T5/Halide vs LED

[qstorm]

Hi all,
I am a noob 5 months in the game. I have a 220 gal DT. I got a brand new T5/Halide fixture with the tank as well as 2 reef brite LED strips. (https://hamiltontechnology.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=17_74_79&product_id=75)

I have about 13 coral frags. I am running a 12 hr schedule. I have the 2 sets of T5 on at 11 am and the other 2 at 11:30. The L & R Halides come on at 1pm to 4:30 and the middle from 3pm to 6pm and the LEDs from 12:30 to 11:30. I control the schedule with my apex ..I am out of outlets for now but the L & R halides I want to be on separate outlets and have each on 3hrs a per day.
I have it mounted about 12" from the top of the water.
Here are my questions.

1. What do you think about that fixture? Should I keep them and get controllable LED?
2. Is it mounted too high
3. Will that give me good coral growth (it makes the tank look superb, just wondering if LED are better with all this new technology, not to mention that sucker is heaving so I have to mount it in the ceiling. my peace of mind is not at ease with that over my tank even though I used 3x the weight limited for the hooks)
4. Is there a controller for this system, so I can control the intensity?

Thank you

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hi all,
I am a noob 5 months in the game. I have a 220 gal DT. I got a brand new T5/Halide fixture with the tank as well as 2 reef brite LED strips. (https://hamiltontechnology.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=17_74_79&product_id=75)

I have about 13 coral frags. I am running a 12 hr schedule. I have the 2 sets of T5 on at 11 am and the other 2 at 11:30. The L & R Halides come on at 1pm to 4:30 and the middle from 3pm to 6pm and the LEDs from 12:30 to 11:30. I control the schedule with my apex ..I am out of outlets for now but the L & R halides I want to be on separate outlets and have each on 3hrs a per day.
I have it mounted about 12" from the top of the water.
Here are my questions.

1. What do you think about that fixture? Should I keep them and get controllable LED?
2. Is it mounted too high
3. Will that give me good coral growth (it makes the tank look superb, just wondering if LED are better with all this new technology, not to mention that sucker is heaving so I have to mount it in the ceiling. my peace of mind is not at ease with that over my tank even though I used 3x the weight limited for the hooks)
4. Is there a controller for this system, so I can control the intensity?

Thank you

I currently am using this fixture and have to say that I am very happy with it, and that is being said from a hardcore LED lover
I have the Cebu Sun 36" with a single 250W 20K hamilton bulb and 4 blue plus t5's. The built in fans and glass cover make it so that I don't have any type of temp spikes in my tank. I do get about a 1 degree fluctuation with the light, but it has never spiked my temp. I have mine around 8" off the waters surface. Everything is growing at an unbelievable rate. I'm going through about 80ML of 2 part a day! There is no controller, its literally plug it in and let it go. To increase or decrease intensity you'll want to raise or lower the fixture. Only thing you can really do to "control it" is to put it on timers to turn everything on and off.

 

[qstorm]

I currently am using this fixture and have to say that I am very happy with it, and that is being said from a hardcore LED lover
I have the Cebu Sun 36" with a single 250W 20K hamilton bulb and 4 blue plus t5's. The built in fans and glass cover make it so that I don't have any type of temp spikes in my tank. I do get about a 1 degree fluctuation with the light, but it has never spiked my temp. I have mine around 8" off the waters surface. Everything is growing at an unbelievable rate. I'm going through about 80ML of 2 part a day! There is no controller, its literally plug it in and let it go. To increase or decrease intensity you'll want to raise or lower the fixture. Only thing you can really do to "control it" is to put it on timers to turn everything on and off.

awesome...thanks.

 

[jda]

No controller. 12" is kinda high... I keep mine about 6 or 7 - spill will tell you what you need to know here... if it is not spilling light, then you are OK. I do not know if 3 hours of halide usage will yield good results or not, but if it does not, then it is you or your usage and not the light - the light will outperform nearly all the rest of the market.

 

[qstorm]

No controller. 12" is kinda high... I keep mine about 6 or 7 - spill will tell you what you need to know here... if it is not spilling light, then you are OK. I do not know if 3 hours of halide usage will yield good results or not, but if it does not, then it is you or your usage and not the light - the light will outperform nearly all the rest of the market.

How long do you think I should run them for? and do I run all 3 at the same time or gradually

 

[jda]

I run all of mine at once, but if you want to stagger them, then I do not know why that would hurt anything.

If you have other strong lighting, then 5-8 hours is good. If not, then I would run them for 9 or 10 hours. I have a friend that runs 4x T5s for 12 hours and his Halides for 6 hours.

 

[T-5unsystem]

Does that fixture have fans? With those halides so close to the T5's you will likely lose a tremendous amount of light due to the excessive heat. I am not very familiar however, so if they are segregated and cooled my opinion will be wrong

 

[MTBake]

I run my halide and led combo for 11hrs. On at 10am and off at 9pm. I have a 250w 14k Phoenix with 2 Kessil 360we on each side over my 40b.