Wazzel
New member
Not to mention that everyone's situations are different. What is a good choice for you may not be a good choice for someone else.
Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
Not to mention that everyone's situations are different. What is a good choice for you may not be a good choice for someone else.
brad65ford
New member
In the process of switching over my Orphek's to all T5 on my sps system, actually really looking forwad to this change been burned out on LED for the past 4 years. Though redsea knew the market was pushing for led on thier system even though they didn't agree with it. Here is a post from Kevin from Redsea a few years ago. They know what grow's corals, any Redseamax t5 system i've ever seen grows corals like wild fire.
"
The promise of a MAX® coral reef system is that it provides a complete, plug & play, reef spec® aquarium for all levels of hobbyists without having to worry about the choice, compatibility and suitability of the equipment.
All of the products that Red Sea develops for reef hobbyists, including the MAX systems, start with understanding the biological needs of the corals. This approach has enabled us to develop our "Reef-Spec" which defines the environmental conditions necessary for successfully maintaining SPS corals in a reef aquarium.
Lighting is an important part of the Reef-Spec definition and our research over many years has clearly shown that T5 fluorescent lighting provides all of the needs of corals in a simple and safe way. Furthermore, T5 usage requires no expertise or understanding by the hobbyist and will support all of the major species of SPS corals in all areas of the MAX aquarium.
The move from Metal Halide and Fluorescent lighting to LED lighting for aquariums in general (and reef tanks in particular) has not been driven by the needs of the corals, but by the move within the lighting industry towards more energy efficient systems.
Without getting into the technical details, it is sufficient to say that there are significant differences between LED lighting and T5, and unless LED light is applied knowledgeably to an aquarium it can cause harm to the corals. Many hobbyists are investing a lot of time in learning how to adapt the LED lights that are available on the market to their reefs, with various levels of success.
In keeping with the lighting industry's advances in this field, Red Sea's goal is to be able to provide MAX aquariums with LED lighting that can safely ensure at least similar coral growth, coloration, vitality and longevity to that currently achieved in our T5-driven MAX systems.
Red Sea's development team is currently evaluating LED lighting for use with the MAX aquariums and we hope to be able to offer a reef safe LED lighting solution within the near future.
"
#1
RedSeaKev, Nov 29, 2013
"
The promise of a MAX® coral reef system is that it provides a complete, plug & play, reef spec® aquarium for all levels of hobbyists without having to worry about the choice, compatibility and suitability of the equipment.
All of the products that Red Sea develops for reef hobbyists, including the MAX systems, start with understanding the biological needs of the corals. This approach has enabled us to develop our "Reef-Spec" which defines the environmental conditions necessary for successfully maintaining SPS corals in a reef aquarium.
Lighting is an important part of the Reef-Spec definition and our research over many years has clearly shown that T5 fluorescent lighting provides all of the needs of corals in a simple and safe way. Furthermore, T5 usage requires no expertise or understanding by the hobbyist and will support all of the major species of SPS corals in all areas of the MAX aquarium.
The move from Metal Halide and Fluorescent lighting to LED lighting for aquariums in general (and reef tanks in particular) has not been driven by the needs of the corals, but by the move within the lighting industry towards more energy efficient systems.
Without getting into the technical details, it is sufficient to say that there are significant differences between LED lighting and T5, and unless LED light is applied knowledgeably to an aquarium it can cause harm to the corals. Many hobbyists are investing a lot of time in learning how to adapt the LED lights that are available on the market to their reefs, with various levels of success.
In keeping with the lighting industry's advances in this field, Red Sea's goal is to be able to provide MAX aquariums with LED lighting that can safely ensure at least similar coral growth, coloration, vitality and longevity to that currently achieved in our T5-driven MAX systems.
Red Sea's development team is currently evaluating LED lighting for use with the MAX aquariums and we hope to be able to offer a reef safe LED lighting solution within the near future.
"
#1
RedSeaKev, Nov 29, 2013
Joe0813
Active member
guess ill throw some .2 cents in...... All the big name tanks, sponsors tanks and some people on here who have really really grown out SPS tanks are LED with supplemented light from t5s. I personally want to ditch my ecotech radion gen 2's and go with a t5/led hybrid.
