Going from LED to t5 6500K - A Journal

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by Daddi0

With these cheap tubes, I can afford to change earlier. Do you notice the t5s lighting areas that the leds dont reach?

I have Pocillopora and Acropora growing on the bottom of the tank (24" tall tank & 22" deep water), some of them only get T5 light from one bank.
A red planet I have at about mid-level seems to be bleaching due to the light intensity and the coralline is literally burned away on the "sunny" side of the rocks and only grows in shady areas.

My LEDs do reach the bottom though as I have the Kessil A360 EN narrow beam LEDs that are particularly geared towards tall tanks. But some of the above coral grow where the LED light is blocked by the rocks.

As for changing lightbulbs, even cheap ones cost money (and produce hazardous waste!) so I would use them as long as possible before changing them. And the BRS test showed that there was no significant difference between the 6-month mark and the 12-month mark.