Metal Halides vs T5s vs Leds

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Pazzoman

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2009
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New York
Hey Everybody,

As some of you may know especially Fleshy lol abut me changing my light fixture. I would like to keep a variety of coral/clams in my 72 gallon tank. I'm still debating between keeping the T5 (so far hasn't been causing problems now), metal halides or leds. Any ideas?

T5s

-Energy Efficent
-Decent $ to replace bulbs
-Actnic acceptable if needed
-Don't produce lot's of heat
- Good for a variety of coral but not much for corals who require extra amount of lighting... most sps corals

Metal Halides

-Energy Absorber
-Lots of money to replace bulbs
-Produce heat which chillers/fans are needed
- Good for any coral under the sun... which is why I consider it

Leds

-No heat
-Bulbs last 3-5 years
-energy efficent

I really don't know much about them...but heard good things. Is it possible to have these lights for a reef tank that contains corals including sps?

Any ideas? I could get the metal halides for cheap from aquatraders, but I'm still worried on electric bills for my parents now lol

I would like to go with leds if they are reef capable
 
Well...that's depressing...I was wondering the same thing...we can't be the only ones out there...have you found anything out since you posted this?
 
For whatever its worth, I toodled down to the LFS today and talked with the guy who whipped out his phone to show me his reef tanks at home, complete with corals, and all he had were LED lights. He said basically the same thing you did about the different lights. He did, however, say that he'd never tried SPS with the LED's. I'm curious about that.
 
My thread had resurrected!

I use leds two set of actnic blue and white leds here is a post on them:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?448918-Tank-Is-Getting-Upgrades!/page2

this was a few months ago, my tank looks better and the leds are way brighter then what u see in the pics lol

Best investment I made on this tank




It is working great I have a somewhat diversity of corals.

Hope the best with you guys and your decision on lighting....leds are the way to go!
 
Awesome! Good to hear the LED's are growing a good reputation. I've pretty much settled on them. Now to find a good deal...lol!
 
BigCountry said:
http://www.aquariumleds.com/products/120-Watt-Aquarium-LED-14K-3-Watt-LEDs.html

AKA "Chinese Black Box". You see them on Ebay also.

PAR reading:
2" depth - 1537 Par
12" depth - 423 Par
24" depth - 182 Par

Which is impressive....I am more than likely going to buy 3 for my 6' 135g. I just cannot find any neg rep on them so far over on reefcentral. They seem to work!
Click to expand...

I looked at the link, thanks for posting it, but I didn't see any dimensions for the light - what are the dimensions, primarily the length and width? I have a 55 gal tank.
 
Well Ive been looking into all this also. I wanted to change the lighting on my cube tank and looked into different options.
So this is what I found..

LED's
+
provide the lighting you need
last for up to 3 years, some more..
-
Cost of some of the fixtures are high.. esp if you need to buy more than one.
Have to also make sure that the LED bulbs in the fixture you buy are at least 3watts..

Halide
+
provide great light for the corals.. esp if you have a tank 24" or deeper
Can find bulbs for around $25.00 if you know were to look, so cost isnt as high as most think... I get my 14k and 20k's for 25.00 each (250w) Lat about a year, but I replace after 9 month

-
Heat can be a problem, but with the rt fixture or vents, this is a easy fix
my MH are far enough off my tank to not heat my water at all, as well as still privide the light I need..

T5's

Well, Im getting away from T5's, so I cant give a positive or neg of them..
I think they work, but really have come to find they only work best when new and less than 6 months old.
Actinic's are really the only thing I think they are good for to help bring out color in your corals.
In order to get fast and good growth, you need more than 4 bulbs in my opinion (2 = 10k / 2=actinic)
But after 4 months, they in my opinion do not put off the light you need for fast good growth,
besides the fact if you have a deep tank, they dont give the par you need to get down to the bottom for good fast growth

Bulbs are not exp if you know were to look. Most pet shops charge 16-18 per bulb (36" bulbs)
I have found were I can get 4 odyssey bulbs for $36.00 total (bulb and shipping all together) .. (any spectrum)
You have to order 4 at a time, but that comes out to $9.00 a bulb (half what the shops charge)

So In my opinon, LED's or MH are the way to go. Depending on your pocket book..
For my cost on my bulbs, I have prefered to go with MH...
I have some LED strips, but until the prices of fixtures comes down, the cost of MH is more cost effective for me..
My LED strips are 3w bulbs (had them made) and are simply for adding in blue to my tank for color to my corals. I use MH for growth and color (20k bulbs)
Here is a pic of one of my fixtures that I retro fit.. This is inside the fixture, so you can see what i do that i found works best for me and my tank..
(me=cost /tank =growth).
My LEDs are also on a dimmer (each strip is wired to the next, so I only have one plus with built in dimmer) to allow me to turn them down at night and act as a moon light, but on high 2 hrs before/2 hrs after my MH is on to help build up my color of my corals even more..View attachment 760271


T5's are ok for smaller tanks, but when getting 65 gallons or larger, they are not worth my time.. Unless Im using just to give more blue (actinic) to my tank
 
IMP LEDs are very close to MHs and would probably pay for themselves in energy savings in 6-12 months. If you have the cash it would be the way to go. T5s are a distant 2nd place.

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