MH vs T5 vs Led

[bubbaque]

Adam, would you mind sharing your thoughts on the different lighting options?

I know all three can grow coral and color them but if you had to pick one for color what would it be? What would you pick for growth? Is there a noticeable difference?

 

[Abhishek]

Adam - don't leave the Iwasaki behind in your review
Assumption :- No bar on power usage , money for electricity bill or chiller bills

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Battlecorals]

This a really tough question. I mean i go back and forth myself all the time. I think it comes down to LED VS T5 mostly because the effects of halide are similar enough to LED that for me theres isn't as much of a comparison performance wise.

Pound for pound I think t5s deliver such an even and well distributed amount of light that sps just thrive under them in away that they don't under point source lighting. Purely anecdotal but I cant deny whats in front of me. However, when i see the kind of coloration the punch from led can pull, it's hard not to bounce back to that side of the fence. Factor in buying bulbs, and it's led for sure. Every time i buy another batch of t5 bulbs, 10-16 or so at a time I say to myself "well that could have been another led fixture" lol

 

[bubbaque]

Adam, do you think the best of both worlds would be running leds as a main source and t5 as supplemental lighting or vise versa?

 

[Battlecorals]

Adam, do you think the best of both worlds would be running leds as a main source and t5 as supplemental lighting or vise versa?

I do think that is a good combo for sure, Oddly enough I have not put it to the test yet

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

This a really tough question. I mean i go back and forth myself all the time. I think it comes down to LED VS T5 mostly because the effects of halide are similar enough to LED that for me theres isn't as much of a comparison performance wise.

Pound for pound I think t5s deliver such an even and well distributed amount of light that sps just thrive under them in away that they don't under point source lighting. Purely anecdotal but I cant deny whats in front of me. However, when i see the kind of coloration the punch from led can pull, it's hard not to bounce back to that side of the fence. Factor in buying bulbs, and it's led for sure. Every time i buy another batch of t5 bulbs, 10-16 or so at a time I say to myself "well that could have been another led fixture" lol

Hey Adam, in the tour of your new facility you did with CoralVue a while ago, it looked like your LEDs were raised really high off the water. Does that not help a bit with spread and coverage with the LEDs?

Out of curiosity... let's say you took two cuttings of the same parent colony and put one under LEDs and one under T5s. Would the T5 frag actually grow more in a given period of time than the one under LEDs?

 

[Kmsutows]

I've always wanted to pull the trigger on MH with LEDs as not thrilled with having to change t5s $$$. Never tried it?

 

[Wrangy]

I'm currently contemplating swapping my current setup (MH, T5's & LED's) to two XR30's G4 Pro's and a 250w Radium over my 3.5ft shallow sps tank. So I'm enjoying this thread

 

[UWC]

Such a tricky topic as the grass always seems greener on the other side, especially when seeing all these amazing photos on the internet. You’ll notice people switch lights all the time trying for something “more” because so and sos tank looks incredible with these lights and so and sos tank looks incredible with these lights, etc. etc. etc.

I will say we have the luxury of playing with hundreds of different setups on different tanks and what I can say is you really can achieve consistent results with coloring and growth regardless of what lights you are using by really dialing in PAR and nutrients and just leaving things be. Once you have the corals placed at the correct PAR and your nutrients dialed in, keep your hands out of your tank and don’t make any adjustments to your lighting or anything for at least a year. The problem with swapping bulbs, changing intensities, etc. is the corals never have a chance to fully adapt and settle in and you’ll never get to that sweet spot you are looking for

 

[DLuce510]

FWIW in my humble opinion, I think the hobby has its backwards trying to supplement T5's on LED fixtures. Personally ive seen way better results from supplementing LEDs on T5 fixtures, of coarse there's always other factors involved. Pulling that last punch of color from the LED withe the even blanket of light from the T5s is such a good method. But purely my expirence, everyone seems to get great results with time and dedication.

