LED VS T5, Which do u prefer?

[finind]

the difficult part to diy led is to get the right LED

[sherman]

To decide what LED to use you must know what you are going to keep.

How much light you need in order to keep them.(First taking MH as a reference)

What is your tank size especially the height.

[sherman]

Need to know more this link may help

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature2

[desideria]

I go for LED... electricity and heat issues. and also because my setup doesn't really have too many light demanding corals.

[DUCADOS]

for me i choose LED if no budget coz not so hot...

and also brighter...

[Fishyfish]

Here's my take based on my personal opinions.

Cost: LED has high startup cost. T5 need to change tube frequently. I think LED is slightly more expensive in the long run (you still need to replace LED every 4 - 5 yrs to maintain its PAR output) . (T5)

Colour and Effect : Easier to match colour combination on T5. Many claims T5 has wider spectrum that makes corals looks nicer but the light is more "flat" visually. LED has more shimmering. The higher end LED lightset can adjust light intensity of the blue and white LEDs independently. Imagine you can set any range from 0 - 100% more blue intensity to show the luminosity of the coral and yet at the same time do not distort the colour of the fishes. The Royal Blue LEDs are wicked. LED also has dawn to dusk mode so you do not switch on/off and startle the fishes. Will leave this as a tie (T5/ LED)

Heat: Everyone says LED lightset produces less heat. This is not true. LED generates a lot of heat. The only difference is that T5 radiates head towards the surface of the water but LED lightset has heatsink mounted away from the water surface and usually has a blower fan attached to assist with the heat dissipation. Hence the tank water is not heated up by LED (unlike T5, and worst MH) and the air surrounding the LED lightset is less warm as compared to T5. Using T5, with more heat directly towards the water will cause more evaporation, especially with small tanks. => need more frequent water top up. Will this cause higher parameter fluctuations in Nano tanks?? (LED)

Electrical Cost: Definitely LED lower and if you factor in the chiller kick in savings, the difference is even more substantial (LED)

Aesthetic : Most LED fixture are smaller, less bulky and looks more sleek and modern comparing to T5. Especially on open tanks. (LED)

Optics : Most LED has optics option. So you can change to different optics degree to give you different spread coverage and also intense focal point. T5 is well uniform spread across the length of the tube. For T5, you have to change the colour by tube. If you have a 4 tube set, the colour combination is in terms of 25% for each tube. For LED, you can change to from 1 to all of the LEDs to a different colour. add 5 royal blue LED, 3 UV LED etc.... more micro changes. Again LED has higher level of customization (LED)

Length: T5 has standard length. If you have a 2.5 ft tank, you choose a 2 ft length and it is a little under. you choose 3 feet and it looks weird on a 2. ft tank. Most LED has more flexible length. Example, AI or the new Mazarra comes in modular form. you choose the units required for your tank length. Eco-lamp has lightset in incremental of 6 inches. (LED)

Effectiveness: Personally I think both are on par in terms of effectiveness. LPS are definitely not an issue for either. For SPS, there are some reefers who are using higher end LED to good effect. The RC folks who uses AI LED claims wonders but I think no one can really comment on this until they have switch from T5 to LED or vice versa to make a good judgement call which is better. For now, I would still leave it that T5 is more effectiveness for SPS shallow tanks (T5)

Technology & future state : I am a techie guy. More keen in hip technologies. T5 can hardly offer anything worth exploring but LED... oh man.... so many features - thunderstorm, passing cloud, lunar cycle, built in timer, dusk/dawn mode, colours/optic customization, wireless control, modular expansionability...... there is and will be more research put into LED lightset R&D overf the next few years. (LED)

My Preference : Definitely LED

Bro, what are uv leds? Where to get? Available in par38? Thx!

[nanos]

http://reefbuilders.com/2012/01/08/led-showdown-finals/

I vote for LEDs. Less heat and less maintenance.

You could buy the SPS bar by fish street that is giving different spectrum of wavelengths and they are using Cree Leds.

[Guest]

Bro, what are uv leds? Where to get? Available in par38? Thx!

