LED vs T5 vs ?

[DBR_Reef]

T5 and LED are pretty comparable in total price to run over 5 years (copied from an old post: for a 120g tank 2 xr30w would cost 1300. A 48'' ATI sunpower is 650, and 5 years of bulbs is about 600). Electrical running costs are also pretty similar for similar coverage and par.

But most importantly, T5's are just really good at growing coral. But I don't think I would ever run T5 by themselves- I just don't like the "flat" look it gives the tank. Go for a hybrid. I run T5/halide, but would definitely go t5/led if I lived someplace warmer where the halide heat was an issue. Bulb prices for the halides are not really an issue, as they only need to be replace every 2 years, and I really like the look, but they spit out serious heat.

 

[Daddy-o]

I have 8 reefs running. One of the reefs has T5s - I hate it!! I have tried all spectrums of tubes and to be honest my cheap MarsAqua outgrows the T5s. I have 2 reefs that are side by side, plumbed together. 1 with 6x39 watt T5 and one with a 300w MarsAqua LED. The LED reef stays cleaner, looks better and grows coral better.
Cheers! Mark

 

[html]

I recently see the led in t5 bulbs so now you can install led in your t5

 

[David Calzada]

I'm running t5+ reebrites hybrid on my frag tank and corals are doing great. First month with the light setup has been good with good growth and coloration.

 

[DxMarinefish]

I was debating getting a hybrid LED/T5 for what is a deep 3 foot tank. But then i met Orphek Atlantic v4 and that changed everything.

IMO the Atlantic v4 offeres the best of both worlds in a controllable powerful package and offers value per /watt.

It's even a worthy replacement consideration for Halides.

 

[lpsouth1978]

IME, there is not ONE best lighting option. I have ALWAYS had the best success when combining lighting sources. My favorite by FAR is MH/T5. The only reason I am not using a MH/T5 now is the heat! I live in Phoenix and heat is a serious concern.Next best thing is LED/T5. I had great color and growth with Hydras and AL Hybrid. I only wish they still had a 72" version!

 

[Viking_Reefing]

For a stand alone solution I would definitely say T5’s but why not both? Both have their upsides and are great combined.

 

[Lousybreed]

I like ATI fixtures as well, but why do you think they produce more par than other t-5 fixtures? Did you find comparative par measurements? The ballast are the same as anyone else's. I guess the reflectors could be better, but it doesn't seem like they could be so different as to produce significantly more par. Unless you just mean that they often run more bulbs in the same length fixture- cause that certainly makes a huge difference.

I have multiple different brands of T-5 lights. And I also have a very nice par meter. And I also have a watt-meter. I am able to map a t-5 light out and figure out overall par/watt. I have compared like to like (6 bulb to 6 bulb for example). I am not lying when I say this but a 4 bulb ATI will out perform most 6 bulb fixtures. They designed their fixture from the ground up for their bulbs. It could be their cooling system, their reflectors, ballasts, etc. I don’t know but they kick out crazy par. Their 8 bulb fixtures will produce 550 PAR all day 14” off the water and in 12” of water. Surface par is 650. If I drop the fixture to 8” off the water your surface par is over 750.

 

[Lousybreed]

IME, there is not ONE best lighting option. I have ALWAYS had the best success when combining lighting sources. My favorite by FAR is MH/T5. The only reason I am not using a MH/T5 now is the heat! I live in Phoenix and heat is a serious concern.Next best thing is LED/T5. I had great color and growth with Hydras and AL Hybrid. I only wish they still had a 72" version!

While I like the hybrid approach I will say there is one technology that can do it effectively and that is T-5. Next would be halides but you need good coverage, LED as a stand-alone technology is the worst. I have multiple tanks, my T-5 tanks have no issues.

 

[Katrina71]

Hybrid. LED and T5.

 

[lpsouth1978]

While I like the hybrid approach I will say there is one technology that can do it effectively and that is T-5. Next would be halides but you need good coverage, LED as a stand-alone technology is the worst. I have multiple tanks, my T-5 tanks have no issues.

T5 are great, but they give NO shimmer whatsoever! I really don't like the flat, lifeless look that T5 give by themselves. IMO T5 need supplementation by either MH or LED to eliminate that flat appearance. Due to this I stand behind my statement that there is not ONE perfect lighting type and utilizing a hybrid approach is the best way to go.

