Bridgelux or Cree?

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Why not? So long as you keep on top of water quality and have sufficient lighting, you can keep most SPS in damn near any tank.

I grew SPS very well (grew a cantaloupe sized birdsnest from a 1" frag in just under 8 months) in a 20 gallon tank for about two years... and I didn't even own a skimmer at the time! Just regulated my feeding and did weekly water changes.

I recommend Rebels over the Bridgelux, and put Crees and Rebels at the same quality level.

BTW I don't consider birdnest and montis as SPS They put a shame on SPS since they are so forgiving! My birdnests and montis are growing crazy!

[mike31154]

Well I can't vote either option since my DIY LED fixture consists of generic Chinese 10 watt LED multichips. They work fine, have since April. I don't have much in the way of SPS either, but the ones I do have, monti & some other thing that was sold to me as a chalice but grows more like a monti, are doing very well.

The LED game is still evolving at a breakneck pace & IMO in the end, it makes little sense to debate over brand names in hopes of getting a slightly better buy one way or another. One's more efficient, the other has a more suitable spectrum for our requirements, development continues. It's a pretty high stakes game at the moment with consumers everywhere switching from cfls to LEDs in their homes. The unique niche our hobby occupies doesn't get near the same attention from the large manufacturers as more conventional lighting needs for business & general household lighting. And simply because a North American or European company owns a brand name, does not mean that the LEDs they use or ones manufactured under their name do not come from Asia somewhere. I saw a thread on RC yesterday that had a link to Bridgelux who apparently have a new, more efficient LED array ready to go. When you're talking about switching from Halides or T5HO to LEDs, a percentage point of efficiency between one LED & another is a drop in the bucket compared to the power savings over a Halide. Yet some folks still prefer the MHs, for good reason, they are tried & tested, known to do the job.

As far as SPS (or any other coral for that matter), I just don't get the mentality that downplays the value of one species vs another simply because it's easier to keep? It's like the wine conoisseurs (or snobs as I like to call them), man, if it tastes good & is reasonably priced, whatever. I don't care about how complex they get with the descriptions & nose, bouquet etc. I look at coral similarly, if it's pleasing to the eye I'll consider it, regardless of whether it's easy or difficult to keep. I'm somewhat restricted in that regard anyhow since I have some sizeable BTAs in my tank & they are already stinging the dickens out of the green monti thing. So I'm certainly not going to run out & get a cranky, difficult, costly SPS colony even if it does look awesome. Tank looks pretty good to me with the LPS, softies etc. that I have.