Opinions on upgrading to LEDs!

[sphelps]

While I had some success with my DIY fixture it was a lot of work and in the end cost way more than it was worth. Also at the time I was planning my build full spectrum fixtures didn't exist or at least weren't available to me. I'd only ever consider another DIY approach for a smaller tank as there are limited alternative options for such tanks. My vote goes to the Mitras all the way, the AIs are old technology IMO and not worth the investment anymore, Radions have design issues IMO and not worth the investment either, the Vertex 260/360 are solid quality but probably cost more than the Mitras for most tanks so unless you really hate module/pendent style fixtures it doesn't make much sense.

[intarsiabox]

It's been awhile since I've been to Red Coral but Steve had all the different fixtures set up over various tanks so you can actually see them and what the effect is in person. All the fixtures are capable of growing coral and have color adjustment to suit your personal taste, the overall color is about the same for all of them running at 100%. Some fixtures have more spread than others but usually the more spread the higher the price of the fixture as well. There is a difference in software as far as ease of use and cutomizing but if you just want a sunrise/sunset feature they all have this as well. So as I stated earlier phone up Steve to verify he still has all the lights on display and go see them in person, black and white text does little to explain what a light fixture looks like in real life. I own and have owned a few different LED fixtures and all had pluses and minuses and all worked fine w/o any issues so I won't tell you one way or the other which to buy. BTW a 5x2x2 tank is 150 gallons.