There is a new orphex pendant uv led from Henry , maybe you wanna check it out

[Jameshong]

There is a new orpex pendant uv led from Henry , maybe you wanna check it out

Hi boss,

Do you mean Orphek DIF pendant? or something new?

[Guest]

Hi boss,

Do you mean Orphek DIF pendant? or something new?

Oh yea, it;s the DIF pendant it come with full royal blue and 70 / 30 UV LEDs which is interesting ..

[kueytoc]

Nothing Beats the BEST...!!!

[Jameshong]

Nothing Beats the BEST...!!!

Lucky I have made the right choice.... :lol: !!!

[braincoral]

Nothing Beats the BEST...!!!

Exp toy!!!

But it is a damm good product of 2011

Debate for MH Vs T5 Vs Led forever go on..

But nothing beat the Sun!!

[Jamo]

I brought the dif 100 and dif 50, running for a 2-3 weeks already.

Haven't got time to write any review yet.

[Corga]

My vote goes to LED for all the reasons mentioned in the previous thread. But one real issue is the spread of the lighting. To get a wider spread you can change the optics but then you lose on the intensity.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[sunnymau]

I brought the dif 100 and dif 50, running for a 2-3 weeks already.

Haven't got time to write any review yet.

any update on the light?

[Nicolas]

Lets compare the best of both worlds will we. People who claim that T5 out perform LED clearly have never seen the high quality LED on the market right now....

...So again the title of the forum should be clear and compare the best of LED with the best of T5 and then people would see there is no comparison actualy as they are not even in the same league.

Cree LED are unlike anything else on the market right now and can not be compared with anything if it comes to PAR, Performance, Life span, Environment, Lumen per Watt, etc.....

This is exactly how it is. I absolute agree with you.

If you Never See what a propper LED fixture can do with all his possibilities and Some Crazy Colors like UV/Violet 390-420 nm, which can be a Reason why a Montipora Change his Color, you wont be able to be a part of this discussion.

Best regards

Nicolas

[dnsfpl]

wanted to change to LED, but the initial cost deters me

easily more than $2k

[MadScientist]

Led rox!

[s0n1c87]

I'll vote for led. Smaller save space and cheaper on electricity bills.

[ibanez]

I have been reefing for more than 8 years and i have tried T5, Led, Mh. . and most brands you have think of.

If you ask me, MH still gives the best results depesite the high electricty bills. LED is good, but it still doesn't give you the same effect as MH.

[mpshino]

i don't run chillers so i'm very wary of the heat produced by my equipment.

T5s running side by side is HOT. don't even wanna try MH.

LED for me.

[adrian_ych]

wanted to change to LED, but the initial cost deters me

easily more than $2k

I think nowadays, the LED strips goes like SGD10 to SGD 15 per meter. Just about 9 months back, the same ones were the same amount per feet.

There are new imports especially with the ultra-bright 24V LEDs too...

In Dec 2012, if the comparison between strips LED vs tube LEDs vs spot lamp LEDs vs MH using wattage and cost, you might want to consider a semi DIY LED strip using 5050 or 3014 chips.

http://www.flexfireleds.com/pages/Comparison-between-3528-LEDs-and-5050-LEDs.html

[[V]tEc]

I think nowadays, the LED strips goes like SGD10 to SGD 15 per meter. Just about 9 months back, the same ones were the same amount per feet.

There are new imports especially with the ultra-bright 24V LEDs too...

In Dec 2012, if the comparison between strips LED vs tube LEDs vs spot lamp LEDs vs MH using wattage and cost, you might want to consider a semi DIY LED strip using 5050 or 3014 chips.

http://www.flexfirel...-5050-LEDs.html

for led, proven is still cree, per chip is average USD 5 to 6. havent factor in the headsinks, drivers, etc.

a decent led set starts from $500 onwards. 4 ft need at least 4 of these.

[sherman]

I do not think this strip LED is good for reef and marine tank.

You need a high power,high flux and high PAR LED for reefing.

So far creditable LED is Cree,SSC, Nicha, Philip and Osram

Just to name a few.