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..

[Masonjames]

Originally Posted by reefwars

What's your opinion on leds and fungus with zoanthids?

I don't have an opinion but now I'm curious if I should have. Can ya go a little deeper on this one Denny? Interested to hear your take.

[neoh]

I run a Vertex Illumina SR260 48" over a 72" tank at the moment. I get great spread despite the size over the tank, very few dark spots, and the shimmer is perfect.

Though looking at my tank when it had T5's over it, to the eye - it definitely seems more pleasing. I've currently got them set to 25W/80B/80RB over 12 hours with a 2 hour ramp up/down.

The only down side to all of this, is I've had really painfully slow growth across the board. SPS? Forget about it.. and some corals completely hate it. I've had a wall hammer for 4 months that has yet to open. It's not dying, but it sure as hell isn't doing anything, despite it's placement. It still hasn't acclimated to the LED's it seems.

I think the way to go these days is an LED/T5 combo! Best of both worlds.

[harlequin01]

I had an evergrow led on my 40 gal but switched back to T5 and loved the depth of colors and brightness. I used only actinic blue and fiji pinks on my 4 bulb T5

[nrosdal]

i went from mh to led and couldn't be happier. Never used t5 but have seen friends add t5s to existing leds to fill gaps in spectrum with positive results.

[Ram3500]

I went from t5 five bulb to mh to LEDs . I was happy with the mh but I hated the issues with trying to keep the tank cool. I now run two Kessil a360w it's been three months and I couldn't be happier. My sps growth hasn't slowed I feel that it may have even increase . The versatility is amazing I love being able to change the look through out the day. The best part about the Kessil is no disco ball . I like the look of t5 but I like the look of a open top better and shimmer is a must for me .