Ok, let's hear it!

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by kien

These threads are fun. It's pretty much the only thing worth talking about in reefing these days. Or those days too. And probably days to come.

Hahahaha. Well this and whether that Such'n'such paly is indeed a true Tyree. Without these topis most of the forums wouldn't exist and we'd have nothing to bicker about


I'm starting to wish I had the best of both worlds. I love the flat look of T5s for the evening/actinics, I love how LEDs make colours pop (in particular the royal blue and true violet's for actinic) but I love, love, love my metal halide for daytime colour. I have all of the above on my tanks (MH + T5 on one, LED on the other).

For the small tank I'm loving the LED because there is no other way of generating that much light in a small package without cooking the tank, so I say that LED wins for nano tanks hands down. The fact that I am growing SPS in my nano without any filtration as fast (maybe even faster) than my big tank with equally good coloration has me as a firm believer. That said, I find the light at high noon just lacks the same oomph that my halide has.

On the big tank the MH is a rocks star. It just looks awesome. You get great shimmer lines (without the disco effect that LEDs give you), so the tank tends to look more lively and natural. I find T5 look a little flat as a main lighting option. I have a chiller on the big tank, so I really don't give a hoot about the heat really - tank stays a rock solid 79F right through the hotest days of summer (I've actually had more heat issues with the nano). However, at night time I look at the big tank and then look at the nano and sigh when I see colours exploding out of the nano like someone sent Hunter S. Thompson on an acid trip with a backpack full of fireworks and neon paint.

So what I'm now thinking might happen is that I'm going to try a DIY replacement for the T5s on my halide fixture and put in a mix of RB, TV and RGB.