LED or T5

seaweed88 · Apr 3, 2013

I have been running 250 watt metal halide lamps over my 90 for years. I have a chance to pick up a 8 bulb Tek light or a 32 inch reef breeders LED for about the same money. I am thinking of moving from the MH because of heat, cost of bulbs and the power they use.
I know this is a hard question but.... Which should I buy? I have a mixed reef. LPS on the bottom half with the option for SPS on top.
Thanks for any suggestions.

Isoprene · Apr 3, 2013

I went straight LED at first, loved it have good color and good "pop" in my sps and my lps however I recently have decided to invest the extra 100 bucks and retrofit two T5 bulbs on my existing DIY LED fixture. Im hoping the mixture will help growth and color. I am happy right now but im hoping this investment will pay off. I say go LED and see if you like it, a lot of people do, you can always add T5 later or vice versa.

Reefing Madness · Apr 3, 2013

LED, easy choice for the long haul.

seaweed88 · Apr 3, 2013

Thanks for the reply's! Has growth been as good with either one? Will a 32 inch LED be enough light for a 90 with a center brace?
Thanks

Reefing Madness · Apr 3, 2013

All depends on the wattage. 50-60 watts is generally = to that of a 250w metal halide.

Isoprene · Apr 3, 2013

No idea on the size / watt combination but I have 24 3 watt Cre LEDs on a 55 bow front and I see good growth with all my sps, light and low light. Im adding 2 24 inch T5's for some more power though.

gmoney243 · Apr 3, 2013

If the leds are full spectrum you should get colors just fine. But leds also have a bad shadowing effect that i prefer to add t5s just so that u get better light and growth in places led light just doesnt reach. And of course t5 make corals look good and u will be happy with the combo over mh+t5. Im very happy and been running led for year and half with last 6-8months with 2t5 added and couldnt be happier. My led are just rb/cw and i plan to add some colors soon all diy

twintrades · Apr 3, 2013

Go with the Led. Im waiting for mine to come in. And i have had T-5 and wish i had MH or led. Well Led will pay for its self in a yr or 2 compared to the MH bulb and running cost.

T-5 is cheap but you cant get shimmer and to me its not as vibrant as MH or Led.

So join the club and get a RB 32 photon like me!

gmoney243 · Apr 3, 2013

Also as side note i put a 250w 14k pheonix bulb with 4 24"t5 over part of my tank for a bit and led blow it away far as color , growth i didnt notice any difference short term.

Isoprene · Apr 4, 2013

im planning to do exactly wehat gmoney is talking about, gets me all excited for this coming wednesday, mine and getting installed then!

gmoney243 · Apr 4, 2013

Isoprene said:
im planning to do exactly wehat gmoney is talking about, gets me all excited for this coming wednesday, mine and getting installed then!

Im sure youll love it. Im using 1 coral plus and 1 blue plus and the coral plus is all the white i need my white leds are turned down to min , rb like 50%. Had problems.in past with some corals going higher than that. With led just watch how corals react more so than using a par meter.

seaweed88 · Apr 4, 2013

When do you run the t5s?

gmoney243 · Apr 4, 2013

seaweed88 said:
When do you run the t5s?

I run 10a-6p t5 , leds 12p-5p

dfurbee · Apr 4, 2013

Love my Kessil LED!! Awesome color and shimmer.

savannah_99 · Apr 5, 2013

gmoney243 said:
If the leds are full spectrum you should get colors just fine. But leds also have a bad shadowing effect that i prefer to add t5s just so that u get better light and growth in places led light just doesnt reach. And of course t5 make corals look good and u will be happy with the combo over mh+t5. Im very happy and been running led for year and half with last 6-8months with 2t5 added and couldnt be happier. My led are just rb/cw and i plan to add some colors soon all diy

my dad was looking to do this too. with a reef breeders led light, and gutting his 4bulb t5

gmoney243 · Apr 5, 2013

savannah_99 said:
my dad was looking to do this too. with a reef breeders led light, and gutting his 4bulb t5

Its really nice i get a lot of people saying they want to do similar when they see my tank. Keep in mind to many t5 kills the shimmer and if using a day bulb u wont even need white leds on very high unless u like tank more in the 10-12k range.