T5HO vs MH! Ahhhhhhh the confusion!

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

What about supplementing with LEDs? I have 2t5hos and vertex illuminux on my tank. I just checked pricing and you should be able to pick up at a reasonable price. This gives my tank the shimmer and I get great coral growth. Then you are still only changing 2 bulbs, no heat issues and not breaking the bank.

Those are still above $250 which is kinda too much for me right now to spend

[kien]

I would put a couple of kessil LEDs over that tank myself. The kessil 350 puts out a lot of light for half the cost of a radion. A lot of people are growing SPS under kessils.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by kien

I would put a couple of kessil LEDs over that tank myself. The kessil 350 puts out a lot of light for half the cost of a radion. A lot of people are growing SPS under kessils.

I wish they were within my budget

[mike31154]

L E D. Upfront cost may be higher than T5HO or MH these days, but in the long haul, they will save you $$$$s when you start to factor in bulb changes, which are not generally required with L E D. Radion has all the bells & whistles, many of which we never had using T5 & MH, so if you can do without all those b&w's, there are plenty of cost effective L E D solutions out there. Won't be long & T5 tube & MH bulb selection will be even harder to source. If cost is really that much of an issue, keep your current T5 set up & DIY a L E D supplement of some sort.

[Coralgurl]

Ya, a bit pricey still (i hadnt looked at pricing on them in a while, thought they would have dropped a bit more) but you would save the difference with 1 set of bulb changes. Go with the t5's.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by mike31154

L E D. Upfront cost may be higher than T5HO or MH these days, but in the long haul, they will save you $$$$s when you start to factor in bulb changes, which are not generally required with L E D. Radion has all the bells & whistles, many of which we never had using T5 & MH, so if you can do without all those b&w's, there are plenty of cost effective L E D solutions out there. Won't be long & T5 tube & MH bulb selection will be even harder to source. If cost is really that much of an issue, keep your current T5 set up & DIY a L E D supplement of some sort.

I tried DIY led once but the cost started building up so I stopped. LED do save lot of money in the long run but I really don't want to spend on it since after graduation (hopefully by the end of next year), I will definitely be getting an LED because I believe price of LEDs will drop SEVERELY (possibly by 50%+) with way cooler techs. I just need something that will keep my corals pretty for a year or something.

Look at how radions keep on changing their models. And to make things worse, they only reimburse USA customers

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

Ya, a bit pricey still (i hadnt looked at pricing on them in a while, thought they would have dropped a bit more) but you would save the difference with 1 set of bulb changes. Go with the t5's.

LED prices are not dropping any time soon till China comes up with something like Rad-ions LED :P

Yah I can see people are not for MH. T5s my options i presume.

Thanks for the suggestions

[Coralgurl]

All LEDs will continue to evolve as time goes, less than a year ago, people didn't think LEDs could sustain a reef. Ecotech will keep upgrading their models, us first gens paid a premium for them, 2nd gen offers more for less $$$. Jump in when you can, there will be more options available when you do, and 6 months after that, prices will have dropped again and there will be even better products available.

4 bulbs a year will cost close to $160-200 to replace- there's your fixture but you have to live within your budget, once you r done school, you'll be able to do more - like a bigger set up

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

All LEDs will continue to evolve as time goes, less than a year ago, people didn't think LEDs could sustain a reef. Ecotech will keep upgrading their models, us first gens paid a premium for them, 2nd gen offers more for less $$$. Jump in when you can, there will be more options available when you do, and 6 months after that, prices will have dropped again and there will be even better products available.

4 bulbs a year will cost close to $160-200 to replace- there's your fixture but you have to live within your budget, once you r done school, you'll be able to do more - like a bigger set up

Haha. Yah that's the most and still half of 2nd hand radions :P

Oh yah once I am done with my school and get a job, I will stop counting gallons and start counting tanks by dimensions

[Coralgurl]

Radions aren't the only option, just an expensive one. My Illuminux can be expanded and is programmable, but I just have it on a light timer and don't plan on expanding it.