motortrendz
2500 Club Member
I've used all 3 forms of lighting over the years. And messed with hybrids. Mostly diy in the hybrids though. MHs have always given the best growth especially for sps. But t5 definitly gave more color with the right spectrums. I've put leds on MH fixtures to give a more fluorescent glow.
On my current build I originally had 3 hydra 26s and 4 t5(2-36 and 2-24) and no matter what I did my corals would bleach or not color up. Drove me nuts. I messed with configurations and intensities on the leds and even cut back on t5s down to running 2 At a time to no avail. My dad had 2 hydra 52s laying around so I said lest see, I added 2-52s and behind them mounted 2-26s(tank is a weird shape and deep front to back) with them all set about 70% blues and under 10% white or was light a light switch on my tank... within weeks colors started popping and frags finally started sowing some real growth. And the fact that I had to turn my calcium reactor or 3 times I'm 3 months also shows substantial uptake. But I have noticed leds create alot of shadows and dont really bounce light. (This is just my observation, as I could totally be wrong) so I get corals that color crazy on one side and not so much on the other(not top and bottom. It say, left and right or front and back)
So with all that said. I still believe the fastest growth is still with MH( and found a more encompassing lighting within the tank)so maybe finding the right leds to go with that lighting may give the best of both worlds. (And your electric bill will definilty remind you of this) bit I would try to keep the leds off the same fixture as to not share heat(as mentioned above)
If o was to set up a grow out system I would used MH lighting and then use leds to color them up.
Hope my long winded post even made sense.... its early and I'm still working on my coffee lol
On my current build I originally had 3 hydra 26s and 4 t5(2-36 and 2-24) and no matter what I did my corals would bleach or not color up. Drove me nuts. I messed with configurations and intensities on the leds and even cut back on t5s down to running 2 At a time to no avail. My dad had 2 hydra 52s laying around so I said lest see, I added 2-52s and behind them mounted 2-26s(tank is a weird shape and deep front to back) with them all set about 70% blues and under 10% white or was light a light switch on my tank... within weeks colors started popping and frags finally started sowing some real growth. And the fact that I had to turn my calcium reactor or 3 times I'm 3 months also shows substantial uptake. But I have noticed leds create alot of shadows and dont really bounce light. (This is just my observation, as I could totally be wrong) so I get corals that color crazy on one side and not so much on the other(not top and bottom. It say, left and right or front and back)
So with all that said. I still believe the fastest growth is still with MH( and found a more encompassing lighting within the tank)so maybe finding the right leds to go with that lighting may give the best of both worlds. (And your electric bill will definilty remind you of this) bit I would try to keep the leds off the same fixture as to not share heat(as mentioned above)
If o was to set up a grow out system I would used MH lighting and then use leds to color them up.
Hope my long winded post even made sense.... its early and I'm still working on my coffee lol
