Are T5 lights still superior to LED?

[Rmckoy]

And then the fight started...

Exactly !!!

 

[Rmckoy]

I have no intentions of starting a fight. Just want some more data.

For example …
I have always and only used t5’s
Currently run a 8 bulb fixture
The same light fixture I had over my 90 gal and there wasn’t any coral that I couldn’t keep or happily grow .
I never have liked the shimmer of leds and why I still haven’t changed .
That being said .
my current tank so 27” deep. And I firmly believe t5’s are only good to a max depth less than 27” and could
Partially be the reason why i have troubles keeping corals happy in this system .

For $125 that’s a great deal and I personally would grab it .

Keep in mind . Each bulb will be around $30 each to replace
Ballasts are around $70 each

They will run higher electricity and cause the tank to run warmer as they will heat the water ( I don’t use a heater ) never needed one and I live in Canada

 

[oreo54]

They couldn't even discontinue metal halides or sodium vapor lamps because metal halides still are the best way to light things like warehouses (like costco uses them, for example), and sodium vapor lamps last the longest so are used for street lights.


while T5 lighting efficiency is likely tapped as far as is physically or at least reasonably feasibly possible. The more people using LED's, the faster the advancement across the board.
4) disposal and recycling of t5's is a huge challenge relative to LED's

Ultimately, however, there is $ on the line to keep T5's around for their niches, and it's not reasonable or feasibly to try to replace them where their diffuse, but even spread and wider spectrum is valuable.

Actually there are better t5's and one could argue better than or equal to led...

IL Lumination Light from ‘Innovation’ Combines LED & Inductive Fluorescent Lamp | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The IL Lumination is a new reef aquarium light fixture which is the first hybrid of LED and inductive fluorescent lamps that we know of. Produced by an Italian company called H.V. Innovation…

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But you still have the mercury and its err difficulties.

I do not disagree with your take on hid lighting but this is in flux.

Big world though...lots of bulbs out there.
Part of the " best way" is the fact you have millions of $$$'s hid infrastructure.
Conversion is not always cost effective. Doesn't mean they wouldn't if LEDs were given to them including installation.

Maintenance and disposal is all rather costly for hid.

Hps was higher l/w than mh and led.
Led caught up.

 

[ronnie]

Concerns about “efficiency” of our lighting while we spend thousands on ridiculous things for our tanks we don’t need is very comical for me.

 

[air_run]

I’ve heard the same nonsense about neon because of the mercury and sure leds have replaced some but we’re still making plenty of neon for Las Vegas and it’s here to stay! They might ban run of the mill tubes but never specialty ones…

I can back this up. I've been in the sign business (particularly, the NEON sign business) for 23 years. We are one the largest wholesalers in Texas for NEON lighting. Grant it, LEDs have diminished the NEON sign industry a ton as we had to convert to a wholesale sign manufacturer because of it but, we still make NEON lighting daily. Yes, electrodes, tube supports, tubing and NEON transformers are getting harder to acquire (including Mercury) but it's still available.

 

[blaxsun]

Exactly !!!

Queue MH folks joining the melee in 3... 2... 1...

 

[Rmckoy]

Queue MH folks joining the melee in 3... 2... 1...

I’m waiting …….

 

[A. grandis]

Someone is selling a 48” aquatic life 6 bulb fixture for $125. Currently running 2 Maxspect 65w lights and I love them. Grows coral well and great color.

But it got me thinking. For the price (fixture and 6 bulbs) would it better to go to T5 and just resell my lights? Are T5s still the king of the lighting world?

Metal halide is the king. Every king needs a beautiful queen, and that's the T5. And yes, every good kingdom needs the joker.

Seriously... T5s will give you amazing results of growth colors and colony formation!! IMO way better than any LED available for most applications over shallow water tanks, under 24" high. Cover the whole surface area of the tank. Forget the fashion of PAR at once! Have the best tank you ever had growing Acros and clams! Change bulbs every 12 months.

 

[Troylee]

Queue MH folks joining the melee in 3... 2... 1...

We already up in here and got the party started! :cheers:

 

[dagrillo]

T5s are great, I prefer them over LED. They are not on their way out. Try it out and see what you think. If you like it keep it and if not sell it.

Sorry but yes T5 are on the way out. they will only be made at best 2 more years. just like incandescent. I have LED's now and was going to go with T5s but found out they have to stop making them after 2025.

 

[BZOFIQ]

... they will only be made at best 2 more years.

Care to disclose your sources of this misinformation?

