Leds or T5's?

mwilk19 · Jun 3, 2016

Hello,
I have a 120 gallon reef tank that I currently running 4 Build My LED fixtures. My tank has done fairly well but my SPS has never really thrived. I rented a PAR meter and started checking to see how my lights were doing. Basically, if I run all 4 fixtures at 100% I can get a PAR reading of about 270 at the top of my rock formation. PAR at the bottom of the tank is about 150. I can't add any more BML fixtures as they are no longer in the aquarium lighting business. My lights are hanging about 4" above the surface of the water. Any thoughts about maybe an ATI 6 or 8 bulb fixture to replace the leds?

Regards,
Mike W.

Anthony kolodziej · Jun 3, 2016

T5's work for sure , but like any and all fixtures /light sources they have drawbacks . bulb changes , heat are 2 of T5 drawbacks . Halides , well heat and yep bulbs ( big time heat ) also running cost . I recently switched from halides and have run T5's . Now I have leds hydra 52's for a 120 2 f f those would do the job . but even those black box leds will work . I had a red cap that was dead in my fuge and just tonight I saw it is coming back !!! and its under a mars aqua over my fuge . Basicly in short anything will work just depends on color budget and good water quality . I was on the fence for 3 years about leds I believe now they are as good as anything else with way less heat and running cost

FrankAbagnale · Jun 3, 2016

I really liked my T5/LED combo.

FishOfHex · Jun 3, 2016

mwilk19 said:
Hello,
I have a 120 gallon reef tank that I currently running 4 Build My LED fixtures. My tank has done fairly well but my SPS has never really thrived. I rented a PAR meter and started checking to see how my lights were doing. Basically, if I run all 4 fixtures at 100% I can get a PAR reading of about 270 at the top of my rock formation. PAR at the bottom of the tank is about 150. I can't add any more BML fixtures as they are no longer in the aquarium lighting business. My lights are hanging about 4" above the surface of the water. Any thoughts about maybe an ATI 6 or 8 bulb fixture to replace the leds?

Regards,
Mike W.

I currently use both in my system and i find that the T5s really help any shading you might get from the leds. Im pro T5s but you cant walk away from the power of leds.. plus the amount of money you save on bulbs is great.

mwilk19 · Jun 5, 2016

Thanks for the responses. Very helpful.

Wicked5oh · Jun 5, 2016

I run two Mars aqua over my 105g tall, all of my soft corals are middle of tank. Majority has tripled in 4-5 months. I plan on adding t5's with the led's in the future when I'm ready add SPS. Currently growing a montipora frag and it seemed to do great until I had some water qaulity issues.

Wiz · Jun 5, 2016

I've gone through all the lighting. Im currently in the last phase. Leds. I like the glow you can achieve with the blue leds. And heat/power/bulbs are easier with led. However, I liked the colors achieved under whites with t5 better than my current leds. And believe you get better growth from t5. I think t5/led combo would be best. T5 day lighting and led actinic. But I've yet to try it.

Wicked5oh · Jun 5, 2016

The Mars aqua doesn't have UVB spectrum, if i add t5's I'll be adding white and uvb.
the led's white is more yellow than that of t5 whites.

Untamedrose · Jun 5, 2016

Both seems to be the current vibe.

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 5, 2016

I've been running three Kessil A360WEs. I recently added two 80W T5s to combat shadowing, and I love the look so far.

Wicked5oh · Jun 5, 2016

Love the light off those kessil's just wasn't able to afford them.

akaemu · Jun 5, 2016

ive had three lights. Ai primes ati t5 and Kessil

Kessil blows any of it away.
Ati t5 next
Ai prime just disgusted me.

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 5, 2016

Wicked5oh said:
Love the light off those kessil's just wasn't able to afford them.

I know the feeling. I just figured that lighting wasn't something I shouldn't skimp on. The lighting effect of the Kessils is almost identical to halides, shadows and all (minus the heat).

akaemu · Jun 5, 2016

I like the kessil you just can not get that deep blue the kessill can give you even with a dimmable t5 fixture. Ofcourse that is just ascetics yours may be different then mine but I'm sure the grow is similar between kessill and t5

Bpb · Jun 5, 2016

I've owned LEDs, T5ho and MH. By far my favorite has been pure T5HO from a SPS color and growth standpoint. Yes bulbs cost money. Deal with it. It's worth the cost of running for the results i get. Every tank is different. All of our goals are different. But if your sps are lacking, you can either play the game of selling and re-buying this and led fixture until you find the magic one, or try some t5ho. If in 2-3 months time your sps are still drab and struggling, your problem is not light.

Conversely, you could sell all but one buildmyled (keep a super actinic if you've got one), and get a 8 bulb ATI sunpower and just run a combo? I did that for a VERY short period until I knew the money I would get selling the BML would be better used on something else.

Every tank is different like I said. In my own experience, I have had more dramatic growth within one month of switching to t5ho, than with the previous 8 months with pure LEDs (ran MH a couple years before that, and T5HO a couple years before that).

Maybe it was my own user error and I didn't tune the lights properly, maybe other things were going on. Who knows. I just know that switching back to what I KNOW works has been a good decision and my tank became immediately happier, even just using 12+ month old, way past their prime, tester bulbs to fine tune my favorite combo.

My two cents anyway. I know a dozen people will come in and tell you just the opposite. That they went broke and had to sell their car and home because bulbs costs bled them dry financially, and the heat had their family getting night sweats and that with LEDs they suddenly are in heaven and their acros have grown clear out of the water, and evolved into walking-talking sentient beings within 2 weeks of the switch

mwilk19 · Jun 5, 2016

Bpb said:
I've owned LEDs, T5ho and MH. By far my favorite has been pure T5HO from a SPS color and growth standpoint. Yes bulbs cost money. Deal with it. It's worth the cost of running for the results i get. Every tank is different. All of our goals are different. But if your sps are lacking, you can either play the game of selling and re-buying this and led fixture until you find the magic one, or try some t5ho. If in 2-3 months time your sps are still drab and struggling, your problem is not light.

Conversely, you could sell all but one buildmyled (keep a super actinic if you've got one), and get a 8 bulb ATI sunpower and just run a combo? I did that for a VERY short period until I knew the money I would get selling the BML would be better used on something else.

Every tank is different like I said. In my own experience, I have had more dramatic growth within one month of switching to t5ho, than with the previous 8 months with pure LEDs (ran MH a couple years before that, and T5HO a couple years before that).

Maybe it was my own user error and I didn't tune the lights properly, maybe other things were going on. Who knows. I just know that switching back to what I KNOW works has been a good decision and my tank became immediately happier, even just using 12+ month old, way past their prime, tester bulbs to fine tune my favorite combo.

My two cents anyway. I know a dozen people will come in and tell you just the opposite. That they went broke and had to sell their car and home because bulbs costs bled them dry financially, and the heat had their family getting night sweats and that with LEDs they suddenly are in heaven and their acros have grown clear out of the water, and evolved into walking-talking sentient beings within 2 weeks of the switch

I do have a BML Superactinic so that is certainly an option. The one thing about this hobby, there is anecdotal evidence for just about everything. Like you said, sometimes it's just trial and error until you find what works.

BryanS4 · Jun 5, 2016

I've spent a ton of money switching lights over the past few years and my favorite by far are ATI fixtures. I have three of them over each of my tanks now. From an sps standpoint imp it's the best in the business.

Good luck on your search .

mwilk19 · Jun 5, 2016

BryanS4 said:
I've spent a ton of money switching lights over the past few years and my favorite by far are ATI fixtures. I have three of them over each of my tanks now. From an sps standpoint imp it's the best in the business.

Good luck on your search .

I have a standard 120 gallon tank. Do you recommend the 6 bulb unit or the 8 for this size tank?

Cyclist · Jun 5, 2016

Since day 1, I have used AI LEDs. Today I have 2 Hydra 52, but my favorite LED's were the AI SOL Blue.
One fact I noticed after watching years of RTOM (tank of the month) is that all the tanks published were T5 and MH.

The hardest part about led is getting the correct spectrum. I've had ok success growing SPS, but have nothing to compare the growth to. The colors never stayed the same after their purchase from the lfs.

In my current build, I'll continue to use the Hydra 52, but I am also going to add 4 T5's that I expect to run 4 hours daily, and the LED's 10 hours.

Not sure how this will work out, but I imagine it will be a little trial and error.

mwilk19 · Jun 5, 2016

Cyclist said:
Since day 1, I have used AI LEDs. Today I have 2 Hydra 52, but my favorite LED's were the AI SOL Blue.
One fact I noticed after watching years of RTOM (tank of the month) is that all the tanks published were T5 and MH.

The hardest part about led is getting the correct spectrum. I've had ok success growing SPS, but have nothing to compare the growth to. The colors never stayed the same after their purchase from the lfs.

In my current build, I'll continue to use the Hydra 52, but I am also going to add 4 T5's that I expect to run 4 hours daily, and the LED's 10 hours.

Not sure how this will work out, but I imagine it will be a little trial and error.

I'm not sure that reef tank lighting isn't all trial and error.