Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

DavidinGA said:
I still say led + T5's is the way to go if you really want to run leds as your primary...
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I started with the LEDs, supplemented with T5's and after I noticed how much the coloration improved, added more t5's and now believe the last ones do all the heavy lifting for the coral's needs as far as my taste goes.

The LEDs are basically working as accent lighting for my viewing enjoyment.
 
ReefCowboy said:
I started with the LEDs, supplemented with T5's and after I noticed how much the coloration improved, added more t5's and now believe the last ones do all the heavy lifting for the coral's needs as far as my taste goes.

The LEDs are basically working as accent lighting for my viewing enjoyment.
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That's kinda where I am too.

I have a 210gal with 209 leds over it and two ati 60" T5's and am considering adding two more 80w tubes. With that many tubes is my tank going to be led or T5 lit? Lol
 
nickdo said:
Agree, but my conclusion is not justify by just one case. Previous picture is just for an example. That's why I mention to visit more tanks in person. This conclusion is just base on experience. Maybe there are some corals doing great in LED than others, but Most of it doing best in MH.

The level that u satisfied is base on what you see(in person/picture). Picture don't tell anything.
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Having run both I do not see a huge difference. The shadowing is slightly more noticeable with LED, but you still get it with Mh and T-5. My LED is doing as well as my Mh tank did. There are enough really nice LED tanks out there that the generalizations just do not hold water anymore.
 
Wazzel said:
The shadowing is slightly more noticeable with LED, but you still get it with Mh and T-5.
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On the larger tanks shadowing is more of a problem because there typically isn't enough LEDs over them.
MH spread better due to the reflectors and T5's pretty much get rid of all shadows (which is why I don't personally care for t5-only tanks).
My fixture is only 13" front to back but it easily illuminates by 24" (front to back) tank, getting light around/under the coral better than LED fixtures of similar dimensions. It's just the nature of the individual diodes/small lenses vs large reflectors.

i-M7Hd9Sd.jpg
 
d2mini said:
On the larger tanks shadowing is more of a problem because there typically isn't enough LEDs over them.
MH spread better due to the reflectors and T5's pretty much get rid of all shadows (which is why I don't personally care for t5-only tanks).
My fixture is only 13" front to back but it easily illuminates by 24" (front to back) tank, getting light around/under the coral better than LED fixtures of similar dimensions. It's just the nature of the individual diodes/small lenses vs large reflectors.

i-M7Hd9Sd.jpg
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Looking great Dennis!

The lack of shimmer with T5s is a deal breaker for some people, I can understand. Its hard to argue with the success you can have from them though, for reference see Krzysztof's most recent picture:

tryc_1.jpg
 
d2mini said:
On the larger tanks shadowing is more of a problem because there typically isn't enough LEDs over them.
MH spread better due to the reflectors and T5's pretty much get rid of all shadows (which is why I don't personally care for t5-only tanks).
My fixture is only 13" front to back but it easily illuminates by 24" (front to back) tank, getting light around/under the coral better than LED fixtures of similar dimensions. It's just the nature of the individual diodes/small lenses vs large reflectors.
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Have to agree with you there Dennis. I know we disagree on how bad it is, but units like the AI hydra do not do 24" in both directions. It is more like 12"-18" in the short axis. I combined our opinions since it is probably not a definitive line.
 
mhucasey said:
Looking great Dennis!

The lack of shimmer with T5s is a deal breaker for some people, I can understand. Its hard to argue with the success you can have from them though, for reference see Krzysztof's most recent picture:
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Thanks! And I agree, there are some amazing looking T5 tanks out there with their own unique results you just can't seem to get with other lighting.
I just prefer *some* contrast/shadowing and shimmer that seems to get lost with T5. Just personal preference... seems more like real sunlight to me.

Wazzel said:
Have to agree with you there Dennis. I know we disagree on how bad it is, but units like the AI hydra do not do 24" in both directions. It is more like 12"-18" in the short axis. I combined our opinions since it is probably not a definitive line.
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Ya, like you and/or others mentioned above it's not a one size fits all kinda thing. Lotsa variables that will produce varying results.
 
mhucasey said:
The lack of shimmer with T5s is a deal breaker for some people, I can understand. Its hard to argue with the success you can have from them though, for reference see Krzysztof's most recent picture:

tryc_1.jpg
Click to expand...

That just doesnt even look real. Amazing coral color there. Whatever he is doing, he is doing 100% right.
 
gablett said:
That just doesnt even look real. Amazing coral color there. Whatever he is doing, he is doing 100% right.
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He sets a standard, for sure. FYI he just swapped out rock that was as much as a decade old hence several colonies looking freshly placed or on plugs...
 
jminick2 said:
that's a great looking tank but he has a crazy amount of LEDS to achieve that on a 5 foot tank. 5 radions and 5 Kessils at 100% Wowza! roughly 5500 dollars in lights!!!
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didn't say that but none the less it was achieved with LED's. But anyone would be silly to purchase that many radions when there are many other led options that will give you same and or better lighting output for less cost.
 
That tank looks pretty nice. I will be interested to see it in a year or so. In his photos, it shows that tank is only a year or so old and that he switched to Radions 9 months ago and added most of those corals as colonies, mostly grown.

LED tanks aren't the only ones to do this, you can see lots of MH and T5 tanks from Asia on youtube that have amazing looking corals, then you see that they just started the tank a few months ago with full sized colonies...
 
brad65ford said:
This thread is great and its still a unknown reason why its easier for success with MH then LED. This we all know just no one knows how come.
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I think it boils down to experience with the systems. Mh has been around for quiet some time so the operational parameters and associated hardware have been sored out and shared. LED, being a much younger tech, is still in the teeth cutting mode.
 
brad65ford said:
didn't say that but none the less it was achieved with LED's. But anyone would be silly to purchase that many radions when there are many other led options that will give you same and or better lighting output for less cost.
Click to expand...

All those LED's and probably only about 780 "real" watts... ;)
 
mhucasey said:
That tank looks pretty nice. I will be interested to see it in a year or so. In his photos, it shows that tank is only a year or so old and that he switched to Radions 9 months ago and added most of those corals as colonies, mostly grown.

LED tanks aren't the only ones to do this, you can see lots of MH and T5 tanks from Asia on youtube that have amazing looking corals, then you see that they just started the tank a few months ago with full sized colonies...
Click to expand...
Are colonies more available in Asia ? You have to pay an arm and leg to buy that many colonies around here IF you can find them like that.
 
jminick2 said:
Are colonies more available in Asia ? You have to pay an arm and leg to buy that many colonies around here IF you can find them like that.
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Since a lot of the colonies are farmed in Indonesia, the shorter transport time does make them cheaper and there is more variety. I remember seeing some pics of stores in Singapore that were pretty drool inducing.
 
ReefCowboy said:
Couldn't agree more. The main problem with LEDs IMO is the misinformation you can properly cover a 2x2' area with a single unit. I have three hydra 26's over a 36" tank and just that way feel my sps are getting proper coverage around the colonies.
With more units, not only do I get that better coverage, but I can run them at lower intensities therefore not running risk of bleaching while trying to cover the four corners of the tank.
Many will disagree, but that has been my opinion with all testing I've done through the past years.
Click to expand...

agree... we need more fixtures to eliminate the shadowing problem and turn down intensity. I would say 6, or 8 kessils for 120G. 4 corner need to be placed a fixture.
 
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