Thanks for the compliments! I just designed and set this up for a gentleman in Polson. It was my old In-wall display, with some serious eupgrades.
Well, they have been on the tank for a few months now and they have their pros and cons... mostly pros
Love the adjustibility when used in conjunction with a controller... He is using a ReefKeeper Elite with the ALC module to control them, and between the sunrise/sunset dimming, and lightning storm mode they are great. I love the idea of placing corals and reducing light VS placing them at the bottom and moving them up. They are a ridiculous amount of light... compared to a 400W MH setup, still can burn corals and coraline algae and even a piece of paper.
They are upgradable, if AI makes a better LED puck you can swap them out.
Also did another build with the PAR 38 spotlight LEDS, these are hands down better if you can come up with the cash.
Dont like that you have to make your own cord, and setting that up was a PITA.
We will see how they do with coral growth over the next few months! Heres my power usage run downs, and pay off time using an LED fixture over a MH, T5 or Combo MH/T5 for this tank.
Inital investment to buy equipment:
Metal halide : 1032$
T5: 779$
Combo T5/MH 1299$
MH/Plasma 1678$
SOL 3200$
POWER USE PER YEAR @ .10 KWh (you might pay more?)
MH 1040-1240w = 374-446$ @ 10 hrs per day
T5 468W = 202$ @ 12 hrs per day
combo 738w = 265$ @ 10 hrs
plasma/ MH= 568W = 201-360$ @ 10 hrs
SOL 75wx6 =450w or 190$ @12hrs
Cost in bulbs per Yr
MH 420$ (heh heh)
T5 360$
combo 540$
Plasma/MH 320 MAX
Sol 0$ for 10 years
Total per yr (bubls and power after initial investment)
MH 866$ max
T5 562$ max
Combo 805$ max
plasma/mh 680$ max
SOL 190$
