t5? or LED

[aquaman67]

I've gone from Power Compacts, to Metal Halide to T-5's and just retro fitted my T-5's to TrueLumen Pro LEDs today.

IMHO four 24" LEDs are brighter than the six 24 watt T-5 bulbs I was running before.

And I don't have to change bulbs every year.

I've gone from 144 watts to 64 watts.

 

[jrsatx20]

im using the evolution ufo 60 wt led. i had mh, t5s on my 30 gallon cube and my sps wouldnt color up. i put the led on and in 5 days u can see growth and color coming back.and at $200 not bad at all

 

[rtparty]

I'm on my second go with LED's and am still unimpressed. The first LED's I had weren't great LED's. They were an experiment and they grew coral but color was terrible.

This time I am using a PAR38 bulb from RapidLED. It is not near blue enough for me and I don't get that awesome POP that blue LED's can provide. For my tank it is ubsurd to try and do a DIY. My tank is very simple and must look good. Most DIY stuff needs to be hidden behind a canopy. No way I could DIY something and have my wife approve it.

My colors aren't holding all that well under this LED setup either and I got the 7 LED bulb that has the mix of colors. Warm white, cool white, blue and Royal blue. Rapid needs to make this bulb with one less cool white and one more royal blue.

For me the perfect combo is LED and T5 but there aren't too many options for that right now. A couple companies have made LED/T5 hybrids but they always lack somewhere and they charge way too much.

For me, T5 is still the best option. Sure LED's may get there one day but they aren't there for me right now.

 

[UnoZeus]

IMO it depends.on your budget. I would stick with T5's until the price comes down.

 

[madreef_7K]

I'm on my second go with LED's and am still unimpressed. The first LED's I had weren't great LED's. They were an experiment and they grew coral but color was terrible.

This time I am using a PAR38 bulb from RapidLED. It is not near blue enough for me and I don't get that awesome POP that blue LED's can provide. For my tank it is ubsurd to try and do a DIY. My tank is very simple and must look good. Most DIY stuff needs to be hidden behind a canopy. No way I could DIY something and have my wife approve it.

My colors aren't holding all that well under this LED setup either and I got the 7 LED bulb that has the mix of colors. Warm white, cool white, blue and Royal blue. Rapid needs to make this bulb with one less cool white and one more royal blue.

For me the perfect combo is LED and T5 but there aren't too many options for that right now. A couple companies have made LED/T5 hybrids but they always lack somewhere and they charge way too much.

For me, T5 is still the best option. Sure LED's may get there one day but they aren't there for me right now.

One of my tank is a12g nano and I have 12 LEDs on it, 6 RB and 6 CW. It's a simple tank like yours just a maxijet 900 ph and heater. It was running on cf light. But after I have put the LEDs on, I am now way more adventureous than before when it comes to corals. I have SPS thriving in the tank.
I'd say in this case, size does not matter!!!

 

[reefdude135]

LED all the way. All other formats are obselete. Just have to get the right system. There's a lot of good product out there, and there's a lot of junky stuff too. AI, Acan, MaxSpect, Sunbrite are all fine options!

Check out this active RC thread on the Sunbrite... their fixtures are $250 and $350 and work perfect for a cube:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2011067