T5's Or LED's With My Halides

Those LED's would be very pricey.

I've been running t5ho in addition to MH for quite some time. It's a great combo, but if you want to drop a lot of coin, the LEDs would probably do the same as the t5s.

The other thing is that you can easily change colors with the t5s. Those LEDs are as is, so if you change the kelvin of the halides, you might end up with a color combo you don't like, and can't quickly and cheaply change like with t5s.

 

The color combo would pose a problem

Im actually now leaning going with the 3 lamp icecap retrofit kit with the 48" blue led strip that ice cap has.


So I would have two t5s in front, halides in middle, then led strip with the other t5 furthest in back.

That sounds like a good setup.

 

That is an interesting setup.

 

I added two strips of RB Leds (12 each) to replace the 4 T5s I had for supplemental lighting. Around $200 total and supposedly each of these 2 strips have at least, if not more, available par than a pair of T5 bulbs.

Go LED if you can. Lower heat and less power consumption. NEVER have to be replaced.

To replace the T5 bulbs in 12-15 months its going to cost another ~100 on top of the 250 for the fixture.

 

That does sound like a good set up.

 

The icecap LEDs are moonlights only. You won't see any difference, even in terms of supplementation, when your halides are on. Whereas the Reefbrites are much much brighter than the icecap, and will definitely make a difference in colour, even when the halides are on.

If your budget will allow, I would go for the Reefbrites. I recently bought a 48" reefbrite strip (white) to add shimmer to my tank when my 8x54W T5s are on - and it definitely does add shimmer and color to my tank. If I save up enough, I'll add a blue reefbrite strip as well. The color it adds to the tank is closer to actinic than to blue, but much more PAR than standard actinic T5 bulbs. It will make your coral colors pop more than T5s will.

 

Im ordering the two 48" reefbrite blue led strips. got 5% off for ordering two of them from premiumaquatics.com. 8)

Total damage to pocket $454

 

Premium Aquatics were out of stock. Cancelled order....

Ended up ordering one from Saltwater Critters and one from aquarium specialty...

Both scheduled for delivery on 6/29 8)

I know I went against the vote. But Ive read tons of great things on the led strips.

Yea costly.... but nothing to maintain (no bulbs to replace)

Plus I wanted a nice clean look with minimal work. These will also fit better in the very little room I have to work with in my canopy.

 

Honestly, the better value are the LEDs. If you go thE t5 route, within two bulb changes you've spent over $239 anyhow and you paid more or the energy to run the t5. The icecap system with bulbs isn't that much less upfront, but will cost you a lot more in the long run.

 

give us some updates w/ pics when u get those bad boys installed.