Poll: Lighting Preference

[shred5]

There was something about a URI VHO actinic that one has to behold with their own eyes. They kind of made your eyes go a little wonky when you looked right at the bulbs... am I crazy? You know what I mean?

Not crazy Happened. It was the super actinic. URI did make them in t-5 for a little while but I have not seen them in years. I started out using them but still a little different than the VHO.

They still show them on their site:
http://www.uvlco.com/AquariumT5.html

 

[JaimeAdams]

I don't think that there is a best. Obviously LED is going to win the poll as that is what most people use. I think LED/T-5 combo is probably going to be the next and probably current in fashion lighting option, but I still run MH at home and Radion LED at work.

 

[shred5]

Not crazy Happened. It was the super actinic. URI did make them in t-5 for a little while but I have not seen them in years. I started out using them but still a little different than the VHO.

They still show them on their site:
http://www.uvlco.com/AquariumT5.html

Actually searched the the URI t-5 super actinic is in stock at a few places.. Might try them again..

 

[jda]

I have seen them all, used them all and would probably quit the hobby and go full-out freshwater planted and Lake Victoria tanks if MH were not available. I have seen the difference, know the difference and will not compromise for my inhabitants.

URI makes Super Actinic T5s... they are good bulbs. They just did not blow themselves and pay for all of the hype like other manufacturers did. The Actinic White is a great bulb that really pops blues, pinks and reds.

 

[Eastlake]

I’ve seen people have great results with those, but I’ve heard reviews go sour on some of the functionality/customer service/etc. end of things. How has that been for you?
As an aspiring full on diy reefer, I as well love saving some cash, so I’m always interested to hear!

I can't speak to customer service but for my needs and attentiveness to the tank they've been perfect. Controllabality boils down to "fine tuning" the dimmers on top, there are two, one that controls the white channel and one that controls the blue channel and they now have percentages painted around the knob so you have a rough idea of their intensities. When I "tuned" mine I started with a low percentage and slowly turned them up until the corals looked their fullest then left it alone. Then, if you want, you can daisy chain the lights together if you need multiples and only use up two outlets or one dual outlet timer should you use a timer. If not then you can just turn the channels on and off with the rocker switches by the dimmers. I've grown everything from anthelia to acro under these lights and have only had to replace one in the 5+ years that I've been using them, which to me isn't a huge deal considering the sub $100 price tag. So if you don't mind a little wiggle room in regards to fine tuning the channels instead of the pin point control of a radion and no programming in regards to automatically ramping up and down then these lights are great.

 

[Antegon]

I can't speak to customer service but for my needs and attentiveness to the tank they've been perfect. Controllabality boils down to "fine tuning" the dimmers on top, there are two, one that controls the white channel and one that controls the blue channel and they now have percentages painted around the knob so you have a rough idea of their intensities. When I "tuned" mine I started with a low percentage and slowly turned them up until the corals looked their fullest then left it alone. Then, if you want, you can daisy chain the lights together if you need multiples and only use up two outlets or one dual outlet timer should you use a timer. If not then you can just turn the channels on and off with the rocker switches by the dimmers. I've grown everything from anthelia to acro under these lights and have only had to replace one in the 5+ years that I've been using them, which to me isn't a huge deal considering the sub $100 price tag. So if you don't mind a little wiggle room in regards to fine tuning the channels instead of the pin point control of a radion and no programming in regards to automatically ramping up and down then these lights are great.

That’s great to hear!
I think I feel sure that I wanna add 2 dimmable ballasts, running 4 48” T5s (so much mental debate and getting lost in forum holes trying to settle on the “right” bulbs haha). I have a AI prime hd, and was thinking of dropping the $230ish bucks on a second one, then using them linked to supplement the T5s. Have the primes do the sunrise/sunset/moon and rise and fall throughout the day, while the T5s on a timer would just be the sun on and off after/before the ramp up/ramp down of the primes. The cost of the double dimmable ballasts and the additional prime is what I’m looking at now. Wonder if the two black boxes would spread better and/or provide enough juice to just run two T5s and either a prime in the middle or i could save it for the next smaller tank haha.

 

[Eastlake]

That’s great to hear!
I think I feel sure that I wanna add 2 dimmable ballasts, running 4 48” T5s (so much mental debate and getting lost in forum holes trying to settle on the “right” bulbs haha). I have a AI prime hd, and was thinking of dropping the $230ish bucks on a second one, then using them linked to supplement the T5s. Have the primes do the sunrise/sunset/moon and rise and fall throughout the day, while the T5s on a timer would just be the sun on and off after/before the ramp up/ramp down of the primes. The cost of the double dimmable ballasts and the additional prime is what I’m looking at now. Wonder if the two black boxes would spread better and/or provide enough juice to just run two T5s and either a prime in the middle or i could save it for the next smaller tank haha.

How large is the tank? I have 3 over a 150 gallon (the 6 foot one) about 15" off of the water and get good coverage. The only shading is from the braces that separate the tank into 3 sections and that makes a nice little refuge area for me to put softies and other not as light loving corals

 

[rtparty]

I have seen them all, used them all and would probably quit the hobby and go full-out freshwater planted and Lake Victoria tanks if MH were not available. I have seen the difference, know the difference and will not compromise for my inhabitants.

