LED lights Vs. T5 or other

[Freddy0144]

Okay so I am getting close to deciding what lights are going on my acrylic 225 build. I am leaning heavily toward installing 3 or 4 Kessel 360 W. The tank is 72L X30 W X 24 T. One of the largest questions I have is, what is the life span of LED lights?
Is the cost vs lifespan more cost effective over other lighting options?

Thanks, I would also appreciate other input regarding lighting and things I may be overlooking.

 

[Playa-1]

I think the first thing to consider is the type of livestock that you plan to keep, both short term and long term. You may want to research PAR reading on those particular lights and specific water depths and light spread. LED's are not created equal in that regard. Different livestock and aqua-scaping preferences will determine what type of PAR requirements that you will need. That will also determine what type of lights you can get away with and how many.

 

[Freddy0144]

Playa-1, Great point! I have done the research regarding the PAR for these lights and they will more than adequately cover what I need. Largely, my tank will have some LPS a small amount of SPS and some softies. My favorite coral is a hammer I expect to have a large hammer colony some time in the future.

Thanks for bringing that up. Additionally, if more lights are needed down the road I am not appose to adding a 4th or 5th, they will be hung from a piece of uni-strut and can be slid around for adjustment.

 

[jda]

Larger colonies will need more of these than you think. Kessils really make a lot of shadows and have a center hotspot which has nice output but the rest of the 2'x2' area has very little. I would plan on at least six for a tank like that and maybe nine staggered front/back if you want huge colonies. Take all of this for what it is worth... I don't use LEDs and if I were forced to, Kessil would be my last choice (over black box) unless it was a nano or smaller tank. One of the great things about them is that it is really easy to add more.

Regarding lifespan... I would count of five years max. People might scoff at this, but when they do, ask them how old their LEDs are. You won't find too many people who are using panels that old... some, but not many. Lots of people move to new ones at three years.