leds vr mh vr t5

lets fight !!

Is anyone going to stick up for T5s vs these other two?

Seems to me that almost any tank that makes me say WOW has either MH or LEDs. With comparable growth from corals between the two it seems LEDs win the comparison of pros vs cons.

Oh!! No! You! Didn't!! You left PC's out! What's up with that!? Huh?

I ran t5 for a long time and loved the growth and color I got!

I had issues with my LEDs getting down to 24 in so I had to move
Some items higher up ! So I think I would have been better off sticking with mh or saving a ton of money and buying 3 watt leds

I think it all depends on the tank size and personal preference. My tank has been pieced together over a period of a few years so that's how I ended up with the lighting that I have today. I never planned on keeping sps so I went with 150 watt halides for an all lps/soft coral tank. LEDs weren't even an option at the time except for some $3000 fixtures. I tried out some easier sps and had good luck with them so I moved away from the softies and got in lps and sps. I used power compacts for the first year of my reefing with bad results although I think they would be fine for a shallow tank and bulbs swapped out regularly. My only experience with t5 is my 20 gallon soft coral tank and I like the color combos you can make but I miss the shimmer of halides and I can't justify spending extra $$$ for leds or halides. The heat from the halides does not affect my tank enough to worry about and I don't run a heater or a chiller. I keep my house about 75 degrees and my tanks runs 78-80 everyday.

Here are the figures for my 125g:

Standard LED fixtures - $1,750
LED fixture equivalent to my MH - $2,700

The standard fixture advertises as being able to sustain SPS tanks. However, if you look through the reviews, they are about 50/50 for pros and cons. All of the cons mention not being able to grow any corals, not even softies, on the bottom of the tank. Apparently, they just don't have the intensity to get to the bottom and outside edges of large tanks.

The new and improved models that are proven to sustain SPS corrals in large tanks comes with a hefty price tag! That's 27 years worth of MH bulb replacement!!

However, we have some members with beautiful nano tanks that look amazing under LED's. My daughter has a nano and I have considered LED's based on the feedback I have received from them. I would love to see her keeping SPS corals in her nano.

But for now, I will wait for the LED's to evolve and prove themselves on large tanks before I buy them.

For a Nano it's a huge swing for LEDs. If I want to get SPS growth with MHs in a nano I've got to run a chiller. Which takes initial costs up to level or more than LEDs. Then with bulb replacement, extra energy costs... also take a chiller into account... and UV/heat. There's no reason not to go LED.

On bigger systems, heat is less of an issue. So chillers are not needed just to run MHs. So the LEDs gain a con, higher initial cost. The LEDs may also gain another con here, being depth penetration. This can be fixed by optics... which makes your light spread narrower... which causes you to need more fixtures... which raises the initial cost even more, so it's a con either way. However... there are still advantages. Good growth, no fear of UV burn (or literal burn... I have a two year old who is definately curious enough to touch a bulb), and constant color temp. If you have seen an LED light then you've seen it. It will look that way on your tank, in your canopy and over your corals. No curiosity before ordering. No break in period.

And here's the biggest reason for me. My wife likes them. When I tell her that this light is going to cost less than half to run than that light... she likes it. Anything that she likes... she's more okay with buying!

I think LED is better

Yow...I am way too cheap for LED setups! One more reason I stick to fresh water!

Matt - which LED setup do you have on your tank?

120w Evolution LED

Here's the product info.

Let me know if you have any questions about it. I researched it like crazy before I bought it.

BigBlue wrote:Matt - which LED setup do you have on your tank?

billy we have the same fixture... just matts is 14k

Too big for the nano then. I need something to fit under the hood if possible.

do a search for steves leds and he has some great pricing to build you one..

I have a T5 / MH/ LED setup, although I have seen some kick ass T5 only setups that put both LED and MH to shame.



thats all I will say on the matter

I'm to tired tonight to get into this one but I like my 3 watt leds, they go ALL the way to the bottom.

+1 on the T5 setup! I have seen a couple and could not believe my eyes. Even in tanks over 25" deep! I thought one guy was pulling my leg bit it was for real. I was waiting on him to pull the MH's out of the closet. A good T5 bulb and some high dollar reflectors will do wonders.

I ran em for almost a yr and loved em

T5's are a fantastic light and will grow sps if done right, only problem I have with them is the spectrum on the lights is only good for six months and replacing a bunch of them is pretty expensive, plus in order to get enough to do the job right you are talking a good bit of heat, other than that I like the look from t5's.

i ran a 6 lamp fixture over my 120 for ayr and never changed the bulbs and stuff was growing like crazy.. including sps and lps.. t5 was never a heat issue for me ..

I guess the thing is, I don't like the open top Aquarium with the fixture hanging above. I like an enclosed hood where all the light is directed into the tank and not the surrounding room, this is just distracting for me, I just don't like the look and with cf, t5's and mh there is a heat issue in an enclosed hood environment. This is another reason I like the leds so much, they can be used in a closed hood without a heat problem. As for as looks go, any of the above lights make the tank look good but you have to weigh all the aspects of your own type of system as to which will work better for you. I have a friend in Shreveport that refuses to change from vho bulbs just because he has always used them and he swears by them, even if he can't get an sps to grow, he says its plenty of light and it might be for him to look at his tank but not to get the most out of his tank.

not all MH and T5 setups have heat issues in a canopy . I run 2x250w MH and 4x54w (about to go to 6x54w) T5's and my tank stays consistant at 78.3* with a +/- .2 * fluctuation . there are no fans in the canopy nor do I run a chiller. the canopy is open back but it sits against a wall as well. I will agree that LED's do not direct heat into the tank, but keep in mind that there is a considerable amount of heat that is dispersed from the back side of the heat sink, and if not vented properly can cause temp issues in a canopy as well. I think that with proper ventilation any type of lighting can be used in a canopy without issue.

rant over

I agree Bryan! I ran 2 - 250W MH and 4 - 45W T5's in an enclosed hood with no problem. Just put the vents in the right place for air flow and your good. I run a hanging canopy now because I like the different look. It's not distracting to me but it's only an aquarium room anyway.