Upgrade to LEDs or keep my T5?

[shields]

So i bought a Aquatic life T5 unit when i first started up a little less than 2 years ago. I'm sure by now the bulbs in there need to be replaced (although they aren't burnt out formally.) I'm only experimenting with a few frags and they aren't growing too fast.
considering upgrading to kessils, i want a deeper blue look during the day anyway to bring out the deep colors of the corals.
My tank is 120 gallons, 48x24x24
so i need the lights to reach deep, and spread wide enough. I was considering one kessil 360WE, would that reach wide enough if i put it in the middle? also, i am braced in the middle so would it be noticeable (in the tank, not concerned about symmetry since it would be in a hood) if it were to one side or the other of the brace? or am i better off with 2 160's?

[JohnnyBoyPerth]

T5 globes only last 9-12months. They still emite light, but are no longer suitable for your tank.

Need to replace, or like you said. Move to LED and not worry about replacement

[Uncle Luke]

Use both. Get brand new bulbs for the t5 unit and incorporate the Kessils. You'll have a killer setup.

[dkeller_nc]

In answer to your question, one 360w will be grossly inadequate for a 120g. So will two 160s. Typically, folks that want to be able to place coral throughout their tank will use 3 to 4 360ws for a 4' long tank.

Slow growth can be due to a lot of reasons, but if you started with a 4-bulb T5HO fixture, that's also going to be inadequate for all but the low-light softies and a few low-light LPS corals.

[jayball]

Originally Posted by dkeller_nc

In answer to your question, one 360w will be grossly inadequate for a 120g. So will two 160s. Typically, folks that want to be able to place coral throughout their tank will use 3 to 4 360ws for a 4' long tank.

Slow growth can be due to a lot of reasons, but if you started with a 4-bulb T5HO fixture, that's also going to be inadequate for all but the low-light softies and a few low-light LPS corals.

That right there...

The best way IMO would to get 4 new bulbs and a pair of Kessils (or a 8 bulb fixture). One kessil over a center braced 120 would be inadiquate due to the size of the tank and look bad due to the shadow from the brace.

[Ron Reefman]

And there are other led fixtures that are cheaper than the Kesil that will cover your tank and help with coral growth.

But for now, if I were you, I'd buy new t5 bulbs and spend the next 6 to 12 months investigating led fixtures and working on getting your coral growing. The leds are magic and they may not solve your growth issues. Take your time, but get new t5 bulbs every 12 months at least.

[Zacktosterone]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBoyPerth

T5 globes only last 9-12months. They still emite light, but are no longer suitable for your tank.

Need to replace, or like you said. Move to LED and not worry about replacement

Ok so that's incorrect. They last for a minumum of 12 months and then begin to shift spectrum lol. At the same rate, it's not as simple as that, even though there are a lot of tanks with led that are succssesful, there are way more tanks succssesful with T5.


To the original poster, i would use both our throw a halide in there

[dkeller_nc]

Actually, sometimes fluorescent tubes do start to lose intensity and shift spectrum well before the 12 month mark. How fast this happens depends greatly on the spectrum of the bulb and the manufacturer - blue tubes with substantial UV output generally degrade faster. Nevertheless, to your point, "start to degrade" is different than "not OK for reefing use".

A lot of us tend to replace them on a rotating basis every 6 - 12 months for that reason. But because T5HO bulb replacements are really, really inexpensive compared to the up-front capital cost of decent quality LED fixtures, that's no big deal.

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by Zacktosterone

Ok so that's incorrect. They last for a minumum of 12 months and then begin to shift spectrum lol. At the same rate, it's not as simple as that, even though there are a lot of tanks with led that are succssesful, there are way more tanks succssesful with T5.


To the original poster, i would use both our throw a halide in there

Zack. I think if you took a pole here you'd find most people will say they start to shift wavelengths at 6-9 months and should be replaced in 9-12 months. But that's just popular opinion. I honestly don't know the scientific data to support that opinion.

Back then I had t5 fixtures I used them 12 to 18 moths and never had any issues. No algae outbreak or sick corals. I do know my leds have been running close to 4 years and I haven't changed a single led!

[dougchambers]

Originally Posted by jayball

The best way IMO would to get 4 new bulbs and a pair of Kessils (or a 8 bulb fixture). One kessil over a center braced 120 would be inadiquate due to the size of the tank and look bad due to the shadow from the brace.

As others mentioned, a single Kessil 360WE is NOT going to be sufficient. The target height is in the 8-10" range above the water which will create a nice spotlight effect, but not enough coverage for a 48".

