Led vs t5

[monkiboy]

it sure will muffinman, list a few things you would like and i can compare how that coral does under my leds compared to a friends under t5 or mh

haha, you can't really compare one coral in two or three totally different setups. one variable alone inconsistent between them, and there's got to be hundreds, could dramatically skew results either way.

it's just about what is important to the original poster, doing his research based on user experiences, and making his selection.

you can find threads dedicated to the pros and cons of different types of fixtures all over the net. just read up, figure out what you want from your light, then once you have found what type (LEDs, MHs, VHOs, etc) then start doing more research into which specific brand/model you are interested in at which pricepoint.

it sounds like a lot but you'll be happy you did the legwork in the end, and appreciate your decision because you went through the process.

 

[little_fish]

Im going to go against the grain with what everyone else said, if money is not an option. Go with Metal Halide. You may have to invest in a chiller, and you will definitely have higher power bills. But with that being said, MH seems to still be the best for coral growth IMO, and I am one of those on this site with a DIY LED fixture. While I agree, they are less to have overall, the coral growth isnt up to what I would like to see. If it were a FOWLR system, LED definitely. If you want great coral growth and color, go with Halides. I think LED is the next step, and I will use LED on my 180 upgrade but only because its more affordable for me. I live in Alabama so my AC is always running anyways, no sense in adding more heat with halides. I look at it this way, I think what LED lacks is UV... Think of it this way, How many tanning beds have LED lights in them? You cant get a tan with Leds because there is no true UV bulbs (yet) and I thoroughly believe UV has a lot to do with the success of most tanks lit by T5 or MH. Just my 2 cents, you really cant go wrong either way as all 3 have proven to be suitable for reef tanks.

This is a great thought, and I understand why people might think this about the UV, but almost all of the UV light is going to be filtered out in the first cm of water. This is why any UV sterilization only works for surface agents. This is in an unblocked bulb, but all of the bulbs we have in this hobby there is some piece of plastic between the light source and tank. The plastic will remove the UV light 100%. All reptile keepers know this, because you cant have anything between the the UV bulb and your animal. Any glass or plastic will completely filter out the UV light. UV light isnt the answer to this question.

 

[fastrd400]

Metal Halide VS LED Aquarium Lighting | Reef Aquarium Set-Up

 

[chichimom79]

Im going to go against the grain with what everyone else said, if money is not an option. Go with Metal Halide. You may have to invest in a chiller, and you will definitely have higher power bills. But with that being said, MH seems to still be the best for coral growth IMO, and I am one of those on this site with a DIY LED fixture. While I agree, they are less to have overall, the coral growth isnt up to what I would like to see. If it were a FOWLR system, LED definitely. If you want great coral growth and color, go with Halides. I think LED is the next step, and I will use LED on my 180 upgrade but only because its more affordable for me. I live in Alabama so my AC is always running anyways, no sense in adding more heat with halides. I look at it this way, I think what LED lacks is UV... Think of it this way, How many tanning beds have LED lights in them? You cant get a tan with Leds because there is no true UV bulbs (yet) and I thoroughly believe UV has a lot to do with the success of most tanks lit by T5 or MH. Just my 2 cents, you really cant go wrong either way as all 3 have proven to be suitable for reef tanks.

I just wanted to say that there are a lot of DIY LED kits that aren't going to grow coral well. Especially depending on what color bulbs used. That is why I opted for an LED with awesome reviews for coral growth rather than going the cheaper DIY route. I have seen way too many DIY fixtures that totally fail to keep coral growing and showing their best colors.

 

[Bifferwine]

Your three options are MH, LED and T5s (don't even consider PCs -- this is 2013!! :lol:) I have never tried LEDs, so I'm not going to give an opinion on them. I have had multiple tanks that used various setups of T5s and MH, though.

Between those two, I vastly prefer T5s. They run cooler, they are cheaper than MH to run (on average), there are many more color options for bulbs than with MH, and my stuff always grew just fine (even great) under T5s. My stuff grew great under MH also, and the shimmer on the water from MH is lacking with T5s, but compared side by side, I will choose T5 over MH any time.

I will say that the next tank I set up will be LED for sure. LEDs are the newest technology in aquarium lighting that is available to all hobbyists and although LED lights have been on the market for several years, it's probably only in the last 3 or 4 years that they have become affordable for your average aquarist and at this point, they have been around long enough and over enough tanks for people to say that they work and they work well, well enough to compete with MH and T5s.

 

[bjohanson1234]

I just wanted to say that there are a lot of DIY LED kits that aren't going to grow coral well. Especially depending on what color bulbs used. That is why I opted for an LED with awesome reviews for coral growth rather than going the cheaper DIY route. I have seen way too many DIY fixtures that totally fail to keep coral growing and showing their best colors.

+1
I opted for a Kessil LED light over my tank. I previously had t5 and wanted to get away from having to replace lamps every 9-12 months. I love the look on my tank with the LED vs the t5. The light has only been on there for a month, so can't tell you about coral growth, but the colors are less washed out than with any color option that I tried with t5. Also, the shimmer effect is phenomenal.

 

[buddy08]

haha, you can't really compare one coral in two or three totally different setups. one variable alone inconsistent between them, and there's got to be hundreds, could dramatically skew results either way.
.

True; there is many variables that cause an effect. How ever, corals do react differently under different spectrums of light. That is why most people who originally started out with T5 or MH and converted to LEDs ended up disliking the transition because their corals reacted differently. Some lost color, some gained color, some grew faster, some grew slower or not at all and some died which in their system is really the only big variable that changed. When muffinman asked "would it help" if he listed the corals he planned to keep; it would as we could determine what is adequate enough for his system. I.e. If he plans to keep mainly lps and softies; then he cant really go wrong with any choice as they are all suitable and will work. But, if he wants to keep acro's and many other sps, he will require more intense lighting. With that being said, he most likely already knows that but the variables with the lighting is the tricky part. With LED's, you have to factor in optics, tank depth, power at which he plans to run the lights at, and again corals he plans to keep. I can speak on experience as I am one of the few here running a DIY LED fixture. I personally have a hard time keeping monti's and digis under my LEDs but everything else seems to be fine. My red planet acro loves my LED's but I also killed off a tyree toadstool leather with them so it can be tricky. You can have pristine water and use top notch equipment and still have troubles growing certain things under certain lighting.

Speaking of which, when I built my fixture, they did not have all these fancy new fixtures out and the kits by no means were cheap. The new DIY LED kits have more color options (like that in the Radions) and are now more affordable which is why they're being used more often in aquariums.

At the end of the day, he said money is not an option. But its nice to have an opinion from people who have experienced through trial and error and to me, LED's are still in a trial stage. MH & T5s however have been out for a while and proven to be very successful. If you need evidence, look at some of the ToM tanks on RC. The only setback is bulb replacement and high energy consumption. But again, thats my :twocents:.. Just do your research before you buy as always.

 

[buddy08]

great link fast