LED's vs. T5's vs MH's

C

CKI

New member
I want to be able to grow anything i put in my tank, tired of wasting money on changing bulbs for my quad T5 ... so im thinking either a 6 or 8 lamp T5 ... or....leds or MHs ... pros and cons? ... i know ill get a ton of answers, but i dont want to waste my money...would hate to spend 1000+on lights and not like the end result.
 
You cant go wrong with ati t5. There's not a single coral that demands a lot of light that they wont grow. Metal halide are the best though but the cons are too much heat and I'm in vegas so they're a no no for me.
 
i have a quad t5 now and unable to keep SPS..they've been bleached :/ .... so like a 6 or 8 lamp t5?
 
48x18x20 75 gallon? If so you need 6 bulbs to keep sps as well as a good fixture. Many variables.
 
LEDs get my vote. I went from 6 bulb t5 retro with individual reflectors and ATI bulbs to a reefbreeders and in my opinion, t5s did not compare. Better colors&growth, less heat, less $ on electricity, no bulbs to replace, CONTROL. Time will tell how long the fixtures will hold up, but t5's cost me $120/year in bulbs alone, plus the increased electricity.

I think any newer full(er) spectrum LED unit will make u happy. I do love my reefbreeders fixtures, especially for the price.
 
Adding a couple 250w halides and possibly combining 2 or all 4 of the T5 you have now would be sweet.
Otherwise a 6x54w ATI Sunpower is the king of T5HO and is what I would use. Although using a ATI Sunpower allows you the option of the 6x39w fixture as well but I would use the 6x54w. I have a 4x24w Sunpower on a 29g (30x12x18).
For affordable LEDs the reefbreeders 48" model or something like that seems popular although I don't use LEDs myself I figured I would suggest it as they are sponsors here and are popular. LEDs have a lot of good points to consider.
 
I like the 48" Reef Breeders Photon esp for the price! However, i have emailed them waiting on a response though.
 
I dont care of it cost me 200 or 2000, im tired of getting lights and not being happy lol ... i want this to be my LAST light purchase until i got some gianormous tank and need to add more to it.
 
I do love MHs but the heat is too much and not necessary for most shallow tanks anyway.
I have 3 ATI fixtures: one 6 bulb Powermodule for my 75gal, another PM 8 bulbs for my 125gal, and the new 6 bulb dimmable for another 75gal. (replacing an old 6 bulb TekLight)...
Do I have to tell you what I think is the best for you?

You can get the 6 bulb dimmable, all T5s.
Can't go wrong! Just can't!
You won't regret!
And you won't need timers anymore with that fixture!!!!!! :D

Grandis.
 
To be honest, I would consider MH to be largely redundant now. T5's are still good, but I am seeing the best tanks now with decent LED units. LED is the way forward. They give you much more control over spectrum and intensity. They will also get better and better as time goes by.
 
I think there is a million ways to get to the end result of a great tank. Many threads lately have made it seem that lighting is the pivoting point that you have to have this light or that light to be successful. It's all BS. If you want to keep "anything" you need to have a good balance of high light and low light sections in your tank. In your second statement you said that you bleached SPS with your quad? So why do you think you need more light?
 
T5 - Inarguably work, endless color manipulation, high bulb replacement costs

Halide - Time proven guaranteed performance, high energy usage, high heat transfer.

LED - Promising/unfinished new tech, some have success and some fail miserably, low operating costs
 
CKI said:
I want to be able to grow anything i put in my tank, tired of wasting money on changing bulbs for my quad T5 ... so im thinking either a 6 or 8 lamp T5 ... or....leds or MHs ... pros and cons? ... i know ill get a ton of answers, but i dont want to waste my money...would hate to spend 1000+on lights and not like the end result.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that rule out T5?

If you want to be happy choose the lighting you like the look of the best. LED, T5, and MH tanks all look different. There is even more variation between the LED fixtures because some use clusters of LED's like the Radion or Sol's, some use panel arrays like the Reefbreeders, and some use a multichip like the Kessil's. They all look very different and there has been enough success with them all that it all comes down to aesthetics IMO.
 
CKI said:
i have a quad t5 now and unable to keep SPS..they've been bleached :/ .... so like a 6 or 8 lamp t5?
Click to expand...

Quad t5? That sounds like pc lighting unless you mean a fixture with 4 individual t5 bulbs. PC lighting is not the best technology to grow sps

I think you corals are rtn o stn ining not bleaching. If they are truly bleaching with 4 bulbs then 6 or 8 will bleach them even faster.

What fixture do you currently have? What are your tank dimensions?
You should be able to grow spa with any of the three, but knowing your tank dimensions can help us give you a better recommendation.

Also sps are very complex and delicate corals, it takes m a lot mire than intense lighting to grow them
 
ganjero said:
Quad t5? That sounds like pc lighting unless you mean a fixture with 4 individual t5 bulbs. PC lighting is not the best technology to grow sps

I think you corals are rtn o stn ining not bleaching. If they are truly bleaching with 4 bulbs then 6 or 8 will bleach them even faster.

What fixture do you currently have? What are your tank dimensions?
You should be able to grow spa with any of the three, but knowing your tank dimensions can help us give you a better recommendation.

Also sps are very complex and delicate corals, it takes m a lot mire than intense lighting to grow them
Click to expand...

Agree +1,000. Lighting is not everything.

If it turns out it is the lighting can't keep them (like if you are using PCs) Then I suggest led. However, I am a die-hard led fan, so I will always suggest led.
What is your tank size? A Reef Breeders fixture would be cheap, and enough people use them that you can sell it if you don't like it.
 
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