Metal Halides vs. T5's vs. LED's vs. Ecofriendly Bulbs Which is better?
 

I am curious how many Canreefers out there use any of these types of lighting and maybe describe why you think this way? Have you tried them all?

Let the voting begin!:biggrin:

LED fan. Price, annual costs, repair are what got me hooked. And intensity of the light. Not to mention, nearly zero heat output!!!!!

LED fan as well.

oh boy, here we go!!

:pop2:

.. I use MH+T5 combo :-)

The only reason not to use LED is financial.

or you simply do not like how LEDs look :-)

Tried LED.....Switched back to MH/T5.

Or you like better coral colors..:)

That can't be the only reason. I use a MH/T5 combo and I am super content with this fixture that I see no need to switch to LED. Oh, and I should mention that I have seen a few set ups that use LED lighting and I have not been impressed, so this is not just about money. I have the cash for it and I chose my current MH/T5 fixture over any LED fixture.

Correct. I had MH, switched for humidity reasons, and the MH was a better light. It has a few negatives for sure, but for coral growth and color, as well as the overall look of the tank, I prefer MH.

I have MH's in one Tank and LED's in the other and it goes without saying you get what you pay for. Many of the cheap LED lighting out there is absolute garbage especially for coral color and growth.

It wasn't until I started experimenting with different colored LED bar lights, that the colors were arguably better than my MH setup. I had just a white with blue setup initially, but when I added a blue bar and a magenta bar, more of the coral colors started to "pop"!

Again, strictly an opinion :mrgreen:

I suppose. But I've seen AI tanks, Radion tanks, Vertex tanks. None of them have what I would consider MH quality corals, and by corals I'm referring to SPS. Maybe it's different for other types, I know my LPS look the same or better. So I guess my opinion is solely based on SPS tanks.

I know right? :mrgreen:
I've been wanting to start this poll for a while...:twised:

It's fun to watch the Canreef Trolls go toe-to-toe :razz:

Plus I think we all will learn something from this one:mrgreen:

I use MH and HO power compact actinics
upside the colours are pretty and i have enough light for most creatures
downside is the heat produced
my hydro bill went up about 20.00 per month maybe when i switched
from t5s and power compacts.:wof:

I used T5's on my 75 gallon and liked them better than the MH's I'm using now but not the frequent bulb change outs . Now that I'm rebuilding I'm looking at the possibility of changing out the MH's to LED for the power savings and to reduce the amount of heat released into the room.

So if someone gave you a few GHL mitras you wouldn't use them? Doesn't matter if you have the money or not, take that right out of the equation. If you had the option to run as many of whatever LED fixture you wanted, would you still stick with your halides? Doubtful....

I don't buy it, you'd use them if you could justify the cost ;)

If it had been more economical for me to install a HRV unit, I would have stayed with MH, even if someone gave me Mitras, which, by the way, I don't really like.

Metal Halides vs. T5's vs. LED's vs. Ecofriendly Bulbs Which is better?
 

I used to like watching Black and White TVs when that's all I had...

:)

Honestly, I don't really need any justification for buying anything in this hobby. The hobby is one luxury purchase after another and to me you just can't justify luxury purchases.

As for the lights themselves, no, if someone gave me 3 mitras today I would likely sell them if my current MH+T5 wasn't broken. If my Halide fixture was broken I would consider using the Mitras but would first look for a replacement MH+T5 fixture.

It really boils down to personal preference does it not? It's like arguing which apple is better, a Macintosh apple or Gala apple. If someone prefers Macintosh apples you can't tell them that they are wrong, or that they would prefer Gala apples if they were cheaper ?

I think my previous reply already answered this. LED lighting is not for me simply because I don't like them, and no, I would not change my current set up even if somebody gave me a GHL Mitras for free. Different strokes for different folks ........get it?

And the MH people have nicer SPS -lol

That's a different topic, and I dare you to open it! :lol:

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...an-o-worms.gif

It's just fact. :) Again, SPS color is also a matter of opinion. BTW, gala is better.

Lemme put some kerosene in the fire:

"LED is just a trend! Period!"

