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

[cassklar]

I agree on the 6 bulb ati I had 2 ai sol blues over my tank 75 gallon went to 4 sol blues down to 3 and my corals did not respond at all water parameters great an I did this over a span of 2 years so I did try to let coral acclimate didn't work I went to ati 6 bulb and wow everything colored up growth awesome and what I did was I was missing the blue LEDs at night so I added a stunner strip for morning and night viewing its great

[asid61]

Originally Posted by Drae

I personally think t5's have way more pros than cons and led's are still working out the bugs. Why do think ATI is making hybrid fixtures and not yet taking the full blown led plunge?

I have said this many times:
The reason that companies that make led fixtures are "working out the bugs" is because they can't afford to make a completely new fixture, because if it doesn't work, they lose a ton of money. So each new fixture only differs slightly from the old ones.
ATI is making a hybrid for T5 fans and also for color blending. But by your logic, we can say that AI is proof T5s are yesterday's technology.

[Michigan Mike]

(Not a true test but my thoughts from what I've seen)
T5 has the edge on AI in terms of colorful coral from what I've seen from my corals being transferred to my fiends tank that has 3 AI SOL over a 125g, my red monti turned orange. Growth seemed okay enough though with AI.
I would supplement AI LEDs or whatever with T5 to fill in the missing wavelengths from most led fixtures. Not to mention cut back on shadowing and shimmer. Even if its one or two bulbs

I'm thinking of using my 4x24w ATI Sunpower over a 40g by adding a couple reefbright strips. I believe led/T5 combo is what I'll be doing next. I would think a 4x54w ATI Sunpower with a couple reefbright led strips attached would be a pretty killer light on a 75g.

[grigsy]

Originally Posted by screamingibis

metal halide with a t-5 supplement and call it a day. you won't be playing games.

+1

Exactly

[grigsy]

I have used all three and for me, I prefer:

1. Metal Halides
2. T5 High Output
3. LEDs

[A. Grandis]

I see the new ATI T5/LEDs system as another way to get the LEDs' fever around the market. That's all that is.
To me LEDs are one of the money machines of the hobby, with all the respect.
Fire on the dry grass. Pretty soon it's going to have either the real deal or to be abandoned. Hopefully they'll find a way to improve.

What does it help to get a strip of blue LEDs on the center of the tank today?
To me that space is wasted. It is more important to have the space available for combinations of T5 bulbs then have that unchangeable LED light strip there, even if we can control the spectrum. There is so many choices and that space will be "dead". You won't be able to use that extra Purple Plus or other supplementary bulb that so many times gives a special touch to the mix.
Perhaps it's to add some shimmering?
Hope you can get the picture.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Grandis.

[A. Grandis]

Originally Posted by grigsy

+1

Exactly

Get the money for electricity, fixture and chiller?
Please go ahead!
The best deal!

[asid61]

Originally Posted by A. Grandis

I see the new ATI T5/LEDs system as another way to get the LEDs' fever around the market. That's all that is.
To me LEDs are one of the money machines of the hobby, with all the respect.
Fire on the dry grass. Pretty soon it's going to have either the real deal or to be abandoned. Hopefully they'll find a way to improve.

What does it help to get a strip of blue LEDs on the center of the tank today?
To me that space is wasted. It is more important to have the space available for combinations of T5 bulbs then have that unchangeable LED light strip there, even if we can control the spectrum. There is so many choices and that space will be "dead". You won't be able to use that extra Purple Plus or other supplementary bulb that so many times gives a special touch to the mix.
Perhaps it's to add some shimmering?
Hope you can get the picture.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Grandis.

So apparently all those things about leds producing colors in corals and bringing out the actinic colors- all a giant conspiracy. And those led lit tanks are all hoaxes. Leds have been proven to grow corals time and time again with varying results. I admit, some tanks do better than others, but the tanks lit by quality led fixtures look great IMO. The ones with the white+blue combo on ebay... not so much. But the same can be said of led and MH.
I agree with you on the led strip thing though. One or two is good for moonlights or actinic supplements. More than that is wasted IMO. They are too low power to be of use growing corals.

[asid61]

Originally Posted by A. Grandis

Get the money for electricity, fixture and chiller?
Please go ahead!
The best deal!

I actually used MH at one time over a 44 gallon tank. 250w of MH did not need any sort of chiller, even in the CA heat. I did run a computer fan to bring it down from 84* to 82*, but a chiller is really overkill in many cases.

[alton]

If you decide on MH go with 2 x 175w electronic ballast, 12K reeflux lamps in luminbright mini pendants. Lamps should last 16 to 18 months.

[vpaul79]

I went from a DIY LED's to MH. Went from 60 lights, 4 drivers, 60 lenses, 120+ solder contacts and lots of wires to just 2 reflectors, 2 bulbs and 2 ballasts. For me, practicality made reef'in much more pleasurable. Not to bash LED's, I think in 8 to 10 years they will be the dominant and superior lighting source for reef tanks, but not now, its still in development IMHO.

[MiracleFish]

From my opinion, trial and error, research, I've concluded Power Compacts are nothing but trouble. LEDs are great way to produce beautiful color and also can encourage coral growth greatly depending how well maintained your system is. As for T5's, I've never ran them, but they seem neutral.. You just cant go wrong as long as you keep up the bulb changing every couple of months.

[jda]

In a 75G tank, I would recommend 150W HQI with 14K phoenix bulbs and a simple fan on the same timer as the lights. You can use the bulbs for 2 years, the heat can be EASILY handled by the fans and you could keep anything that you want in any place in that tank.

Also, you won't be disappointed in the performance of the light.

[Touring]

run all 3. t5's,MH's and L.E.Ds