Dropping leds and going back to MH w/ t5's

[RedSoloCup]

Just purchased a 125g rr tank. Looking to get a trigger sys sump 36x15x16. Confused on lighting. Read alot on ReefBreaders led lights and am leaning towards (2) 32" Photons. Then ran into a thread talking about dropping leds and going back to MH w/t5's :blown:

The confusion comes in where previous reefers using mh &t5 lights then went to led lights and felt there was no growth on leds. :sad1:

But then I have read reffers using the Photon by Reef Breeders mentioned how the colors poped and growth and health of corals was excellent. :lolspin:

The skeptics on leds did buy quality led units but were NOT happy. :worried2:

I plan to start off growing different corals, and if what is true with what some members have reviewed positively on the Photon with good growth that is what I want. :dance:

If all is crazy talk because they like what their eyes see and growth is exaggerated then I want something tried and true. I was tring to prevent additional heat sources. :headwally:

Please advise your opinions from the experts.

Thanks,
RedSoloCup

[Nace]

LED, MH, and T5 all work. People have different success with each and some people are die hard enthusiasts of one over the other.

Going from MH to T5 or LED will take awhile for your tank to get used to, in most situations.

A lot of people that switch back away from LED have been keeping tanks for years and are used to what MH of T5 does without really having to pay attention. From what I have read (I have never had LED) is that it takes awhile for most to find the "sweet spot" with LED lights.

If you want to try LEDs there is no reason not too. MH and T5 have been around longer and thus are more "proven".

Why did you want to go with LEDs in the first place? Electric cost, heat, custom-ability?

[RedSoloCup]

LED, MH, and T5 all work. People have different success with each and some people are die hard enthusiasts of one over the other.

Going from MH to T5 or LED will take awhile for your tank to get used to, in most situations.

A lot of people that switch back away from LED have been keeping tanks for years and are used to what MH of T5 does without really having to pay attention. From what I have read (I have never had LED) is that it takes awhile for most to find the "sweet spot" with LED lights.

If you want to try LEDs there is no reason not too. MH and T5 have been around longer and thus are more "proven".

Why did you want to go with LEDs in the first place? Electric cost, heat, custom-ability?

[nlgill13]

Vivid Aquarium did a test on the difference of LEDs and MHs on there 800 gallon mixed reef.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpJM-EIrPI0

[RedSoloCup]

I want to design a canopy so I feel heat will be a problem for 2 reasons. Using MH light with t5 it wouldn't be wise to enclose the fixture(s). Plus the added temps to the display, I didn't want to get into a situation where I had to cool the tank.

I am still open to other options if it is possable to direct light into the tank and now washout the living room and keep temps down with quiet fans.

[davocean]

First off, not all LEDs are equal, and I see so many getting cheap knock offs expecting quality results.
I personally run T5's and LED strips, growth, color, cool temps, efficient, shimmer, works fine for me.
ATI has a great hybrid that incorporates this, awesome unit, something worth looking at.
I see a lot of public aquariums swapping to LEDs, I doubt they did it w/out a bit of research before doing so.

[RedSoloCup]

nlgill13 thanks for the link it was quite helpful. Davocean thanks for your input also.

I think I will go with the reef breeders 2 x's 32" to cover 72" with 90 degree optics. This will prevent heat build up and the bulb replacement annually.

In the back of my mind ppl not satisfied with leds are as you said Dav, purchased knock offs with poor quality leds. Had trouble maybe dialing in the new lights and not acclimating their corals to the change over. Could be a number of reasons.

Since I am just starting out I can be more selective choosing my livestock for my conditions.

Each tank is different and I plan to enjoy this hobby and learn along the way.

Thanks for your comments.

[jdstank]

An alternative to the RB's are Ocean Revive units. There are several models available. I switched over 3 months ago to the S026 and have been very happy. I keep about 40% softies, 50% LPS and 10% SPS as well as a green LTA and a couple rock nems in addition to the livestock. Everything in the tank has responded very well, only took about 3 weeks to get things dialed in with the blue/white balance. Growth has been slightly better than my previous T5 setup of an ATI unit using 4 36" bulbs (using 2 of the S026 units to replace the T5's). Heat is a non-issue, they have great heatsinks that direct the heat out and away from the units. I haven't really checked my light bill to see what the difference is, likely negligible at best as these are rated at 120W each I believe (rarely run over 60% on the blue channel and about 30% white) and my T5's were 156W combined - so overall I'm probably about equal but that's not why I switched. My primary reason was long term cost of bulbs and ease of mixing colors. You can get cheap T5 but experience says cheap bulbs = poor results. The ATI bulbs were far and away the best. Mixing colors however was an investment in new bulbs rather than just adjusting the knob.

I think you'll probably end up seeing just as many people leaving MH/T5 for LED as those leaving LED to go back, seems like a wash from the postings I see. Like another posted stated, many are use to what they had and change presents an issue they don't always want to deal with. As they say, YMMV.