 

[Amado]

T5 are a cash cow for the LFS / online retailer. Led are a one time sale and most of the time the lights don’t have much margins.
so for a LFS if you walk in and by 2k worth of lights the store make less than $200 in profit. T5 they make a lot more on the fixtures and then t5 bulbs are a huge markup. Each t5 bulb is around $20 most fixtures need 4-8 bulbs. So that $160 every year. the real money grab happens whenthe customer buys a hybrid system because they get to sell LED one time sale but still
Get people to buy bulbs every year.

 

[shred5]

T5 is the devil, changing bulbs is horrible.
The heat t5 produces and the energy it consume. it just doesn’t make sense. At some point you are not going to be able to buy bulbs. I wouldn’t invest in old technology.
so it’s LED only for me. Let’s let T5 die

Watt is a Watt.

Basically 1 watt = 1 watt of heat..

Comparable coverage:

A ATI fixture that is two foot long with 6 lamps uses about 160 watts with ballast loss.



A Radion X30 G5 pro uses 215 watts.


A little better coverage.
Atlantik V4
Power Consumption - 160W @ 120VAC


Not much difference in heat or power used.


You will be able to buy bulbs for as long as a hobby led fixture will last with out a doubt.

There are way to many existing buildings with fluorescent and metal halides so they will be available for a long time.

Matter of fact right now some owners of buildings are angry about led fixtures. Why because they were told they would last 10 years plus.. Guess what they are not. Not only that a bulb or ballast goes you can replace them cheap.. Led fixture requires replacement.

 

[Amado]

Watt is a Watt.

Basically 1 watt = 1 watt of heat..

Comparable coverage:

A ATI fixture that is two foot long with 6 lamps uses about 160 watts with ballast loss.



A Radion X30 G5 pro uses 215 watts.


A little better coverage.
Atlantik V4
Power Consumption - 160W @ 120VAC


Not much difference in heat or power used.


You will be able to buy bulbs for as long as a hobby led fixture will last with out a doubt.

There are way to many existing buildings with fluorescent and metal halides so they will be available for a long time.

Matter of fact right now some owners of buildings are angry about led fixtures. Why because they were told they would last 10 years plus.. Guess what they are not. Not only that a bulb or ballast goes you can replace them cheap.. Led fixture requires replacement.

I have my whole house on LED I haven’t changed a bulb in 7yrs. T5 lights produce a lot of heat. I had t5 in the garage and when I changed the fixture to Leds it was a huge difference. My office also ran T5 and when we changed to Led it was a huge improvements. the environmental impact of disposing of t5 fixures is also a problem.
Led produce less heat than T5 anyone who says anything different is wrong. Some tank owner are able to remove their chiller when they changed to LEDs

The great thing about LED is that it uses
215 watts but that’s running at 100%
Most people run radions s at 50-60 percent. They turn off white/reds/greens
So that 215 watts is a lot less.

the Radion g5 x30 id not a fair comparison to the small T5.
a better comparison would be the g5 x15 and those are 90 watts at 100%

 

[ecamden]

I'm using the aquatic life t5 led hybrid and after adding the t5 to the mix I've gotten significant more growth and better coloration

 

[Lousybreed]

Look I think there are a lot of opinions going on here. Let me address. I have wholesale accounts. The statement that the margins are higher for T-5 is not true. The margins for LED are about 10% higher. Bulb cost is something to consider. Every 18 months. Your average LED light fixture has a failure rate at 4-5 yrs. So bulb savings aren’t as much as you might think. watt for watt, measured with a par meter, the difference between power consumption amounts to savings around 10-20 bucks a year in the best case with LED. Again when people’s opinions are being used, there can be no conclusions made. I have all the data to address these opinions. Take out marketing hype, The most economical way to light your tank is with metal halides, then T-5 lighting. ATI fixture with ATI bulbs. I have exhaustive 5 yr life time cycle studies on all technologies. But people don’t like metal halides. They assume a lot of things about halides. They are slightly less efficient however if you have to heat your tank overall (meaning your heaters are used for more than 6 months out of the year, which is probably 50% of reef tanks) then halides are number one. Heating a tank can be your biggest energy consumer of your tank. If you live in a hot climate T-5 are a better option.