 

[Battlecorals]

Hey Adam, in the tour of your new facility you did with CoralVue a while ago, it looked like your LEDs were raised really high off the water. Does that not help a bit with spread and coverage with the LEDs?

Out of curiosity... let's say you took two cuttings of the same parent colony and put one under LEDs and one under T5s. Would the T5 frag actually grow more in a given period of time than the one under LEDs?

Hi there Absolutely! I definitely get the most out of my fixtures running them at 100% higher up. With a shadow tank system this is by far the most efficient way to use the lights. Id need twice as many to cover the same area at 50% or less at 8-10 " above the water. Spread and coverage is much better the higher you go and the V2s have a lot of punch so you can still get a lot of par at those heights. . And to answer your question, I have done the exactly that many times, and its never really that cut and dry, but ultimately they seem to heal up and start growing again at about the sam rate in my experience.

 

[Saltwaterfrenzy]

Hi Adam,

I have a kessil ap700 over my 120 gallon. I ramp it up to 100% for about 2 hours. It is about 10 inches above my tank. Any experience with this light? Is this too much or too little?

Thanks!

 

[mitch91175]

First thing I’d do is buy a PAR meter for anyone considering changing from one light source to another. All the 3 different sources will grow coral, you just need to have them properly placed, have good husbandry, and let it ride. At least that is how I am approaching it

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Hi Adam,

I have a kessil ap700 over my 120 gallon. I ramp it up to 100% for about 2 hours. It is about 10 inches above my tank. Any experience with this light? Is this too much or too little?

Thanks!

@Saltwaterfrenzy you may want to consider posting a new thread in the lighting forum to get some better visibility on your question.

 

[JasPR]

Hi Adam,

I have a kessil ap700 over my 120 gallon. I ramp it up to 100% for about 2 hours. It is about 10 inches above my tank. Any experience with this light? Is this too much or too little?

Thanks!

I can add to this for you. I ran my 180 softy and 120 anemone tank ( bubble tips and flower) on metal halide and T5 actinics for years with very good results in both color and propegation. Because I hated tearing down the rig and replacing bulbs every 6 months, I switched to eco tech on the 180 softy tank and Kessil panel on the 120 anemone tank. Most of the flower anemone are now bleached or dead, bubble tips are bleached and of the 23 daughter rose anemone only 4 survive in a white to transparent state of coloring. That is with the Kessil panel at 50% intensity and 50/50 blue white color. In the 180 most of the zoids shrink and have disappointed and the mushrooms are fine, albeit much more flat and less opened then they used to be. The eco techs are set at 45% intensity with store bought spectrum. I’m in all together for over $4200 on the LEDs so there is no turning back at this point. But I definitely have buyers remorse. More made at myself that I got caught up in the hype and not my excellent personal results with MH and tubes. Admittedly I did not respect the remarkable strength and intensity of Kessil panels! I now run the 120 tank at only 50% max and only for 8 hours a day.

 

[Saltwaterfrenzy]

Thank you for your response. I am also running 4 t5 bulbs with the kessil. Still trying to find the right combo and intensity.

 

[sayan]

The metal halide lamp was used in my home before, but the metal halide lamp still contains a small amount of toxic toxins. As a result, my coral is always dead. I have now replaced all the LED lights. I personally feel that the metal halide lamp is very Will be eliminated soon, many friends around me are using LED lights

really? I'm worrying about what kind of light to change recently. Thank you for your suggestion.

 

[Fritzhamer]

I tried Kessils, hydra HDs, Kessils again and ended up back with an ATI T5 fixture. I think Adam hit the nail on the head in that with Leds people constantly mess with it and that’s the issue.

I too have gone back to strictly early 2000s tech and my tank is doing great. I think whatever you use, stability is the key.

 

[Rispa]

I waiting for someone to chime in about their experience with a prefab hybrid system.

 

[wowkingjames]

Following, very interesting subject.