T5's vs LED's

[myownreef2015]

What's your opinions for a reef/fish tank with T5's or LED's? Benefits of each one?

What do you reccomend for a 30 gal nano?

 

[scooter31707]

IMO, T5s will be good.

 

[jdm1114]

Go with both, maybe check out euroaquatics e5 tubes

 

[RocketEngineer]

Personally, I like T5s for a bunch of reasons:

1) They work. They have a long history of doing the job and doing it well.

2) You can change the color after you buy the fixture. While LEDs are somewhat adjustable, T5s have a huge number of options in terms of bulbs and can be changed to fit the needs of the system or the owner's color preference.

3) They don't produce shadows. A lot of LED owners have started adding T5s because of the very sharp/deep shadowing the LEDs cause.

4) They are fairly inexpensive to start. A used fixture or a retrofit kit and you're in business. I made a fixture using a simple wooden box and retrofit kits, hung it over my 40B and love the look.

I admit to being somewhat biased after my DIY LEDs killed 50+ coral colonies. My fault, I admit that, but they did great under T5s for years and it only took 1 month under LEDs to kill them all.

Good Luck,

 

[zelie_dad]

So would a 4 bulb t5 on a 40 gallon breeder be enough light for a softie, lsp tank?

 

[JohnnyHildo]

Personally, I like T5s for a bunch of reasons:

1) They work. They have a long history of doing the job and doing it well.

2) You can change the color after you buy the fixture. While LEDs are somewhat adjustable, T5s have a huge number of options in terms of bulbs and can be changed to fit the needs of the system or the owner's color preference.

3) They don't produce shadows. A lot of LED owners have started adding T5s because of the very sharp/deep shadowing the LEDs cause.

4) They are fairly inexpensive to start. A used fixture or a retrofit kit and you're in business. I made a fixture using a simple wooden box and retrofit kits, hung it over my 40B and love the look.

I admit to being somewhat biased after my DIY LEDs killed 50+ coral colonies. My fault, I admit that, but they did great under T5s for years and it only took 1 month under LEDs to kill them all.

Good Luck,

damn... i'd be salty too. so the moral of the story is to run your new led's scaled down?

 

[civics14]

I have two RapidLED Onyx over a 36 x 18 footprint and I can confirm on the shadowing. About to add two t5's to the mix to help with it.

I use to run 6x t5 and some colors were good, but didn't pop as much as LEDs. So going to mix the two and have the color pop and reduced shadowing, at least that's what i'm hoping and hearing from everyone else.

 

[g_langley]

T5 and LED combo is the best route. You get the shimmer but not the shadows.

 

[Xxero]

So would a 4 bulb t5 on a 40 gallon breeder be enough light for a softie, lsp tank?

Yes. That's what I run on my 40b and there is no lack of coverage.

A 6 bulb may be a little overkill for a 40b. T5's are very potent bulbs.