T-5 + LED combo question

[mushumatt]

I asked in the ATI powermodule thread but no one answered me. I'm in the middle of designing my new lights for my 40 breeder. I've noticed all the T5/LED lights have the LED mounted in the middle of the fixture. Is there any reason for this? I also noticed people's corals not necessarily liking the LED lights or adapting well.

[steallife904]

i think the LEDs are in the middle because most of the LEDS do have a super wide spread. So for a better spread some put the less in the middle over the majority of the corals and the T5s right out side them. I actually just bought a t5 retrofit kit to add with my LEDs. i plan to mount one on each side of the LEDs making the LEDs in the middle.

[mushumatt]

Well it depends on the angle of the lens on the LED. I was just wondering if there was a positive to this. I personally plan to build a T5 fixture with LED strips on the outside of the lights angled toward the middle and one strip in the middle of the bank of T5 lights. Trying to gather as much information before I purchase everything.

[kenpau]

Originally Posted by steallife904

i think the LEDs are in the middle because most of the LEDS do have a super wide spread.

It's actually the opposite that's true, LEDs tend to have a very narrow spread.

Here's my Giesemann Aurora Hybrid:-


IMAG0369 by kenpau01, on Flickr


PAR readings with T5 & LEDs on (smaller readings are on the glass):-

IMAG0370 by kenpau01, on Flickr

And just LEDs:-

IMAG0366 by kenpau01, on Flickr


You can see that I'm going from having 150 PAR on the glass at mid tank level to having 60 PAR with just LEDs, this is because of the lack of light spread from LEDs.

To answer the OPs question, I think it's just an aesthetic design thing that puts LEDs in the centre, however I'm guessing there. I can't see any problems with you mounting LEDs on the outside of your T5s though.

[glweek]

Tagging along

[mushumatt]

Okay, thank you for that information. My plan is to go from the front to the back.

12kLED-T5-T5-T5-T5-12K LED. The LED 's will be angled towards the middle of the tank.

[steallife904]

ya just noticed what i said... i meant to say they do not have wide spread . sorry about that.
Your setup plan will work. Have you decided what T5 bulbs you will use? i went with blue plus and coral grow ATI bulbs.

[2dawghouse]

As Kenpau said, leds give a narrow spread compared to T5's. Im soon going to do this very mod myself. Im running a MH/LED combo at the moment and a friend is running T5/LED combo and his color, effect, spread is better IMO.

But he went through a lot of trial and error: First setup was T5, T5, LED, LED, LED T5 T5...it was ok but the shimmer effect and color was localized in the center of the tank. The T5's closest to the LEDs washed out the color of the LEDS some. Second setup went T5, LED, T5, LED, T5, LED, T5...the shimmer effect wasnt as drastic, but the color and shimmer was more evenly spread out throughout the tank and looked so much better.

On both set ups he went did white LEDS and Blue T5's, then changed to white T5s and Blue LEDS. The latter setup was better with the White T5s and Blue Leds. The blue T5s cant make corals pop like Blue leds can. And White Leds cant hit all the NM sprectrums like White T5's can.

On my setup Im going to do close to equal amount of wattage for LED/T5's.
4X54 T5s: 2 X Coral+, 2 X B special. And 4 rows of 5 X 10 watt blue leds running the NM range of 420-470NM.

[mushumatt]

Interesting, do you have a link to his tank? Or pictures for reference? I plan to start the light build this month. I'm in no rush so the more information the best.

[mushumatt]

I thought T5's output was better with the blues and UV then LED of equivalent wavelength? And LED had better output with the whiter lights? Do I have this switched around? I want the best light combination for my corals, but viewing comes second. I could always add a UV BML strip to get that pop.

[2dawghouse]

Originally Posted by mushumatt

I thought T5's output was better with the blues and UV then LED of equivalent wavelength? And LED had better output with the whiter lights? Do I have this switched around? I want the best light combination for my corals, but viewing comes second. I could always add a UV BML strip to get that pop.

I dont have a link to his tank. But Blue LEDS pop colors better than T5's. But T5 whites are able to hit multiple NM spectrums with each lamp which Leds arent able to (unless you do a multi-chip).

If you search led/t5 combo builds youll also see most people use blue leds and white T5s.

[mushumatt]

Thanks man, I'm going to be doing a lot more researching before I start the build.

[dabob79]

I bought a T5 retrofit kit to go along with my Radion. I'll be running the Radion in the middle with a pair of T5 bulbs on either side of it (front and back of tank). I'll run the Radion more toward the whiter side, and the T5s are Coral Plus and Blue Plus, one of each on each side of the Radion. I think that will give me a good color spread and supplement the Radion nicely :-)

[net one]

I'm planning a new set up and thinking about lighting... I will be working with a 60"x24"x24" my current thought is 3 Kessill tuna blue down the middle (Kessills tuned blue) and T-5s on either side using a whiter bulb. thoughts?

[2dawghouse]

My current setup is 2 X250mh 20K lamps with 120 watts of blue led (12 X 10 watt leds ranging from 420nm-475nm). And the combination is great. But I will say that i think T5s/led combo is better. It just gives better flexibility to dial in the color that much more.

[mushumatt]

I knew T5 was better at hitting some wavelengths then LED fixtures. But I wasn't sure if it was white or blues.

I am settling on 4x39watt T5HO retrofit kits, and two AI prime fixtures. I get the best of both worlds.