A opinion question

[ptownfro]

So this is a question that has been debated about alot but how bout instead of saying no to one or the other, we will say why you chose _____ light.

So real simple if you have a mixed coral tank why did you choose led or t5 ect.

I am real into the led aspect of the reefs, real strong shimmer and growth but i have never had t5 or hal. over my tanks long enough to say i would go for them over my show tank.

also low wattage and not over heating my smaller tanks is always a plus. Being able to "show off" the corals under strong blue is sweet

The lights Im running are a kessel 350w over my 20L and currents over my smaller harlequin shrimp tank both are mixed but my 20 is in the process of being sps dominated.

Also i would be glad to know what your guys tanks consist of.

Thanks, Ptown

 

[Reef Bass]

I chose metal halide lighting because I believe its better for my corals. IMHO the frequency spread of MH light is more conducive to better coral color. I have also run t5s but not LEDs. LEDs are probably the future because of their efficiency, but I believe their frequency output is currently very specific, and what are available now are LEDs from other industries which do not specifically target photosynthetic pigments. MH lights hit those better. Not saying LEDs don't work, they obviously do.

As a photographer I strongly prefer MHs. T5s give a very washed out, non directional look. LEDs tend to be entirely blue or white.

 

[ptownfro]

i defiantly agree for photography my leds put up to much shimmer and end up in a blurry image and true they can be to blue or white very easy.

 

[Reef Bass]

I have no issues with shimmer from a photographic perspective. Personally, I love it.

Cameras are built to meter exposure levels with white light. Blue LEDs are so exclusively blue that the camera will overexpose / clip blue before the camera detects at least some other light available. This is a situation where automatic exposure and automatic white balancing disappoints.

 

[Reef Bass]

Oh, and yeah, blue light can make colors pop something fierce, especially greens and yellows.

Old school guys ran t12s for that. ATI blue+ is a great t5 choice these days. Before I moved I ran a pair of blue+ in addition to my MHs. And I will run 1 blue+ and one purple when my new setup is fully realized.

Sure would be nice to hear from some others as to what lighting they prefer and why.

 

[steve76s]

Love my onyx LEDs. I had them on a reef tank I previously shut down and they are amazing. Great growth, controlled color hue with the apex so that it was dialed in just right and with the color variation of green, violets and red, everything popped. Just set them back up again on another tank build. That's the thing about this hobby, you can walk away but At one point or another, you will be back