Couple shots running mh/t5 vs Diy led
 

Just wanted to show a couple shots of my tank after switching to mh/t5 from a diy led setup.

The Diy led pics are a lot more purple, was probably a lot to do with my photo taking skills/editing. Regardless I find the mh/t5 far superior to MY diy led(72 cree rb, 24 cree cw, 24 high noon) Definitely not full spectrum by any stretch.

DiY led pic.
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/...5_edited-1.jpg

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/...4_edited-1.jpg
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/...edited-1-2.jpg


And the MH/t5 after 3.5 months.

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/...edited-1-1.jpg

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/...7_edited-1.jpg

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/...edited-1-1.jpg

Yes the halides look much better but your LED spectrum is much more limited. I too went through the same process but if you spend enough time and money on your DIY fixture you will get it to a point you're happy with but you have a long way to go, as in 5 more channels of color. Blue is an absolute must, then comes red and green (or cyan). After that you can decide if adding UV and yellow is worth while. It can get quite complicated and tedious which is why I find DIY these days less productive than just buying a decent fixture, these you can see running before you invest so you pick the one that best suits your taste, thus eliminating the trial and error that comes with DIY.

Interesting.. did you switch back simply for aesthetics or were you having problems with your LED fixture? What bulbs are you running ?

What kind/temp are the MH bulbs? And choice of T5 bulbs?

Technically speaking I agree but without being able to adjust the peaks the broad spectrum within the white LEDs the results are not as good. I find CWs in particular to wash color out and replacing some of the output from them with a RGB setup makes a significant difference. In the LED world as far as the terminology goes white doesn't mean full spectrum.

so when will we see your LED fixture up for sale :wink:

The mh bulbs are 15k eBay bulbs, 1 Fiji purple, 2 blue plus, blue special.

I switched to the mh/t5, because I had only ran the DIY led on the tank, and felt it was lacking color, and maybe a bit of growth. So far I am liking the my/t5 combo for both color and growth. I will probably run the mh until LEDs/plasma have run their course( don't really have the funds to be buying new stuff every 6 months). Once they get it some what figured out I will probably switch back.

Haha not sure if I will ever sell it. It was my first attempt at "electrical", and my soldering skills were something to be desired. I have a canopy so I can hide the mess it is.

I think they have figured it out. It's called a Mitras. :biggrin:

Touché.

My wallet isn't that deep though, and I'm sure in 6 months there will be a new "Mitras".