36 1 watt LED 23 blue 23 white VS 178watts MH+T5

The title says it all.

36 1 watt LED 18 blue 18 white VS 178watts MH+T5

I have both options, I turned over to LEDs a few months ago and made a custom top and lighting for my aquarium with 36 1 watt LEDs, I love the color it gives but is it enough light vs my oddyssea 178 watt (150w MH with phoenix 14k plus two t5 actinics). Now this is over a 30 gallon cube. I would like opinion about either light being, not enough with the LED or overkill with the MH's. I do believe I had some bleaching after I switched over to LED off some of the sps and I did lose color on some Zoas, I dunno if this was from too little light or were the LED's too bright. I love the look of the LED's vs the MH, it makes everything look so much better but it may be because of the blues in the LED. If I keep the MH running, I will maybe need to upgrade to a 20k bulb or find a better ballast then the oddyssea. Let me know what you all think?? Thanks

 

23 blue and 23 white is actually 46. With leds its all about spectrum.Unfortunately we are now learning that blue and white is not really the right mix but the MH's seem like overkill to me.

 

1 watt led is nothing compared to the medal halide. 1 watt is for fish only tanks, you need 3w ones

 

Its a 14k pheonix bulb on the MH fixture but it looks so yellow compared to the LED's, the T5 does do much for actinics. Should I upgrade to a 20k bulb or the more expensive better ballast?

 

How old is the bulb maybe the spectrum shifted

 

1W LEDs can be fine. 3W LEDs are better. MH might be best in this situation...as long as quality components are used. Odyssea has ZERO quality components.

 

The LEDs are not from oddysea and are surprisingly bright. I did have some growth from them on a monti that was noticeable but its bleached some coral and I dont know if that was because of too much or too little light. The MH bulb is only 2-3 months old and have always been this spectrum. Its an oddysea ballast on the MHs thats why I dont know If I should just get a 20k bulb or different balast for the halide.

 

The heat from the MH and electricity usage is another thing too VS the LED's. I have to get a small fan to blow under the light on the water surface. I looked at some pictures online of people running the pheonix 14k and its a whole lot bluer than it is in this fixture.

 

That would be a white balance issue with the picture. The Odyssea ballast is junk. I would upgrade your ballast if you were going to stick with the MH. If not, I would try to add some supplementing colors (Red, Green, Violet and Cyan) to your current LED setup.