 

[LadAShark]

Concerns about “efficiency” of our lighting while we spend thousands on ridiculous things for our tanks we don’t need is very comical for me.

The subcontext was concerns about whether T5's will be around long term because of industry pursuit of efficiency. The answer is likely yes, they're efficient and effective in their own way. Concerns about whether your fixture will have available bulb replacements down the line are valid concerns. Whereas direct concerns about efficiency are also valid concerns if the difference between the two are huge.

 

[A. grandis]

For those so worried about loosing the T5s forever... they are specialized lamps and will most likely be available for the rest of our lives. ATI will be making their T5s without any doubt, they say, simply because their products are included in that specialized category.
Metal halides as well!!! The choices of not making them anymore is in the air to take and up to the manufacturers, but as far as we should be concerned, what the manufacturer tell us is what we should take as the truth. T5 sells by itself. There is no other technology that would substitute it on paper and in practice. Not if you really know and care about the results using them!
There is nothing wrong in preferring LEDs. The wrong thing is to spread rumors to get rid of T5s and halides, agreeing with the vendors and manufacturers who do that. I think most people that tend to spread rumors like that are the ones who want to have that "confirmation bias", because deep in their hearts they actually love T5s, but fell into that trap of rumors, changing their amazing T5s for the LEDs. When the truth is that those rumors are only another marketing $trategy to $ell LED$.

 

[Bpb]

If one is unable to grow all but a literal handful of species of photosynthetic critters in a marine tank using LED lighting as the sole source, *with a negligible difference in growth rate, form, and color…you need to look at your skills as an aquarist first, not the lighting technology. And that is fine. There is nothing wrong with using a less user-error prone technology.

Leaving manufacture bans out of my opinion entirely. Choices alone will dwindle as market share forces it to happen. But you could get by fine with a single halide and single t5 brand choice. If ati keeps selling bulbs forever, nobody would be worse off. Similarly with Hamilton and halides.

 

[Rich Klein]

I run T5 hybrid with 2 AP700s. My corals grow great and it’s easy. I’ll be sad when I can no longer get replacements, but I’ve stocked- up for a few years.

 

[A. grandis]

There is a difference between any LED and the T5s, specially for those who know the results they want. Differences in results can't just be ignored or overruled just because! We all know that personal preferences will play for many, but this thread is asking what's the best. If "best" is what Chris wants for his corals, T5s are much better than LEDs.
By the way, many agree T5s are better, even hard core LED users! Most of my friends agree, even though they are using LEDs today.
Again, this thread was opened to ask for opinions and the opinions can be different.
In the video below Chris Meckley gives his opinion and tells us about the results that he has seen between the only LEDs that were actually DESIGNED TO SUBSTITUTE T5s, the XHOs. I've posted my opinion about that before many times and was mostly ignored by many. Here is what he thinks, by experience:

 

[Bpb]

There is a difference between any LED and the T5s, specially for those who know the results they want. Differences in results can't just be ignored or overruled just because! We all know that personal preferences will play for many, but this thread is asking what's the best. If "best" is what Chris wants for his corals, T5s are much better than LEDs.
By the way, many agree T5s are better, even hard core LED users! Most of my friends agree, even though they are using LEDs today.
Again, this thread was opened to ask for opinions and the opinions can be different.
In the video below Chris Meckley gives his opinion and tells us about the results that he has seen between the only LEDs that were actually DESIGNED TO SUBSTITUTE T5s, the XHOs. I've posted my opinion about that before many times and was mostly ignored by many. Here is what he thinks, by experience:

Grandis, repeatedly posting the musings of 2-3 hard line people who only agree with your opinion, while ignoring experts and professionals in the field which have a more moderate stance on the issue based on a career of experience is the best example of confirmation bias I’ve seen on this forum.

 

[LadAShark]

Grandis, repeatedly posting the musings of 2-3 hard line people who only agree with your opinion, while ignoring experts and professionals in the field which have a more moderate stance on the issue based on a career of experience is the best example of confirmation bias I’ve seen on this forum.

Yeah, the literature suggests pros and cons between LED's and T5's, even when taking LED efficiency into question. The optimal play likely is hybrid lighting.

Distinction bias is also important to keep in mind. Part of the reason so much debate happens is because the two are comparable, if one was clearly superior, there would be far less discussion.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

I mean, I still have a pager…just sayin.

 

[LadAShark]

I mean, I still have a pager…just sayin.

You get a pass if you work in healthcare, lol.