SB Reef Light with T5 Supplement vs. T5 with LED Supplement

[goldenhurricane2]

Hey guys, I know there are several threads about LED vs. T5. However, I have a little more specific question.

Right now I'm using two 16" SB Reef Lights along with two T5s for supplemental lighting. Growth has been ok (not great), but for some reason the coloring of both the coral and visually just doesn't seem to work for me (especially the visual part). The white on my SB Reef Lights is so bright, I have to keep it at around 10-12% otherwise it'll wash out both the blue (I keep my blues at around 35%) from the LED as well as the blue from the T5 supplements I have. Now don't get me wrong, I like my SB Reef Lights for several reasons, but I'm curious what you guys think:

Can I do something better than I am with my current setup OR would it be better to do the inverse of what I'm doing now and get a 4 bulb T5 fixture with LED supplement bars?

 

[DracoKat]

I have 4 bulb T5 and later added an SBar. There's been improvement in coral growth and colors

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You might want to look at balancing the intensity (par) of the units. Thats just growth and technicals. You can balance the color with tubes or mixing in the led for visual appeal.
Fwiw, led are not created equally IMO for visual appeal. I like royal blues not the aqua, but Im not a big fan of the "magenta" in some led.
It sounds to me like your running a fairly low par. A meter is quite helpful for that. lux can be helpful for balancing color ratios, Par to assess the overall result.

What tubes and what heith over the tank are they. How deep is the tank? Do you know what kind of PAR your looking for?

 

[goldenhurricane2]

The tank is a standard 55 gallon - so about 21" deep. The leds are 14" off the water while the two t5s are only a couple of inches from the water.

I'm not sure of the exact par I'm trying to reach, but my tank is mostly lps, a few soft corals, and a couple of sps (monti and green acro)

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

The tank is a standard 55 gallon - so about 21" deep. The leds are 14" off the water while the two t5s are only a couple of inches from the water.

I'm not sure of the exact par I'm trying to reach, but my tank is mostly lps, a few soft corals, and a couple of sps (monti and green acro)

theory
On a strictly t5 tank, 2 t5 @8 in or so should give about 150 200 par each so around 300-400 at the top, That makes it low. By comparison 4 tubes would give 600 to 800. med.
On a deep thank(and reflectors ballast etc come in to play) at the bottom you may, w 2 tubes only get 50 par, probably less.

On led,( lenses do come int play a bit in penetration but). But Par is variable. The led has a dimmer. That led at that distance is quite likely to be able to give 800 par at the top by its self at full.
were you to set the PAR on the led to match the par from the T5, its quite likely the led will(on a meter) and by eye will appear brighter. Esp if the t5 are blue. the "white" contains more colors the eye sees, and T5 in general(my research and others) contain less par at higher intensities.

SO, one choice I'd advise for hybrid users is, decide if your supplementing the led w t5, or the t5w led. That goes for color and intensity of PAR
Ie
For color, if you dont like the blue or purple in the LED, add A C+. you want more blue add a B+
For par, choose the higher Par tubes(C+), measure par(prob 400+ at the top), and adjust led intensity to match(or vice versa)

Were it me, Id set the led color to the most pleasing, set the Intensity( PAR), and pick a high par tube to run at peak(about 4 hours maybe 6), cuz IM A)cheap, and B) I only want to fill in the spectral gap with the led.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

I'd like to supplement my LED with the T5 (for cost saving reasons), but I also want to see decent growth and good color. So, if it is not possible to see as good of growth with LED/T5 supplements, then I would strongly consider switching to T5 and getting some LED bars to supplement.