T5, Leds and hybrids.

[wickedfish]

Well for a good week and some days I have taken down my leds off of my tank. I have an ATI powermodule in the center 6x80watt 60" fixture.

I put in new bulbs on the switch and also cleaned it all up and kept it a but higher than usual for coverage and because of the new bulbs.

Here's what I noticed:

1) my purples got darker
2) no corals were affected
3) I miss the fake pop
4) I miss having the tank sunrise sunset effect.
5) I truly believe my corals look better without leds.
6) without the led lighting my tank is a bit duller when the actinics are on.
7) conclusion T5's alone work just fine.
8) hope adding them again makes me a believer in leds again.
9) what do you guys think about adding leds to proven lighting?
10) what's your experience with corals Lps and Sps?

 

[AddictedtoSalt]

I've to have been thinking about getting rid of my ai sols and running staight t5.
I do oike the sunrise/sunset I get with my leds and the way the corals pop. Most of the coral in my tank seriously glows when the blues come on by themselves.
I have my sols mounted in an 8x54w tek fixture so removing them wouldn't be a big deal.

I honestly think the hybrid t5/led is the best of both worlds, the problem I think is getting the mix of bulbs and leds right so everybody is happy.

 

[wickedfish]

So you have both as well? I don't see any discoloration or anyone missing the led except the giant nem I have. It moved after a year a bit higher on the same Island. I think the purples got darker cause most darker purps like less par IME.

Interesting to see what happens in the next couple days.

And rapping on subject of good mix. Since you have all blue and white chips I'm assuming you would be wise to run more of a red spectrum and uv type spectrum to get closer to what sunlight does on a graph.

Check the reef geek charts

 

[Ddavies564]

I feel that leds alone don't make coral thrive. Leds place today is suitable light to help supplement t5 Or halide. The leds just add a little extra viewing pleasure, its an easy way to bring out color that the coral has naturally that is not normally visible.

 

[AddictedtoSalt]

So you have both as well? I don't see any discoloration or anyone missing the led except the giant nem I have. It moved after a year a bit higher on the same Island. I think the purples got darker cause most darker purps like less par IME.

Interesting to see what happens in the next couple days.

And rapping on subject of good mix. Since you have all blue and white chips I'm assuming you would be wise to run more of a red spectrum and uv type spectrum to get closer to what sunlight does on a graph.

Check the reef geek charts

You are correct.
I'm toying with several ideas concern this. Just haven't decided what Im going to do. There are way to many different ideas about this subject out there to make my decision easier.

 

[barbazoid]

LEDs have the nice effects, but t5s get better coverage .what are your tanks dims ? And what color bulbs didya go with ?

 

[standaman4]

I tried LEDs and went back to t-5s cause I missed the growth and color. I miss the pop and shimmer though. I hope adding led strips will fix that.

Sent from my RM-877_nam_att_205 using Tapatalk

 

[Life Bi Design]

Using Pacific Sun Pandora S-2
Love it, best of both worlds

 

[Cutterx23]

Can't wait for someone to start building hybrid setups and making them look cleaner instead of having to DiY things all the time. Although I do appreciate not having to replace my led bulbs every 10 months or so.

 

[Life Bi Design]

What are you talking about there are some companies already making Hybrid systems I have one.

Here's another
Prestige

 

[Cutterx23]

Oh nice, I'll have to check that out. All the ones I've seen have been custom made ones. Do they use the full spectrum of leds or just blues and whites?

 

[wickedfish]

LEDs have the nice effects, but t5s get better coverage .what are your tanks dims ? And what color bulbs didya go with ?

I have a standard 225gallon leemar 72"x30"x24"tall. I am currently using all blue plusses and coral plusses. But I will change out one blue plus for a purple once the leds are finalized/fixed by Robert that were Luis's original build.

My leds were a spider web of too many solder points on the wires and just a lot of clutter for no rhyme or reason.

Also believe the bar of lights was way too far up in the fixture to be truly effective. I would have liked to have had my old ati Pm 10 bulb retrofitted with 60-90 leds down the middle. But I did not have a back up at that time or the confidence in the homie to get it done.

 

[Life Bi Design]

The prestige/Gamma is a full spectrum setup

 

[wickedfish]

The prestige/Gamma is a full spectrum setup

How big for how much?

 

[Life Bi Design]

Here you go http://www.prestige-led.com/

 

[Emac909]

I've been also contemplating this too Wick I actually started firing up my halides again this pass weekend.

 

[Ddavies564]

I have dimension similar to your tank and have been running a led/t5/halide combo and am super stoked on the ability to change the color to what ever I like. Only been up for a couple months so not much else for insight apart for how it looks. But end of the day I love the look of halides.

 

[Cutterx23]

I have dimension similar to your tank and have been running a led/t5/halide combo and am super stoked on the ability to change the color to what ever I like. Only been up for a couple months so not much else for insight apart for how it looks. But end of the day I love the look of halides.

I bet growth with that combo will be great. Do the t5's and the halides wash out the shimmer and the pop from the LEDs?

 

[wickedfish]

I have dimension similar to your tank and have been running a led/t5/halide combo and am super stoked on the ability to change the color to what ever I like. Only been up for a couple months so not much else for insight apart for how it looks. But end of the day I love the look of halides.

You've got an ideal set up right there. I definitely believe the old technology of halides is best for stony coral growth and aesthetically it's also the most pleasing. If I go solar not looking back and will set up the halides year round.

 

[wickedfish]

I've been also contemplating this too Wick I actually started firing up my halides again this pass weekend.

Nothing to think about, "you can do it."