I see LED in the future
 

This just might be the answer I was looking for to make the switch from T5 HO to LED, the advances in this hobby have always surprised me and my wallet :biggrin: http://www.euroquatics.com/

I'm really looking forward to seeing one of these in person. Instant hybrid without the insane cost!

I saw a video they look pretty darn good, just waiting for the 20k and coral pinks to be released!

I wonder what the cost will be.

Marine Depot is selling them now, however with the low loonie plus shipping and duties I think it's worth the wait for a Canadian Dist.

$70 a piece for 48" marine depot carries them

Thats a fair bit of change in US $ all right.
They are supposed to last 8 yrs before replacement though

Too bad MD doesn't ship light bulbs internationally otherwise I probably would have placed an order today, at $75 for one 48" tube that's a big savings compared to $25 for one T5 a year I pay right now, not to mention the decrease of 54Wts to 15Wts savings.

So its an led packed into a tube , but not an accent strip type retrofit ? Will be amazing if the performance is there , but I did notice no par readings , yes I know led and t5 measure different blah blah blah but some numbers would be good to compare against traditional led fixtures on power and light spread.

Pricey for sure, I don't see the savings here compared to T5HO. Plug & Play is all well & good, but if you're using the existing ballast(s) in your fixture, the electrical consumption may well be higher than the actual rating of the LED tube and who's to say it will last for the advertised number of years. Some kind of driver has to be built into the tube to convert the power the ballast is pumping out to a level the LEDs can handle, meaning electronics that are not repairable which could fail at any time. Not trying to be too negative here, just asking some questions before paying that kind of money just because it fits into an existing fixture. May be better off paying for a designed for LED fixture.

Having said that, I've purchased two 2 packs of PNP T8/T12 LED tubes & stuck them into old fluorescent fixtures I have in the basement & kitchen. I must say they work great, brighter than the old gas tubes. But the 2 packs cost less than $30 each at Costco in Kelowna. Not for aquarium, but same technology, fairly cool colour temperature. You're considering spending more than $70 on a single tube, I have 4 for $60. Might want to wait a bit to see if there will be some competition in the future to bring the price down on LED tubes for our hobby.

Something I might do is put a watt meter on the fixtures I've put the LED tubes into to confirm how much power I'm saving as opposed to when the gas tubes were in there.