URI makes Super Actinic T5s... they are good bulbs. They just did not blow themselves and pay for all of the hype like other manufacturers did. The Actinic White is a great bulb that really pops blues, pinks and reds.

I remember getting into T5s back in '06 and UVL/URI bulbs were the go to. The pinks were present in almost every bulb and they looked so good. KZ came out with the "specialty" Fiji Purple like it was something new.

 

[Fudsey]

While I have been running LEDs for years, I voted T5/LED combo because I think it give you the best of both worlds. I always wanted a Halide setup but the cost and the heat kept me away.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I just added 2 T5 (retro) to supplement my 2 Radions gen4 - So far impressed I ran the LED on their own for 9 months and was not impressed with hot spots. In the past MH/T5 gave me a similar feel but the energy and heat was a big issue as was replacing and acclimating to new bulbs. Main reason I wouldnt use MH/T5 again is both turn on and off instantly which i don't feel is natural way to wake up the reef. With LED I can ramp up slowly and before turning on the T5 and everything in the tank is given a more natural feel. Right now I have about $45 of bulb replacement per year, something I can live with. I'll be a T5 /LED guy for a long time...

 

[Flippers4pups]

Long, long time T5 user here that jumped to led back in 2016. Modded Mars Aquas. Very happy!

 

[Antegon]

Long, long time T5 user here that jumped ed to led back in 2016. Modded Mars Aquas. Very happy!

If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the mod on the mars aquas?

 

[Antegon]

How large is the tank? I have 3 over a 150 gallon (the 6 foot one) about 15" off of the water and get good coverage. The only shading is from the braces that separate the tank into 3 sections and that makes a nice little refuge area for me to put softies and other not as light loving corals

4 ft. 75g with single corner overflow.

 

[Flippers4pups]

If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the mod on the mars aquas?

To the SB reeflights led diode layout.

 

[Antegon]

To the SB reeflights led diode layout.

So excuse my ignorance haha, but that means that you disliked the layout of the mars originally, so you moved the leds around to match the layout of the SBs?

 

[Eastlake]

4 ft. 75g with single corner overflow.

Between the T5s and whichever LED you choose, should you decide to go that route, I imagine that two fixtures should give you the coverage you're looking for. And I think there's a modification video available on the bulk reef supply website as well.

 

[dbl]

Having spent the first four years with LED's, I recently switched to a combo of T5's/LED's. I'm loving it so far and now understand what everyone has been talking about when it comes to T5's. Time will tell but I think I'm going to love it. Installed a Giesemann Matrixx 8 bulb - with the two inner bulbs removed and replaced with two RB XHO fixtures.

 

[Greybeard]

At some point in the future... near future, I'm hoping, these arguments will become moot. Someone is going to come out with a scaleable, reasonably priced LED lighting solution that provides both the even, shadow free blanket of light that is unique to T5's, and allows for the shimmer and contrast of spotlight lighting such as single point LED's and Halides.

We're just not there yet.

LED's have gotten very good... and VERY expensive. If you're lighting a small tank, hey, go ahead and buy that Radion, or whatever high end LED. You're lighting a large reef? I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to spend several grand on multiple high end LED fixtures, and I don't want the 'array of lights' look, either.

Halides are wonderful, I ran them for many years. The problem has always been heat, and it's not going to go away. As energy becomes more and more expensive, these become less and less viable. Honestly, LED's do a pretty good job of replicating the 'shimmer' of a halide, though they do much less a good job of imitating the reflected light from a good halide setup that blankets the tank.

Combination? Great! Best of both worlds... and you pay through the nose for it! LED/T5 (the energy and heat problems with Halides don't lessen when you add T5's) combinations look great, work great, give you both the even blanket of light, and the spotlight effect... but seriously... $2,200 for a 4' Aurora? $1,900 for a 4' ATI hybrid? Over a grand for a AL T5 + some decent LED's?

My tank is 60" x 30". I'd need, what, 4x Radions? 3x AP700's? Just can't get there.

I came very near buying a new ATI 8 bulb T5. The main reason I didn't wasn't price, but the fact that they're shipping them in polished metal finish. That's the very last thing I'd want hanging over by tank... I would have had to spray paint the darned thing black

Ended up finding a 4' 8 bulb TEK fixture that looked like new, put in new ballasts, new bulbs, and spent half of what the new 8 bulb ATI runs.

I'm hoping to be able to replace it with that ideal, reasonably priced LED fixture that I'm _certain_ will be available at some point in the future.

 

[Flippers4pups]

So excuse my ignorance haha, but that means that you disliked the layout of the mars originally, so you moved the leds around to match the layout of the SBs?

Sb's layout is a little more white/blue than standard Mars layout. Just liked the color better. Standard Mars will grow anything easily.

 

[Yati]

I run 4 hydra 26 HD's over my system I would love to add some supplemental T5 lighting but I am old school and would really like to go back to halides again, probably wont happen but I love the growth and colors I got from them