fishboys Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I am making the change and going back to MH and T-5's So I have a 46 gallon{just did the calculations from the inside dimension} I was using 1 ocean revive and just didn't feel I was getting enough coverage. I had an older combo fixture lying around so I bought 2 20K 175w MH and 2 actinic VHO T-5 I believe they are 96W each so that will put me at almost 12W per gallon. Heat and power are not an issue so that's out. I am looking for better growth and color. The one unit wasn't cutting it. Two Ocean Revive units might of cut it but I was just not impressed with growth and or color even on my corals directly under the led unit. What do you all think about someone going back to the stone age?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Once I buy my house my tank will likely be lit by 2 400 watt halides with t5 actinics as well. The color is amazing and growth is always top knotch! Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I think there were many people who would go back to t5 MHs if heat, long term cost (electricity, bulbs) were not an issue. I keep debating getting a T5 for my nuvo 20 because it has better spread and I don't like the disco ball effect but I'm bound and determined to just stick with what I have. I will more than likely get another ATI led set up next upgrade I do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 The stone age was a mighty good time! They partied like crazy. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I am with you Kim I think the heat from them is jus not good at all. If you have a decent sized tank with fans I think they are great. When I had my smaller cube the MH would cook it......had to buy a chiller and on a 40 gallon tank just not worth it to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I am with you Kim I think the heat from them is jus not good at all. If you have a decent sized tank with fans I think they are great. When I had my smaller cube the MH would cook it......had to buy a chiller and on a 40 gallon tank just not worth it to me. Yeah Scott. you do get great growth out of them and color but had the same problem with a mh set up over my solana. Got way too hot in the summer. I also noticed a significant drop in my electricity bill when I switched them out of all my tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Yeah Scott. you do get great growth out of them and color but had the same problem with a mh set up over my solana. Got way too hot in the summer. I also noticed a significant drop in my electricity bill when I switched them out of all my tanks. Yep I think a MH would cook the 20s Maybe boil the water even or a slow simmer........ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I'm missing all the reasons people switch back to LED-meaning I don't have the same experience they do that make them consider and sometimes even switch. It's a shoulder shrugger for sure. You gotta do what works for your tank. Looking forward to some pics 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 It's pretty much impossible to beat 400w Radiums supplemented by T5's or LED's... the color and growth are just too good. BUT, you have to be able to handle the heat. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I can't tell you how many people that I have had switch back. It would boggle your minds. Then again, I have tons of customers that switch to LED's. Most of the time though, I see people upgrade to better LED's as apposed to switch back to metal halide or T5. I personally find them all useful depending upon the tank, what is being stocked, desired look, etc. I still heavily use MH and T5's and I use quite a bit of LED's as well. I am constantly debating each option for each particular scenario. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerk1985 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Im hard core stuck on my t5s lol. I just switched my 29 gallon from an led back to t5s, I think it looks way better. And the corals seem much happier under the t5s. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I have been thinking about adding 2 t5 bulbs to my leds for color Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySaber Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I think I will end up going to t5s for my 20 and leaving my 10 on the LEDs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I don't think it's stone age to go back, think your just going back to something that's tried and true, all technologies have their pros and cons. If i could find a way to get a hybrid T5 fixture for my JBJ that wasn't an eye sore I would be running that again myself. LED's do work but I personally still haven't seen any tanks take off in the same way as they did with halide/t5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I'm missing all the reasons people switch back to LED-meaning I don't have the same experience they do that make them consider and sometimes even switch. It's a shoulder shrugger for sure. You gotta do what works for your tank. Looking forward to some pics I agree Brad, your tank is the one I use to boost my confidence in LEDs. 450 gallons of awesomeness... Plus frag tanks It is possible to have amazing LED tanks for sure. However it is interesting to listen to the logic of the discussion as well. How is this for growth and color? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I agree Brad, your tank is the one I use to boost my confidence in LEDs. 450 gallons of awesomeness... Plus frag tanks It is possible to have amazing LED tanks for sure. However it is interesting to listen to the logic of the discussion as well. How is this for growth and color? His tank is a perfect example of what is possible in this hobby. His and Arsons tanks are my two favorite tanks that I've seen in person. