LED or Halide+T5??

robertloop

Member
Hello MARS,

I have been out of the hobby for a long time. Coming back. My last reef was 120g. Very complex and very expensive to operate. Every 9 to 10 months I had 2 HO-T5 to replace and 2-250 watt MH radions to replace.

Lighting: What is it now for lighting? I see the high end Kessil set ups at $899.00. If these last 8 to 10 years then I'm sold.

I still want SPS. Smaller than 120g. With a simplified system.

IVe been creeping for a while now. LED lighting back then was still hit and miss and REALLY expensive.

Does LED finally have the output and longevity?
 
Dang Loopty Loop, you sure you wanna do that?? Lol. I remember when you got out. Heck, I even bought your 120! I got out for a little while and came back with a smaller tank. Led is so cool now. I guess it would be hard to say if they last 8-10 years though because all the new technology hasn't been out that long yet. I love my led's. They grow coral and look amazing. That's all I can ask for. There are a lot of deals on used lighting if you don't want to buy new. I would help out with stocking your tank but all I have is little frags at the moment. Give me a call sometime!
 
Hey man! Good to hear from you. I got out after 15 years in the hobby. I will probably be buying a new lighting set up. The rest just depends on who's selling what. Looking for a smaller and ultra simplified set up on dosers soon. Might just rock a little nano with a high power LED pendant until I buy a house next year. I figure that if I'm still interested in reef after keeping the nano for a while it was meant to be. haha
 
I have led/mh over my 225 right now, when it comes time to change the mh bulb it will be replaced with another led fixture.
 
What LED fixtures are you using, Anthony? I essentially have the exact same question and am wondering about PAR and coverage. Apparently I'm seriously considering a 4'x4'x2' tank and really trying to put together a budget for the whole thing.
 
its like a MARS reunion :). btw, led's work fine now. I don't believe the 1st generation ones did but they've got the spectrums and intensities worked out.
 
Hey Mark and Tim! OP, is it OK if I hijack or should I start my own thread?

It looks like if I go with the 4x4x2 tank that two SB Reef Lights sBox 32" Pro Timer units for $600 and it's covered. Seems almost too good to be true, but the comparable units at Your Reef looked really good in person.

I'm trying to figure out what the least expensive flow/circulation solution would look like. From reading your tag line, Tim, it looks like the Jebao WP60's are the bang for the buck solution? How many are you running?

Any other thoughts on getting back in with current technology?
 
Hijack away! :spin3: no prob here. Been getting some good info. From what I have read elsewhere you may run into coverage problems
on larger tanks and some are saying that thick branching acros will shade themselves and cause problems that way.
 
If you want inexpensive leds you could go with the ocean revives, or the galaxyhydro or marsaqua ones on amazon

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Ron I have a 4x4x2 and I have 10 led over it. 4 ocean revive and 6 AI sol. Leds don't last 10 years. My AI sol lost so much par. LED so cheap I love them but honestly unless you get some radions I don't think color as good as T5. I'm in the process of adding some Ati.
 
I went with four Ocean Revive and I guess I should take some PAR measurements. It looks great to me. I can't imagine having 6 more lights on the tank.
 
If you have come from a T5 MH lighting system do not expect the same growth rate as you had come to expect with MH. Having had all the various systems I. The past 3 years Kessils,Ecotech back box and a few others I tried. I went back to a Reefbrite MH /Led fixture. So happy I did now I am back to the growth rate and colors I expect to have.


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I thought I was the only one going to say MH after reading the thread. I am a true MH and VHO hobbyist. I did tweak it due to technology and now run reefbrites and MH (radiums). If you can afford the electricity I'd definitely go that route. I still currently run MH's on my 125 long. I'd like to try out T5's/LED option since I saw some good growth and coloration. I'm down grading to a 66 or smaller and looking at 150 MH with LED supplements or the T5/Led combination with the LED being the main light and the T5 as supplemental. Good Luck
 
Tim and Mark, are you guys running T5 supplementation? What color bulbs? I'm going to see how things go for a couple of months with just the LEDs, but adding 2 or 4 T5 bulbs wouldn't be too difficult.
 
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