Lights

[chi]

Switching back to t5's as LEDs can't truly provide sufficient UV. You can tell that there's no UV sterilizers that uses LED for our hobby. Nor UV tanning salons. That being said. The photons emitted via electricity through gas medium produces a much more even spread. I noticed that my anemones have much better colouration under t5's.

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[dino]

To be clear I'm still going to use my led but want to add another fixture. Just wondering what I should use for the extra unit. My led have uv bulbs on them

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by chi

Switching back to t5's as LEDs can't truly provide sufficient UV. You can tell that there's no UV sterilizers that uses LED for our hobby. Nor UV tanning salons. That being said. The photons emitted via electricity through gas medium produces a much more even spread. I noticed that my anemones have much better colouration under t5's.

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They make LEDs for sterilization and tanning beds so I'm not what your assumptions are based on. It's all fairly new technology so certainly not the most common yet but options are available if you care to look. Most LED fixtures these days also have LEDs that produce light in the UV range so I don't believe there's much advantage using other light sources over LED for the sole purpose of providing more UV.

At any rate I think all lighting options have draw backs. T5 only tanks look amazing in pictures due to the even light distribution but IMO look flat in person and lack contrast. Halides on the other hand go too far in the other direction and lack the ability to evenly light a tank and bring good light and color to all corals and areas. The combination of the two however gives you best of both. LEDs are no different and will lack certain things when used solely, however out of the three they are best on their own IMO, provided you use the right fixture. That said supplementing with T5s will obviously produce better results but often won't be worth the effort for most people.

[iamfrontosa]

google ecotech coral lab

[adam84]

I am now running a few T5s along with my leds, true actinic and coral plus for a few hours in the middle of my lighting cycle, getting deeper color from most corals.

[DKoKoMan]

Originally Posted by iamfrontosa

google ecotech coral lab

Good read! Nice setup for sure.

[Default]

Originally Posted by chi

Switching back to t5's as LEDs can't truly provide sufficient UV. You can tell that there's no UV sterilizers that uses LED for our hobby. Nor UV tanning salons. That being said. The photons emitted via electricity through gas medium produces a much more even spread. I noticed that my anemones have much better colouration under t5's.

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Thats because UV leds are very expensive. I use 365nm and 220nm UV leds for my business and just the LEDs alone are over 150USD each. Dentists have been using UV LEDS for over a decade and same with the NDT industry.
I dont see the price coming down on them as there is a very limited market for UV LEDS.