Metal Halides vs. T5's vs. LED's vs. Ecofriendly Bulbs Which is better?

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Carrera75

I think my previous reply already answered this. LED lighting is not for me simply because I don't like them, and no, I would not change my current set up even if somebody gave me a GHL Mitras for free. Different strokes for different folks ........get it?

Yeah I get it and and I use to be on your side of the fence, at one point almost switched back to MH/T5 after being thoroughly disappointed. However with the better full spectrum LED fixtures I think pretty much all issues relating to color are gone. Sure some colors are better under halides, however some are better under LEDs and once you get things tuned appropriately and the corals have adjusted to the lighting the color losses you experienced fade away. So with color and blending issues out of the picture all you have left are advantages.

Regardless what the shrinking minority might have to say, the majority will go with LEDs simply because they are better

[chewie]

Switched from Mh (2x 400w) to LED about two months ago. I find that my sps is actually doing better now, more growth and coloring is great.
I think that just using blue and white led like many of the "older" led fixtures used caused issues by not having proper full spectrum, but now many led fixtures are incorperating different temps of white 4000k up to 14 000k, and other colors, like violet, red, green ect, which seems to be helping with growth and coloration issues.
It is a newish technology so as things progress it can only get better and better, and cheaper.
Oh and the leds I got are cheap chinese made ones custom ordered to try get best spectrum possible. They make my tank look great, it was like going from a plain tube tv to an HD tv.

[Lance]

MH + T5

[11purewater]

Just wait until we start talking about plasma!

[Spyd]

I use T5 lighting and get excellent coral growth with both SPS and LPS. I will be adding LEDs as supplemental lighting to my tank just to get the shimmer and the extra pop that comes with the RB LEDs. I won't be going full LED anytime soon though. MH and T5 have the full spectrum of lighting down pat where it is too iffy for me with the LEDs. Great lighting to include with the MH and/or T5 but not for full coverage IMO. LPS and softie tank only... Then yes, full LEDs all the way. SPS... No dice.

[Rogue951]

MH+T5 for me.
Same reasons, color spectrum.

HOWEVER I am thinking of LEDs in the future for Heat, running cost and space reasons.
I've held off to let the spectrum issue catch up.

[somewherebeyondthesea]

How cool would it be to have OLED? imagine the possibilities!

[Baldy]

I don't really think I would say steves display tank at red coral in Edmonton looks too bad and he's using leds. The spectrum issue is catching up, but the manufacturers are letting us DIY people test everything out for them. The manufactured units are a ways behind the DIY crowd except maybe for the mitra.

And I think it speaks for itself that led outnumber mh by almost 3:1 in this vote so far

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Baldy

And I think it speaks for itself that led outnumber mh by almost 3:1 in this vote so far

Although, while I have to vote LED as that is what I use, I do think MH is a better light source for my needs.
I don't think anyone, including me has said that LED tanks don't look good, they sure do. I don't think I've seen a bad LED tank. I'm just saying that while my tank is still nice, it was nicer with my MH. Maybe not noticeably, but I still see the difference.
For my current needs, the benefits of LED outweigh the slight difference MH made, and I'll stick with LED. In fact I just ordered one more for my frag tank.

But, if I had more money than I could count, and built my dream tank with appropriate ventilation and cooling, I would go with MH lighting.

[sphelps]

It goes the other way as well, while many vote for T5s and Halide I would wager most of these users would prefer to run some kind of LED if it was financially feasible. On the other hand the amount of people running LEDs that would switch back are probably pretty scarce. Personally if you're a light snob like me the sols are not the right LEDs to use. I've never liked the color or effect from them and the full spectrum fixtures available today are significantly better for color. Anyone that's used them both will likely agree. So brad while you seem to suggest the sols are only slightly worse than your previous halides that would also suggest if you had full spectrum fixtures you might be back on par or better. But of course I know you don't like them