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 If I'm not mistaken Brad has a custom made LED as I think you do as well Jeremy who our resident LED guru bombertech helped you with. I'm not saying that LEDS do not have potential. I'm just saying that it is difficult to find an LED light online that will make you happy. The one size fits all does not really correlate. If I had a cube tank the Maxspect would be perfect but with the longer dimensions of the nuvo I get less spread of light in the corners and I am not as fond of the shimmer as other folks. I regret not talking to Kenny from Reefstar first and going locally. The nice thing about that is he lets you try out the light. If you don't like it you can take it back. It is also niceato talk to someone in person with a lot of expertise. I have seen Kenny's tank under LEDs and they look great! He has an awesome tank by the way! If I end up going with an LED again, I will definitely look into dealing with Kenny or talk to Matt (aka bombertech about building a custom one for me) The other thing I hate, since I'm so picture happy is that it is much more difficult to get good pictures under an LED light. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 True, Kenny's loaner program is just plain awesome, highly recommend it. True mine are mostly custom. The custom spectrum satisfies my need to tweak lighting, just like people with T5s do through bulb selection. LEDs just require soldering for the most part. Many achieve tweaking through the dimmer knobs as well. Does SPS require custom soldered LEDs? I think most would say that stock fixtures will do a bang up job. Stylaster's tank is pretty nice for example All stock LED, insane growth. http://www.pnwmas.org/topic/34556-stylaster-312-gallon-sps-reef/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trigger334 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 One of the major things we see is how certain LEDs are using different colors to achieve a higher kelvin of lighting for corals. What we are seeing and from what others are telling us is the color seems off. This can easily happen with some combinations of emitters being used. There are tent of a weird purple or red...That turns people off. This also does not help the useful energy being delivered to the reef, which then results in slower growth, I think there's some very nice higher scale LED systems, which for sure make it worth investing in the tech. There is tech for LEDs, which is not light any other lighting systems. Very cool stuff. Next level stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trigger334 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) True mine are mostly custom. The custom spectrum satisfies my need to tweak lighting, just like people with T5s do through bulb selection. LEDs just require soldering for the most part. Many achieve tweaking through the dimmer knobs as well. Does SPS require custom soldered LEDs? I think most would say that stock fixtures will do a bang up job. Stylaster's tank is pretty nice for example All stock LED, insane growth. http://www.pnwmas.org/topic/34556-stylaster-312-gallon-sps-reef/ Another great example IMO is how Reefnjunkies AR set- up looks similar to his DIY. DIY is not required to get great color and great growth. Edited August 5, 2015 by Trigger334 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) Just out of curiosity to the OP, what lights are you running and what's your schedule look like? I'm mixed on LEDs vs Mh/T5. I have had better growth and color with LED on SPS than I did previously. LPS was the opposite. I've seen an equal number of amazing tanks with both. I prefer the deeper blues the LEDs produce, but that's a personal preference. Water quality also plays a huge part in coloration, any chance your params aren't ideal? Newer tank? Just curious. Edit...you have ORs...never mind Edited August 5, 2015 by Blue Z Reef 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Brads tank is a perfect example of inexpensive led's working very well, although would it be even better under halides supplemented by t5 or custom leds?? I question wether or not he would attempt to keep his higher end wild color morphs under the OR led's vs his custom diy stuff and would they keep those colors under the OR led's? Also what you feed and how you feed does play a big part into color and growth... I should have my diy led strip done next week so it'll be interesting to see what the addition of a few specific led's will do in my tank. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I swapped my Giesmann T5s for Steve's LEDs in one of my Red Sea Max 250 tanks. I still have the T5s in the other tank. My thoughts: 1) Better Acropora growth in the LED tank, but better Acropora color in the T5 tank. 2) My Montipora seem to do better under the T5s. 3) My maxima clams are growing really well with the LEDs. I only had them under T5 for a short while, but my impression was that it wouldn't be powerful enough for them. I really need to use a PAR meter in my tanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Lots of good info and discussion, good thread! I do go back also to what junkie said... You gotta do what works for your tank.Looking forward to some pics 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) I think another thing that needs to be mentioned is that halides just like T5's will perform VERY different depending on the ballasts used as well as the quality of reflectors and with T5's the active cooling. You can't compare an inexpensive t5 fixture to say an ATI even if they're both using the same bulbs. We have to remember to compare apples to apples. The same can be somewhat said for led's but with all the different binning and other varaiations, optics vs reflectors... I don't have the knowledge on led's to that extent so I can't comment on the difference in that realm. I had to enlist some outside help when it came to building the "best and most useful" led's for my new addition. Edited August 5, 2015 by Arsonmfg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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