TO L.E.D. Or Not To L.E.D.(T5)...that is my question

[Bryan47]

Okay guys!

So I am in the process of redoing my reef. All new sand and new rock and all that jazz. Well today at my LFS there was a cool 40Gallon Long type tank that isn't a common size. It is 48" long so I decided to buy it. It's going to be a freshwater Glofish Tank.

Well my current Lighting fixture was $107 shipped it has 4 54W T5, and a timer, despite everyone saying it would fail...knock on wood...fail it has not.


SO! The QUAD t5 is going on the Glofish tank

AND a new light source is going on my display reef which is a 72 bow front and also 48" long.

I will also be going to the same place to buy this fixture. It's a Bay store, on the net. I don't like to bid so I usually buy things right then.

Here are my two options. STAY t5 but bump it to 6 bulbs at 54watts for 324 watts! Timer built in. Here it is below and it will run me about $150:

The other option is to go LED, for about the same price as the other fixture $150 I can get two LED fixtures of 165W each. They are dimable and I am told you can control the blues and even wire in a controller to them, I did 2 years of engineering so that would be fun and easy for me. I have seen these used at conferences and swaps and heard great things. I would love to go LED especially for the BLUE! Here is option two:

SO what do we think gang?
Same price and same wattage?
I'm thinking give LED a whirl?! any support???

 

[veselym]

honestly, I would trust those LED's more...as far as reliability, I did buy that T5 once 2 years ago and it lasted a couple months

just my opinion

 

[Akida17th]

LED is good but I sure do love my T5 fixture! Obviously you get a better spread with T5's and a higher output. LEDs give you a nice shimmer, their low profile and controllable. It also matters what you are trying to grow.

 

[swk]

Started with LEDs, switched to ati t5 fixture and you could never pay me enough to go back to LEDs again. At least not for an sps tank. Not just my opinion but my experience

 

[ngvu1]

GloFish.....you must have LED, specifically the blue LED. Those fish look so nice under blue LED, white T5?..get a gold fish bow then ;-)

 

[ReefMadScientist]

I like both, but I chose LED.

 

[ssdawood]

If I was you I would go with t5 and reefbrite strip


I run three tanks this way growing lps and sps and couldn't be happier.

Even cost wise it's not bad at all.

 

[Fishphi784]

There is so much debate about which is "better;" However, I do not often read folks comments on the drastic difference in the look of the tanks with different lighting. LED lit tanks appear less bright and have 'shimmer.' Some like the multiple LED cluster shimmer while some do not. A single point-source light such as halide and kessil (solder-on-board LED) have dramatically more realistic shimmer whereas clustered LEDs create the 'disco-ball' effects. T5s on the other hand make a tank very, very bright and well lit. Moreover, corals receive light from an increased radius, thus decreasing the shadowing that occurs with SPS and many LED setups. My personal preference is a hybrid LED/T5. If my options where the fixtures you have provided, I would opt for the T5, but that is only my preference, not what I believe to be the better fixture.

 

[shadow1013]

I don't have experience with T5 since I'm new to the hobby but here is why I choose LEDs. Why I decided to go with LEDs was first size. I have a two nano tanks and it seems like a waste to have only half the bulbs over the tank. The second was price to replace. Those bulbs are pricey to replace and a good LED should last at least 5 years, you'll most likely want to upgrade to the new thing before they die. The third was heat. LEDs don't really head up the tank so no need for a chiller.

 

[Riddler05]

Im not sure about either of those fixtures, but as far as LED Vs T5 im on the T5 side. I ran LEDs for almost a year and a half and was never satisfied. I did both a home made fixture as well as the AI Hydra 26. I switched to T5 about 2 months ago and couldnt be happier. Im have only been in the hobby for a couple of years so take what I say with a grain of salt. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tahoe61]

LED, love MH but not the heat, bulb cost and energy cost. LED's grow sps just fine.

 

[Fishphi784]

LED, love MH but not the heat, bulb cost and energy cost. LED's grow sps just fine.

I have been following your JBJ 20 thread. Seems like your sps have done well. I have been wondering if it has more to do with having sufficient LEDs then an absolute ability of LED to grow SPS. In other words, perhaps some people use too few fixtures when considering their experience with LEDs and T5s or halide. For example, Vivid Aquariums has a youtube video whereby they have 1/2 a tank lit w/ halides and the other half w/ radions. They state that results a relatively similar. However, they have far more radion's than most would utilize in the same space.

 

[nazzman]

48 t5 fixture on your tank will give better light distribution if you put just 1 led on your tank i n the center of that tank the ends of tank will be shaded I have T5 couldn't be happier everyone will tell you what they are using is the way to go

 

[iReef86]

For an engineer, you should consider a sweeeeet DIY of both!!

 

[captduck]

Go on Facebook and join chines blackbox LED group

 

[d2mini]

Here's my opinion.
The biggest problem with LED is poor light spread. This is especially detrimental to SPS as they grow out.
So for your 72 bow, which is especially challenging to light due to the way the front juts out in the middle, I would stick to a lighting technology that is better at spreading out the light as your main light source, like T5 or MH or the combo of both.
It's either that, or you need to get one of those led fixtures for every 16" or so, and this includes front to back so you may want an extra one in the middle for your tank.
I go into a little more detail of my experience over the years here...
http://www.everydayreef.com/blog/2015/8/12/metal-halide-t5-led-oh-my