My tank has been running now for 5 years. some sps like my monti took off and grew like a weed. but for the majority of my sps corals they are still tiny mini colonies.
My tank has been running now for 5 years. some sps like my monti took off and grew like a weed. but for the majority of my sps corals they are still tiny mini colonies.
brad65ford
New member
was going to do that also but said no to the led at this point and going full t5. if anything will run reefbrights if i need that extra pop in life. Is it me or I can stair at a T5 lit reef tank for hours over a led lit tank.
Joe0813
Active member
seems like when I had my T5 over my old 75 gallon, the corals grew so much faster. now I have 3 gen2's over my 180 and im not impressed at all. I really want the Giesemann Aurora but id need two 36inch units and they aren't cheap at alllll
brad65ford
New member
going with a Matrix ii but none dimmable which i'd strongly stay away from.
ReefCowboy
New member
The new E5x led T5 bulbs seem very promising. You pop two blue led bulbs for dusk/dawn, 4 blue+ a coral + , and lastly a KZ Pink. Enough said, enjoy both worlds
brad65ford
New member
Seen them in person and know someone that runs them and loves them. They just flex a little the longer the bulb. Would like to try them.
ReefCowboy
New member
I was talking to a buddy who has seen the new bulbs. Basically the company listened to customers' complaints and the new bulbs have higher penetration(25% brighter), since they ditched the frosted surface of the bulb to improve par. Also changed the heat sinks, and made the bulbs clip on the fixture while making them sturdier. It wont sag and will kick more butt.
Im very curious to see them, as they will start being sold in Feb i think. The old ones will no longer be available. Having the ability to use an led t5 shaped bulb going straight into the T5 would be awesome. I hate Reefbrite leds attached to T5 fixtures, kills the look.
One would be able to get a sunpower for 700 bucks, pop led bulbs and get a great alternative to the powermodule, which IMO is ou of this world expensive for the leds present
brad65ford
New member
+1000000 on this. Do you have a link or any information on the new E5's?
MJNTWise
7 Year Newbie
ReefCowboy
New member
I believe these are the older model. The new ones although already announced have not yet been advertised in their website. It will be called E5X or 5X if Im not mistaking.
paal
New member
Derailing a halide thread with T5 talk, but"¦ 
The new E5X bulbs should be available at the very end of this month.
I asked Euroaquatics about the differences (in addition to the increased output) between these and the "œpre-X" ones.
They confirmed that the old bulbs were designed to have a uniform light output similar to T5. The new ones would have a more "œtraditional LED output"; creating more shimmer.
I run a 8xT5/LED hybrid. Will probably try to add two E5X bulbs simply to get a bit more shimmer.
T5
-E5X-
T5
T5
LED
T5
T5
-E5X-
T5
The new E5X bulbs should be available at the very end of this month.
I asked Euroaquatics about the differences (in addition to the increased output) between these and the "œpre-X" ones.
They confirmed that the old bulbs were designed to have a uniform light output similar to T5. The new ones would have a more "œtraditional LED output"; creating more shimmer.
I run a 8xT5/LED hybrid. Will probably try to add two E5X bulbs simply to get a bit more shimmer.
T5
-E5X-
T5
T5
LED
T5
T5
-E5X-
T5
ReefCowboy
New member
Derailing a halide thread with T5 talk, but"¦
The new E5X bulbs should be available at the very end of this month.
I asked Euroaquatics about the differences (in addition to the increased output) between these and the "œpre-X" ones.
They confirmed that the old bulbs were designed to have a uniform light output similar to T5. The new ones would have a more "œtraditional LED output"; creating more shimmer.
I run a 8xT5/LED hybrid. Will probably try to add two E5X bulbs simply to get a bit more shimmer.
T5
-E5X-
T5
T5
LED
T5
T5
-E5X-
T5
You are correct, another improvement on the new E5X bulbs is they made them sturdier, so they won't bend or "sag" through time.
