You can disagree, I don't mind. It would be a pretty boring world if we all agreed.
I don't think buying T5s is cheaping out on equipment. If someone really has the money burning a hole in the pocket spend it on a Bubble King skimmer instead of LED lighting - that will pay off better for a newbie in the end than some fancy schmancy lighting setup. I seem to remember SOMEONE's (looking at you fishytime) beautiful SPS tank that was lit by T5s.
Considering the average reef hobbyist has been in the hobby for 18 months it is safe to say that the average reef hobbyist jumps ship before ever doing too much. I don't see why a newbie should spend thousands of dollars on lighting with a high risk of not being in the hobby 2 years down the road.
I have T5s on my LPS/Zoa tank, and I have zero interest in "upgrading" to LEDs on that tank. There is no reason as there would be very limited electrical savings, and a few bulbs a year...whoopdedo. I've been on the fence for the last 6 months thinking about buying a couple Mitras for my SPS tank, but I haven't seen an LED lit SPS tank yet that has the same the results (mainly growth, also color) as halides.
The cost of replacing bulbs is about the same as the cost of salt over a year...really not that significant. The reefer will likely spend much more money on livestock. So all this LED money savings yipyap really doesn't interest me. I'm interested in real life results. I couldn't care less about the extra $200 a year I spend on my halides when I just spent more than that today on one single coral.
The argment makes no sense to me.
I don't think LEDs are the be all end all, neither are halides nor T5s. Different lights for different situations.
