how many went from led back to t5

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

haha, yah, if it came off like I was saying it was a good thing that it took a year I didn't type it right. All my corals go through a tantrum under the radions for at least a few months. They ultimately end up growing, but part of me wonders what my tank would look like if there hadn't been months to a year of suspended animation on so many of my colonies.

Also, I realized last weekend that on two of my fixtures, the white channel had burnt out completely on half of the fixture. Trying to get in touch with Ecotech to figure out how to fix it because they're well out of warranty. I'm not thrilled about that. 50,000 hours my rear end.

If you end up stuck bring it to me at concept and ill see if I can help you out

[Delphinus]

I always liked the look of tanks with t5's.

Like sphelps hinted at though (at least I think he was going there) for me the push away from t5's is really the changeout schedule. I seem to recall that you can push their lifespan up a little with active cooling but I don't think a lot of units offer that (plus the downside of white noise from the fans) which means they start needing replacements at around 8 months. I use t5's for supplementing and I notice a falloff in intensity visible to human eyes by around 2 months. Then of course by 8 months you should be staggering the changeout so as not to shock the system by changing them all out at once. When I look at these new ATI units, I like the sleekness of them and the promise they offer but a part of me is thinking "wow that is a lot of t5's". Not that each lamp is expensive on its own but when you look at 8+ of them every 8 months it's going to be noticeable. Plus I seem to recall SOMEBODY continually promising to order the t5's I needed and then week after week after week it would be all the same story "sorry buddy, didn't order them yet, but for sure next week."

I still use t'5s but for supplementing, for my 30" deep tank though I think I'd go back to halides before I'd go all t5's instead of the LED's on there now. But I hope to get a frag tank online and planning on using all t5's for that..

[wreck]

Well sorry if this question has been beat to death before . I hadnt seen a thread on this (shoukd have used the search function). Of course there is no right or wrong answer. I just was curious how many people had switched back...

[kien]

Originally Posted by wreck

I just was curious how many people had switched back...

Sounds like this thread could have used a poll...

[waynemah]

Going from LED to T5 point form...

Heaters don't turn on nearly as much anymore, so my power consumption actually dropped. Hydras (570w) vs T5 (640w). Power supplies for the Hydras still pull energy when the light is off and I ran them for a much longer photoperiod.

I'm unable to change the temperature of my tank though, it's set at 27C during the day and 26C at night.

Tank is much brighter now and less dead spots. I should have purchased more LED's for my tank in the first place.

Shimmer is gone, to me this is a bonus as it gave me a headache before.

Bulb replacements are paid for with the additional growth. I'm planning on extending the bulb replacement time to 12 months.

Corals seem to look different... Some look better, some look worse. Mainly anything that has multi-color seems more pronounced, but greens look bland now.

PH somehow is in normal range now, this could be due to tank maturity but only happened after the switch. From 7.9-8.0 to 8.2-8.5.

Crazy difference in evaporation... It literally doubled. Not very happy about this, but enclosing the upper portion and having the fan run 24/7 seems to keep the humidity at bay.

No more confusing programming light cycles.

Bulb choices are borderline infinite. Luckily I'm happy with my first bulb choice based on many peoples experience.

No more epic Blue time, where the corals pop and everything looks from outer space... lol

Burnt myself a few times reaching in to save a frag... Once on the forehead ouch.

[Samw]

I've been running a 36" 5-bulb T5HO fixture for about 3 years and have not been able to get the same success as I had before with my MH. It has been a disaster.

My T5-only trial is over. It'll be up for salel soon. I just received my 2 new Ecoxotic Panorama Marine fixtures and they look really nice and bright. I will add a 2-bulb T5HO fixture to complement the 2 new LED fixtures.

[Kwood]

But WHAT IF the grass really IS greener on the other side? Well, time to switch to solar tubes ... Ya, bet you didn't see that coming.

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Kwood

But WHAT IF the grass really IS greener on the other side? Well, time to switch to solar tubes ... Ya, bet you didn't see that coming.

Haha, in Toronto? You'd need to put your solar tube on a track like they use in an observatory to keep it pointed directly at the sun all year!

[Kwood]

Id still be coming in at under 100w. And dont even get me started on bulb changes... Do you know how hard it is to find quality replacement suns these days? sheesh, its hard out here for a pimp

[LoJack]

Originally Posted by waynemah

Going from LED to T5 point form...

Heaters don't turn on nearly as much anymore, so my power consumption actually dropped. Hydras (570w) vs T5 (640w). Power supplies for the Hydras still pull energy when the light is off and I ran them for a much longer photoperiod.

I'm unable to change the temperature of my tank though, it's set at 27C during the day and 26C at night.

Tank is much brighter now and less dead spots. I should have purchased more LED's for my tank in the first place.

Shimmer is gone, to me this is a bonus as it gave me a headache before.

Bulb replacements are paid for with the additional growth. I'm planning on extending the bulb replacement time to 12 months.

Corals seem to look different... Some look better, some look worse. Mainly anything that has multi-color seems more pronounced, but greens look bland now.

PH somehow is in normal range now, this could be due to tank maturity but only happened after the switch. From 7.9-8.0 to 8.2-8.5.

Crazy difference in evaporation... It literally doubled. Not very happy about this, but enclosing the upper portion and having the fan run 24/7 seems to keep the humidity at bay.

No more confusing programming light cycles.

Bulb choices are borderline infinite. Luckily I'm happy with my first bulb choice based on many peoples experience.

No more epic Blue time, where the corals pop and everything looks from outer space... lol

Burnt myself a few times reaching in to save a frag... Once on the forehead ouch.

+1 for me

The biggest improvements getting away from LED for me were the lack of shadows in the tank from non point source lighting.

The disco ball effect is gone thankfully

Everything is easier to photograph in my tank without the LED oversaturation/underexposure effect on cameras

The look to the naked eye is so much more appealing now, crisp and even lighting.

I've noticed a few cons though as well.

Evaporation for sure, and tied to that temperature. Tank used to sit at 78 consistently, I'm up a whole degree with the T5's, but I also run an enclosed canopy.