Time moves on, so does led tech. but are we still leaning on efficiency and appearance ? I'm not sure we are there yet, to where we can say LED is better than halide and T5, by better I mean not just growth, not just colour, but insane health that u get with halide.
Led over David Saxbys tank was a key moment for me, seeing him make that jump was a huge day for Led. However as I look over his old videos it looks like he was keeping more delicate soft corals too. It feels to me that their are certain species that do well with led. Halide I think seems to keep a far wider range ?
For me, my first led unit to grow SPS was a home made unit using XRE leds back in 2008. All I had was blue and white. No science , no special lenses no marketing no dimming it worked, but it was only one species that did well, other SPS just gave up while the other grew like mad. I still think this is the case even for makers like AI etc. I think spectrum is the key. While multi coloured leds have helped fill gaps, there are still holes. I think T5 with halide filled almost all the holes. This is why hybrid LED and T5 does well.
I think LED lights have been an LFS's dream, a light with all the cool features and awesome shimmer but secretly won't grow all corals Yeh they don't come back in the shop for bulbs but they come back when their new corals eventually died out. People scream success of Led which is now 10 years of proof, but it could be just me , but I swear some of the old tanks with halide were insanely healthy?
I've been running T5 and led, with good success, but I just can't put my finger on why I can't grow really healthy coral like I used to. So I'm again flipping back to halide for a while to see how we go. Ahhh reefing and the endless fiddling with things
Keen to hear how others are doing after now many years of LED.
Led over David Saxbys tank was a key moment for me, seeing him make that jump was a huge day for Led. However as I look over his old videos it looks like he was keeping more delicate soft corals too. It feels to me that their are certain species that do well with led. Halide I think seems to keep a far wider range ?
For me, my first led unit to grow SPS was a home made unit using XRE leds back in 2008. All I had was blue and white. No science , no special lenses no marketing no dimming
it worked, but it was only one species that did well, other SPS just gave up while the other grew like mad. I still think this is the case even for makers like AI etc. I think spectrum is the key. While multi coloured leds have helped fill gaps, there are still holes. I think T5 with halide filled almost all the holes. This is why hybrid LED and T5 does well. I think LED lights have been an LFS's dream, a light with all the cool features and awesome shimmer but secretly won't grow all corals
Yeh they don't come back in the shop for bulbs but they come back when their new corals eventually died out. People scream success of Led which is now 10 years of proof, but it could be just me , but I swear some of the old tanks with halide were insanely healthy? I've been running T5 and led, with good success, but I just can't put my finger on why I can't grow really healthy coral like I used to. So I'm again flipping back to halide for a while to see how we go. Ahhh reefing and the endless fiddling with things
Keen to hear how others are doing after now many years of LED.
DesertReefT4r
New member
Im still stuck on MH. I feel it is still the best light for a reef tank especially for sps and acropra. The new G4 Radion is a great light however and I think its getting very close to what MH can do. Kessil I feel has an edge with their densely packed LED chips. I also think more needs to be done with COB LED chips and reef keeping as well. These dense packed LED clusters is what I think will eventually get LED to 98% of what MH produces, right now I feel its at 85%. I have seen beautiful sps tanks with just LED so they are proven to work well. After researching lights for my tank build I have decided to use MH again and picked up 2 old school 250w PFO pendants used for cheap. Going to run so e blue LED strips for actinics to add more pop.
ReefCowboy
New member
Have the Orphek at an office tank and love it. Ran Radions G4 last and liked them, but sold them after six months and got back to MH. All variables remaining the same, MH by far gave me the best results. I was running leds and started laughing looking at old pics of the tank with halides and how much better corals looked.
Joe0813
Active member
i ran three radion gen2s over my 180 since they came out... crap coral growth and some LPS just would rather die than use LEDs as their light. Two days ago i bought my first MH, the Giesemann spectra. Love the look so much better and can already tell the corals will do better. Way better polyp extension and my LPS that lived are starting to open back up. Only thing i dont like so far with the MH is it gets reaaaal hot. Other than that i probably wont go back to a LED until they can outperform a halide