:behindsofa:

but let's face it, we are at a great time in this hobby where there are a butt load of options for just about every aspect of this hobby from filtration, salt, supplementation to lighting. They all work. There are fabulous tanks using all the various LED/T5/Halide units out there. There are tonnes of people who love their LED/T5/Halide fixtures. Everyone has different needs, tastes and preferences. In my opinion, the answer to the thread question, "which is better" is, the light fixture that you like. What you like is defined by a set of criteria which only you know. That is unless you're the type of person who prefers that other people tell you what you should and should not like :-)

I like my Hamilton Belize MH/T5HO... I don't find the heat generated by any MH a concern, nor the overall cost to operate, and it just works. Bulbs are not costly either overall.

However, I am seeing many LED's for sale, seen may units at LFS with defective fans, lights, etc... I don't have this problem with MH, so I just stick with it for now, future you never know.

I use a radion in my tank and I do like it. BUT I do consider going back to mh as I really don't like some of the color loss. The only thing that stopped me so far is spike in temp and evaporation. I used geissmenn 21k and loved them

Another thing to add to LED lore I've discovered is that many of them may need controllers to vary their output. :microwav:

I've overheard many reefers using 100% light intensity instead of dialing it down to say 30% off the hop...and I wonder if this is contributing to color loss?:rainbowa:

Yeah I get it and and I use to be on your side of the fence, at one point almost switched back to MH/T5 after being thoroughly disappointed. However with the better full spectrum LED fixtures I think pretty much all issues relating to color are gone. Sure some colors are better under halides, however some are better under LEDs and once you get things tuned appropriately and the corals have adjusted to the lighting the color losses you experienced fade away. So with color and blending issues out of the picture all you have left are advantages.

Regardless what the shrinking minority might have to say, the majority will go with LEDs simply because they are better :mrgreen:

Switched from Mh (2x 400w) to LED about two months ago. I find that my sps is actually doing better now, more growth and coloring is great.
I think that just using blue and white led like many of the "older" led fixtures used caused issues by not having proper full spectrum, but now many led fixtures are incorperating different temps of white 4000k up to 14 000k, and other colors, like violet, red, green ect, which seems to be helping with growth and coloration issues.
It is a newish technology so as things progress it can only get better and better, and cheaper.
Oh and the leds I got are cheap chinese made ones custom ordered to try get best spectrum possible. They make my tank look great, it was like going from a plain tube tv to an HD tv.

MH + T5

Just wait until we start talking about plasma!:silly:

I use T5 lighting and get excellent coral growth with both SPS and LPS. I will be adding LEDs as supplemental lighting to my tank just to get the shimmer and the extra pop that comes with the RB LEDs. I won't be going full LED anytime soon though. MH and T5 have the full spectrum of lighting down pat where it is too iffy for me with the LEDs. Great lighting to include with the MH and/or T5 but not for full coverage IMO. LPS and softie tank only... Then yes, full LEDs all the way. SPS... No dice.

MH+T5 for me.
Same reasons, color spectrum.

HOWEVER I am thinking of LEDs in the future for Heat, running cost and space reasons.
I've held off to let the spectrum issue catch up.

How cool would it be to have OLED? imagine the possibilities!:olympic: :rainbow1:

I don't really think I would say steves display tank at red coral in Edmonton looks too bad and he's using leds. The spectrum issue is catching up, but the manufacturers are letting us DIY people test everything out for them. The manufactured units are a ways behind the DIY crowd except maybe for the mitra.

And I think it speaks for itself that led outnumber mh by almost 3:1 in this vote so far :)

Although, while I have to vote LED as that is what I use, I do think MH is a better light source for my needs.
I don't think anyone, including me has said that LED tanks don't look good, they sure do. I don't think I've seen a bad LED tank. I'm just saying that while my tank is still nice, it was nicer with my MH. Maybe not noticeably, but I still see the difference.
For my current needs, the benefits of LED outweigh the slight difference MH made, and I'll stick with LED. In fact I just ordered one more for my frag tank.

But, if I had more money than I could count, and built my dream tank with appropriate ventilation and cooling, I would go with MH lighting.

It goes the other way as well, while many vote for T5s and Halide I would wager most of these users would prefer to run some kind of LED if it was financially feasible. On the other hand the amount of people running LEDs that would switch back are probably pretty scarce. Personally if you're a light snob like me the sols are not the right LEDs to use. I've never liked the color or effect from them and the full spectrum fixtures available today are significantly better for color. Anyone that's used them both will likely agree. So brad while you seem to suggest the sols are only slightly worse than your previous halides that would also suggest if you had full spectrum fixtures you might be back on par or better. But of course I know you don't like them :rolleyes: