Easy SPS: T5 P.Compact vs LED

[mattsilvester]

Dear All,

How does LED lighting compare to PC-T5?

I ask because I have a Red Sea Max which comes with 2x55W power compacts. I would like to keep some easy SPS corals such as Monti Capricornis. My previous reef was a 48"x24"x18" with Zetlight 6600 LED. The Zetlight is 170W of LED lighting. That's 21.25W/sq.ft., compared with 49.1W/sq.ft. of PC-T5 lighting on the Red Sea Max.

In truth, the Zetlight (being only about 24" long) was not enough for the 48" tank and was suspended 6-8" above the surface, whereas the T5's in the RSM have uniform coverage over the tank and are about 2-3" above the surface, with no light spillage (fully enclosed canopy ensures that).

In my previous set up with LED I had good growth with the Monti Capricornis, so I'm hoping I should have similar, or even results with RSM set up. Or is the LED light "better" or "brighter" in some way?

Thanks

 

[Misled]

Are the T5's HO? How many?

 

[homer1475]

T5's are still in my opinion far superior to LED's. I could never get certain corals to color up and grow under LED's, switched to a tried and true ATI T5 setup and everything is growing again.



I think the problem most people run into with LED's is all the control ability. People just love to play with things, and corals like stability, not constantly changing lights.



If Red Sea didn't think you could grow corals under T5's, the tanks would have other types of lighting.



If MH are the gold standard, T5's would be the silver standard, and LED's would be the bronze.

 

[mattsilvester]

Thanks for both your replies.

The tubes are T5 power compacts. About 18" long.

Yes. I'm thinking that it would be a bad marketing decision for Red Sea to market a product that couldn't keep easier sos, given the growing popularity; one would think they would at least offer an option, if the power compact T5's weren't up to the job.

I think I'll give it a try with a monti and see how I get on, and if not then its decision time (upgrade lights, new tank altogether, or concede and stick with softies/lps).

Thanks again.

 

[nereefpat]

Power compacts and T5s are two different things.

Which one do you have?

 

[ReefWreak]

Power compacts tend to not be High Output, where as most T5s that are sold in the hobby are High Output. I think that's the main technical bulb difference (I've also seen non-High output T5 bulbs, T5 is just a size, but I believe in the hobby they're usually High Output T5s).

You can certainly keep monitpora, and even some of them will maintain color, in a cube with stock PC or T5 lighting. I did it in my original 24g nanocube, which was 2x32w Power Compact lighting. Good flow, nutrient control, and kalk dosing, and montipora grew, and stayed brown/orange/blue (at that stage of the hobby I wasn't exposed to any fancy monitpora). I would also keep the montipora in the top 1/2 of the tank.

Definitely doable, but just barely.

 

[mattsilvester]

Power compacts tend to not be High Output, where as most T5s that are sold in the hobby are High Output. I think that's the main technical bulb difference (I've also seen non-High output T5 bulbs, T5 is just a size, but I believe in the hobby they're usually High Output T5s).

You can certainly keep monitpora, and even some of them will maintain color, in a cube with stock PC or T5 lighting. I did it in my original 24g nanocube, which was 2x32w Power Compact lighting. Good flow, nutrient control, and kalk dosing, and montipora grew, and stayed brown/orange/blue (at that stage of the hobby I wasn't exposed to any fancy monitpora). I would also keep the montipora in the top 1/2 of the tank.

Definitely doable, but just barely.

Thats very encouraging. Thanks!

 

[WVfishguy]

I set my 90 reefer up originally with halides. I could almost watch montipora grow. One thumbnail-size piece of montipora grew into two corals more than 10 inches around in a few months. The same with some other hard, encrusting corals. I had a derasa clam triple in size in 8 months

The halides went bad, so I went to three Kessil 360WE LEDs and 110 watts of compact fluorescents over a 48" tank. The montipora now grows at 1/4 the speed as when I had halides.

It's my understanding that T5s HOs are even better at coral growth than halides.

 

[ReefWreak]

I think MH are still the gold standard in lighting, including in growth. They're just not cost efficient in $/watt.

My entire tank is using 270w in the middle of the day, and it's a 5' 100g tank. A single 250w halide pulls more than that at the wall. I also pay obscene electricity rates because I'm in NYC.