We went from 2-250W MH to a pair of Kessil 360's over our 48x30x24 in-wall. Loved the shimmer, but hated the shadows so we added a second pair of 360's (4-Total). After months of battling poor coral performance, we just added a dimmable T5 down the center of the Kessil's. The improvement has been significant. I'm with Jay, I think the ultimate combination for us will be to pull two Kessil's and add another 2-bulb dimmable T5. Place the Kessil's down the center and flank them with the T5's. I'm still ramping the T5 (currently at 70% peak), but I'll see where we end up with the T5's at 100% before getting another retrofit kit.

Good luck!

[almiller9]

I am in the same boat currently. After much research I ended up going LED with T5. Best of both worlds

[Zacktosterone]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Zack. I think if you took a pole here you'd find most people will say they start to shift wavelengths at 6-9 months and should be replaced in 9-12 months. But that's just popular opinion. I honestly don't know the scientific data to support that opinion.

Back then I had t5 fixtures I used them 12 to 18 moths and never had any issues. No algae outbreak or sick corals. I do know my leds have been running close to 4 years and I haven't changed a single led!

Im aiming more towards the comment that they become unfit.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. But t5s are proven right? I don't think leds are "there" yet. Coming from owning them in this order

T5
Kessil
Kessil t5
Ati led powermodule
All kessil
Cebu sun halide
Radion g3 pro
Cebu sun halide


Ive had the best results with halide t5 myself. Never had a problem keeping them for a year at a time, running the t5s for 12 hours a day

[scrapz]

Replace your bulbs for $120 and upgrade when they break. T5s are proven. If it aint broke..

[shields]

I didn't know much about kessils, I was mostly just interested in making the leap to LEDs (in the cheapest but highest value way possible) instead of continually shelling out 120$ for bulbs every 6-12 months. LEDs last a considerable amount of time, correct?

I'm not thinking that changing lights will solve my issues- however I know for a fact they are part of the issues. They are well past 12 months old nearly double that.

Also, I wanted to change to LEDs because they make everything glow a beautiful deep blue. Like I see when just actinics are on in a photo below. when I have all my lights on it is very bright white and doesn't give the good 'neon' look you see in all the LFS.

I have been battling red "algae" on the sand bed for months now and my water parameters seem to be relatively perfect, stable, with frequent water changes and low bio load. Seriously never even thought it could be due to a shifted spectrum, I always thought the lights just loose their intensity and attributed my algae problems to something else I haven't discovered yet.

The first pic is the sand when I re-set/ moved my tank a month ago (perfectly clean). The other 2 pictures are from last week. (Not home to get current pictures right now) but it's intense, very red in many spots.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RedStangGA]

Going the kessil/T5 route myself after being all LED my first 6 years in the hobby. The latest being a Kessil A360W that has shimmer and form factor that I love but shadowing that isn't good for the corals.

I'd say replace your bulbs and add a couple A360's as you can afford them.

[JAustin]

LEDs aren't necessarily an "upgrade". If you want shimmer just add a strip of DIY LEDs to your current setup.

[dkeller_nc]

This may be obvious, but you can easily color-shift your set-up with different bulb selections. Quite a number of us that use T5HO run at least 3 to 1 blue/actinic/purple bulbs to white. In my 8-bulb ATI that I'm replacing my Radion G3 with this weekend will only have 2 "whitish" bulbs in it - the rest will blue, purple or actinic.

When you say "red algae", I'm assuming you don't mean coralline algae, and you've a red hair-type algae that just doesn't show up well in the pics. Typically, yellow-shifted light tends to favor algal growth, and all fluorescents will yellow-shift over time.

Note that you're not "throwing away" $120 every 9-12 months for new fluorescent tubes. Keep in mind that a lot of us would choose 4 Kessil 360we for a tank like yours, which is $1600. And while in theory they'd last 7 or 8 years, LED lighting is advancing rapidly enough that it's unlikely you'd want to keep them after 3 or 4 years. Kind of nullifies the perceived "waste" of replacing fluorescent bulbs.

[HuskerBioProf]

I had T5s on my old 75 unit. I found problems with them because I would delay the bulb replacement (like a water change... Just kind of a pain in the butt, especially if you don't know exactly when they need it). A lot of people use T5 for SPS, a lot of people use LEDs for SPS. Our LFSs have display tanks that have been using LEDs for years on a full range of light demanding corals.

I chose LEDs, but I think it is personal preference and whether you are committed to changing bulbs when they need it. People tend to be supportive of the option they chose because it reaffirms that decision for them.