Anemone lighting: T5 vs LED

[divecj5]

Well I decided to run and experiment. I have two CSBs (clones) and I’m gonna put one under a Radion and other under T5 to see which one colors up best!

Any results from your "experiment"?

 

[Cody.P]

Well I almost killed them haha. Wasn’t checking all my parameters. Salinity and nitrates got out of wack and the nems are still recovering.

I did learn that T5 give the nems more of an orange look while the LED one got really yellow. Personally thought the T5 Nem looked way better in person. Here is a pic right before things went south.

 

[Davy Jones]

Interested to follow this as it progresses

 

[divecj5]

Thanks for the update. What bulb combo are you running in your T5s? I have an ATI 4-bulb over my Reefer 170 and have a few BTAs that are adjusting to the increased light since they came from a vendor running weak LEDs.

What sort of photo period are you running?

 

[hart24601]

This is one area I think LED really shines, so to speak. Without shading to worry about I am 100% LED for nems. Yes I know there could be instances, but compared to 2' wide acro colony there are not shading issues with nems. Plus that pop of color and fine tuning to for viewing pleasure. Can mount a small(ish) LED unit up pretty high for unobstructed top down viewing as well. Ever more so if get narrow optics.

Not that T5 won't do a fine job of course. I personally have never cared for t5 lit tanks all that much.

 

[Alaskan4ever]

What t5 bulbs are Best for bubbletips? I recently bought a tenecor 100 gallon tank and it came with t5s.
Which ones should I order for best color and results?

 

[lordraptor1]

it is your tank do what you want, but here is my opinion, nems will grow under both ( i ran a 4 bulb T5HO) on a 4 foot 110 gallon tanks and had no problems getting nems to grow and thrive. with that said , keep in mind you SHOULD replace T5HO bulb every 12 to 18 months, leds on the other hand are good unless they physically burn out so initial cost up front savings in long run for LED. now with that said ( people will disagree) BUT. there is NO reason to pay big bucks for LED lighting my stance on this is that teh leds used in all the fixtures are manufactures in asia as are the capacitors and resistors. the only real difference between led is color leds used which if you are handy with a soldering iron and sourcing the leds you can change any fixture for the visual you want but i will say that when it comes to led swaps the asian fixtures are easier to do and in the end will provide a far better look than say an $500 + fixture. i know popbloom/dsuny has a 3 fixture 48 to 60 inch setup that sells on fleabay for $340 to $400 and another version for tanks up to 48" which is only 2x led panels for less money.