Going from LED to t5 6500K - A Journal

[Daddi0]

It has been a month since changing to cheap t5s at 6500k. Everything looks really good. Frags seem to be encrusting faster and I am getting pretty quick growth on my corals. Still no algae issues. What I really like is that the lighting is really even across the reef. The lighting seems to have a "fullness" that gets everywhere with t5 whereas with the leds there was issues with the lighting that caused areas of the sticks to not really get any par and die. Even getting good growth on acros on the sandbed - 18 inches below water.
Cheers! Mark

 

[ThRoewer]

I should add that I ran the T5s over this tank for a year and swapped over to LED 16 months ago. The main reason for the swap was the cost of new tubes. If I swapped them every 9 months or so, it was just shy of $200 a year. Well I came across some cheapy tubes on Ebay that would bring that down to about $50 a year!! It may work or it maybe a very costly mistake in the long run. Time will tell.
Cheers! Mark

BRS did a test and by their findings, on a 8h on period for each bulb, you should be able to run T5s for at least 12 months, probably longer.

I didn't make a full switch but put an Aquatic Life combo fixture over my 100 gallon tank. Effectively I replaced one of the 3 Kessils I had over that tank before with 4 T5s. I have each of the 2 T5 banks on a 6h schedule with a 4h overlap so that the tank gets some T5 light for 8h. The remaining 2 Kessil A360EN LEDs are one a ramped profile over 12h.
So far, most of my corals seem to like it.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

The old Iwasaki 6500 MH bulb grew corals like crazy but people did not like the yellow water look so they went on from there.

 

[Daddi0]

BRS did a test and by their findings, on a 8h on period for each bulb, you should be able to run T5s for at least 12 months, probably longer.

I didn't make a full switch but put an Aquatic Life combo fixture over my 100 gallon tank. Effectively I replaced one of the 3 Kessils I had over that tank before with 4 T5s. I have each of the 2 T5 banks on a 6h schedule with a 4h overlap so that the tank gets some T5 light for 8h. The remaining 2 Kessil A360EN LEDs are one a ramped profile over 12h.
So far, most of my corals seem to like it.

With these cheap tubes, I can afford to change earlier. Do you notice the t5s lighting areas that the leds dont reach?

 

[Daddi0]

The old Iwasaki 6500 MH bulb grew corals like crazy but people did not like the yellow water look so they went on from there.

I dont mind the yellowish look but sometime when someone comes over to buy a coral I have to shut the t5s off and shine some actinic in so they can visualize what the frag looks like

 

[ThRoewer]

With these cheap tubes, I can afford to change earlier. Do you notice the t5s lighting areas that the leds dont reach?

I have Pocillopora and Acropora growing on the bottom of the tank (24" tall tank & 22" deep water), some of them only get T5 light from one bank.
A red planet I have at about mid-level seems to be bleaching due to the light intensity and the coralline is literally burned away on the "sunny" side of the rocks and only grows in shady areas.

My LEDs do reach the bottom though as I have the Kessil A360 EN narrow beam LEDs that are particularly geared towards tall tanks. But some of the above coral grow where the LED light is blocked by the rocks.

As for changing lightbulbs, even cheap ones cost money (and produce hazardous waste!) so I would use them as long as possible before changing them. And the BRS test showed that there was no significant difference between the 6-month mark and the 12-month mark.