Nano LED on a 34-gallon, I’ve been getting a lot of emails about whether I’m happy with the transition overall. For larger and wider tanks, you might be better off with metal halides in a quality reflector. For me, it was a minor issue, compared to the flat look of T5s and the heat/electricity associated with metal halides. Dimming is possible with certain metal halide and T5 ballasts as well, but more limited in implementation. There is some skepticism about usable life on LEDs: This is still an open ended question for me. Manufacturers claim that LEDs can last up to 50,000 hours. With one light fixture, I can alternate the look of my tank from 20k to 10k and back in one day. LEDs do offer the opportunity to focus the light on the reef structure, instead of the whole tank. I find that wider optics do a great job increasing the light distribution and reducing shadows. There are a lot of aquarist on the fence about wether LED lighting is right for them. The individual LED colors can cause multicolored shadows and glimmer lines on the corals and sand: This is definitely a potential issue which is more pronounced with narrow optics. It has helped me keep the glass cleaner and reduced the amount of glare and light spillage into the room. Dimming ability: Being able to dim the lights is awesome. It annoyed me at first, but no longer bothers me. The fixture I’m using does a good job of distributing the light. With LED technology changing in both advancements and pricing, the timing question is a reasonable one. I’ve heard some of the cheaper fixtures are worse for these light artifacts. And will the fixtures last as long as the LED chips they house. Modularity: I love the fact that I can increase or reduce the number of modules, if I change tank sizes. It’s great to walk into the room, and have the tank look a little different each time. Fixtures that include Warm Whites and/or Red/Green/Yellow’s tend to appear brighter to the end user. Some wonder if it’s the right time to jump in, while others are hesitant to move away from a lighting strategy that works....
However, aquarium lighting is the one of the most important considerations, with metal halide lighting particularly popular for this kind of system. These bulbs may occasionally need to be replaced as they will have to be switched on for between 12 and
These figures are likely to change over the next five years, according to the survey, to the extent that LEDs will be used by 85.5 percent of these aquarists, with T-5 fluorescents being used by 24.3 percent and metal halides/HQI/ HID usage falling to
