Reef Discussion

[RobbieMVFC]

Hi all ,
Those that know me know that I have become a SPS freak over the years and that I swear by the old school method, T5 & MH for SPS .
I have always been of the opinion that LEDs don't cut it for SPS and this was from my experience I had running a Zedlight 3600 pro for 12 months and getting very little color except for greens.
I then switched to an ATI sunpower and with months saw a change.

so whats changed..
Back in March (i think) and had to dismantle my tank due to some home renovations and put everything into two tanks feeding off the one sump.
First tank is a 80x80x30cm cube that has the ATI unit about 25cm off the water
Second tank is a 45cm cube with the ZEDlight on it

water parameters are
ALK 7.5
Cal 420
Mag 1400
P04 0.07
Sal 1.026
Nitrate .02

Here are the pic from each tank
First is the Tank with T5's (the globes are due to be changed)

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These are from the tank with the LED's light

Yes that blue thing is an Acro

This Milli is doing the worst.

despite all this my next tank will still be a MH & T5 combo
but I was surprised on how well some of the acro's are doing under LED's

What are your thoughts/experiences? (the age old debate)

 

[slin1977]

A trip down memory lane , oh man ! How good was LED back then!!!!!! Guess you could say they worked :-)

 

[Savage Henry]

Rob, If you put frags of the same coral in each tank that would make for a great comparison, especially given you've eliminated several factors because they are in the same water source.

Would be really great to see.

 

[Savage Henry]

Might add off topic that some of my palys look best under low power LED rather than high power.

Maybe it' the LED's?

My hammers and palys looked and grew better under my 40 watt Vertex Illumilux (note the light is not the expensive Illumina model) than under my 160 watt Maxspec Razor.

 

[slin1977]

Would have to say that it's horses for courses- serious SPS heads go MH/T5
LED grows SPS , but not quiet the same as the other light sources.

 

[RobbieMVFC]

Imo t5 will give a better spread than just LED.
I cant comment on MH yet however my next tank will be MH T5 combo.
We must remember that the globes are 10 months old.
I am still in favor of T5's but it is a PIA changing the globes regularly.

 

[Mattres]

Interseting comparison. I've only ever used LEDs but would love to try T5s one day. Just the cost of bulb replacements and heat throws me off.
I'd love to throw a light source over my tank and not worry about intensity or colour channels. I've finally worked out my Radion as to not fry my SPS, max's out at only 40%. Using only 30watts or so!
An interesting experiment would be a T5 tank, LED tank and a LED with supplemental T5 tank.

 

[slin1977]

With LED and SPS there is a long acclimation period I would say up to 8 months before the SPS becomes used to this form of light.
Where as T5 is an immediate welcome and get on with the job of polyp extension and growth.
I've done the experiments.
The day I put T5 over LED acclimated SPS frags to see thier response was the day I knew T5 was right for SPS.
That's also why I went with the power module without LED.

 

[Mattres]

With LED and SPS there is a long acclimation period I would say up to 8 months before the SPS becomes used to this form of light.
Where as T5 is an immediate welcome and get on with the job of polyp extension and growth.
I've done the experiments.
The day I put T5 over LED acclimated SPS frags to see thier response was the day I knew T5 was right for SPS.
That's also why I went with the power module without LED.

Love to hear these kinds of experiences. So if it were possible to compare two frags put in the same system but under different lights the pure T5 would react better sooner than a LED with supplemental T5?
This conversation is really timely as I'm looking at lights for a future upgrade and am split between a Giessman Aurora or Spectra.
Would go for the spectra hands down but heat issues add on a chiller and extra costs.. Unfortunately picking a light system isn't only about the light!

 

[Savage Henry]

This is great reading.

 

[RobbieMVFC]

Love to hear these kinds of experiences. So if it were possible to compare two frags put in the same system but under different lights the pure T5 would react better sooner than a LED with supplemental T5?
This conversation is really timely as I'm looking at lights for a future upgrade and am split between a Giessman Aurora or Spectra.
Would go for the spectra hands down but heat issues add on a chiller and extra costs.. Unfortunately picking a light system isn't only about the light!

I have already purchased my next light its a Giesemann infinity 2x 250w MH & 4x80T5s . I still believe that T5 & MH is the better choice for SPS.

 

[Wrangy]

Having used LED's for two plus years on an sps tank and then moving to a MH-T5 combo I can easily say I'll never go back to LED only.
The spread and shading difference between the two is amazing, shadowing issues were gone within a month.
Polyps extension changed within an hour and the next day it was better than I'd ever had.
I will happily continue to change my t5's once a year and my halide every 9 months for the results I'm getting. If you're serious about your sps health, growth and colour these costs are a minor aspect of the results that you're able to achieve :)

I can honestly say being a huge supporter of LED's that I was absolutely blown away by how much better a t5 MH combo was for the tank and the speed of the reaction for the sps!

 

[Mattres]

Haha this info has made my decision both easier and harder!
The fact that you all have used LED and are now using T5/MH is really interesting and says a lot.
Would people with MH say a chiller is absolutely necessary or it comes down to the individual invironment?

 

[RobbieMVFC]

Having used LED's for two plus years on an sps tank and then moving to a MH-T5 combo I can easily say I'll never go back to LED only.
The spread and shading difference between the two is amazing, shadowing issues were gone within a month.
Polyps extension changed within an hour and the next day it was better than I'd ever had.
I will happily continue to change my t5's once a year and my halide every 9 months for the results I'm getting. If you're serious about your sps health, growth and colour these costs are a minor aspect of the results that you're able to achieve :)

I can honestly say being a huge supporter of LED's that I was absolutely blown away by how much better a t5 MH combo was for the tank and the speed of the reaction for the sps!

Giesemann megachrome MH Globes last at least 2 years ;)