 

[Ike]

I think 3'-6' tanks are the sweet spot for T5's to really make sense. They're more plug and play and are a cinch if you stick to something like an ATI fixture with a mix of a few different ATI bulbs (aquablue special, blue+, and coral+) depending on your preferred appearance. Smaller tanks and larger tanks are probably best served by high quality LEDs such as AI or Radion, but quality budget options (Nooppsyche, Reedbreeders, etc.) are also a good option.

Also, as long as you keep photoperiods fairly short (8 hours) it's almost impossible to do damage with T5's, that's not so true of LED's and you can do a fair amount of damage with messing with spectrum and intensity too much.

 

[shred5]

I have my whole house on LED I haven’t changed a bulb in 7yrs. T5 lights produce a lot of heat. I had t5 in the garage and when I changed the fixture to Leds it was a huge difference. My office also ran T5 and when we changed to Led it was a huge improvements. the environmental impact of disposing of t5 fixures is also a problem.
Led produce less heat than T5 anyone who says anything different is wrong. Some tank owner are able to remove their chiller when they changed to LEDs

The great thing about LED is that it uses
215 watts but that’s running at 100%
Most people run radions s at 50-60 percent. They turn off white/reds/greens
So that 215 watts is a lot less.

the Radion g5 x30 id not a fair comparison to the small T5.
a better comparison would be the g5 x15 and those are 90 watts at 100%

Absolutely a fair comparison.. They all have almost the same coverage.
Also they use banks of leds so their is less self shading so to me they are some of the better fixtures out right now.. They are also higher quality fixtures.

All are mainly for two feet of coverage except the Atlantik which is a little more.

A 4' t-5 would compare to two fixtures from those manufacture..

I work in the lighting industry and I deal with this stuff everyday.. We specify millions of fixtures a year.
almost weekly I take classes on lighting or meet with lighting manufacturers.

Look at PC bulbs they can still be found in the hobby and they were never even that big.

Also the trend for Radions is raising them higher and running closer to full output. Even if you do not run them at full they are pretty close.


I have never heard anything about anyone needing a chiller with t-5.. People use that argument for halides.
Halides do produce a little more heat through UV and a little less energy efficient.

Again a watt of heat is a watt of heat.. It is how it works.

All I am saying is there is not a big difference. I am not even picking sides on which is better. I have ran them all and still run both right now.

You can believe what you want.

 

[lpsouth1978]

...Again a watt of heat is a watt of heat.. It is how it works....

Yes, But I think the biggest difference is the way that heat is dispersed. MH directs almost all of the heat produced straight down into our tanks. T5's disperse heat more evenly but still direct much of it to the tank. LED's direct most of the heat they produce AWAY from the water, thus limiting the effect on our tank temps. I LOVE MH/T5, but living in Phoenix (where it is already in the 100's) I simply cannot deal with the heat they direct at my water.

 

[Amado]

Absolutely a fair comparison.. They all have almost the same coverage.
Also they use banks of leds so their is less self shading so to me they are some of the better fixtures out right now.. They are also higher quality fixtures.

All are mainly for two feet of coverage except the Atlantik which is a little more.

A 4' t-5 would compare to two fixtures from those manufacture..

I work in the lighting industry and I deal with this stuff everyday.. We specify millions of fixtures a year.
almost weekly I take classes on lighting or meet with lighting manufacturers.

Look at PC bulbs they can still be found in the hobby and they were never even that big.

Also the trend for Radions is raising them higher and running closer to full output. Even if you do not run them at full they are pretty close.


I have never heard anything about anyone needing a chiller with t-5.. People use that argument for halides.
Halides do produce a little more heat through UV and a little less energy efficient.

Again a watt of heat is a watt of heat.. It is how it works.

All I am saying is there is not a big difference. I am not even picking sides on which is better. I have ran them all and still run both right now.

You can believe what you want.

i said it’s not a fair comparison because you are comparing at small t5 light. With One of the most powerfull Led.
the radions g5 x30 is too strong of a light.
a better caparison would have been to g5 x15 and that’s just 90watts at 100%

nobody is running radions higher most tanks are setup in homes and you would have your whole living room with light spillage running leds that high. That’s for
Aquaculture places that don’t care about
Light spillage. Most hobbiest will use the mounts and keep the lights at 6-8 off the water