Would you be so kind to post a reference link to your statement ?
I remember not too long ago there was a discussion on here and some good references just to the contrary. That MH bulbs only loose 20-25% in 12 months.

If the corals are still just as colorful, growing and no algae problems then I don't see the need to change a bulb at a fixed interval just because somebody says I have to. Every bulbs life is going to be different based on mfg, hour usage, temperature control, brand of fixture they're in, etc. This were I don't agree with LED mfg's using short bulb life of non-led's to help justify their high prices in their marketing schemes showing how much money you will save every year on bulb changes.

i have my Maxspect G2-160 (X 2) LED to replace the Coralife 150Wx2 mh + 96Wx2 pc for about 14 months now. no looking back whatsoever. heat,energy bill,chiller not an issue anymore. sps seems growing happy. but i did burnt a lots of them ( too close to the water!) at the beginning 2 months. tank is 72g bf with 21g sump.

+1. many of the high end units require a board replacement if an led burns out. Haven't heard the cost to replace one board but I imagines it's HUNDREDS of dollars.

The big thing too is many of us change tanks every few years or quit the hobby.6 + year payback isn't realistic IMO.

For me, though, I have to say that heat was the biggest problem I had with metal halides. LEDs fixed that problem for me. Now you can say it is poor system design etc, but in the end I kept my system exactly as it is and just replaced MH with LED and no more temp problems.

seeing yours fred opened my eyes to led i must say you have amazing growth and beautiful colour.i also learned a couple things mainly that if your gonna diy do it right the first time :) i hope youll help me with mine when i get them:)

Ikea led
 

I know this thread is about aquarium specific LED systems but I just cannot come up with the $ for a complete set up. I am currently running mh on both my systems, have a fan built into canopy on both and have no problem with temp. I am however going try some cheap led strip lights from ikea to compliment my atinics. Going with this one to see how diferent colors look in the tank, maybe as moon lights.

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/50192365

Will update on my opinion of them once installed

I think I might buy a cheap LED setup from ebay to try over my nano. I took down my 90g tank due to moving of which I had 2 250W MH's over it. The tank was on the main floor and never got above 80 degrees even during the summer. No fans just open top. Evaporation was only about a gallon a day. I used a Belize Sun fixture that does a really good job of venting the heat. I see a lot of heat complaints using MH and this seems to be the biggest advantage for some over LED's but I think a well designed MH fixture won't add much heat to the tank either in my experience anyway.

Ya that is what I am thinking about i have a nano too and thinking what cheap LED would work. I want to grow my Ricordia's in the nano. Thought about those LEd screw in bulbs that you can get from Home depot they are 21w soft white thou.

Very true, I built mine in stages and it is less than optimal but I'm still happy with it. I sure will help you when you get yours.... no problem. I just love building them and seeing the end result from doing something with your own hands that everyone is happy with.