In your opinion what is the better light for coral mix tank? LED or t-5's?
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Here is a good video for deciding which bulbs to purchase:I have another question for this. I just revived a 4 Bulb T5. Replaced both ballasts and upgraded the moonlights to 1 Watt. I just have some cheap bulbs in it now. I read about bulbs and get confused. What combination would you suggest for a Fish, Anemone tank with an overgrown Kenya trees ?
Jeff
In your opinion what is the better light for coral mix tank? LED or t-5's?
I used your numbers but I've been told T5 should be changed every 6 months rather than 9.
If you continue to use it for the remaining 6 years of life T5 will cost you $1240-1912 more than LED. Over the remaining 8 years in the second example it is even more.
The physics of that don't work. He might be saving less power now that he needs heaters but he can't be using more power than previously.
This is one of those existential arguments in the hobby. Same as T5 went through when it was new. No one needs to argue the merit and benefit of LED. It grows corals well and there are tons of successful tanks running under LEDs.
As to the power usage, it simply is not possible to need more power. I have not heard the podcast but physics is physics. MH produce a significant amount of waste heat and that can offset the need for heaters in a tank. The fact remains that the same joules of energy are needed to heat his tank as before. Having heaters in the tank is a significantly more efficient way to heat the tank than convection through air. Switching to LEDs does not increase the amount of power used when looking at the system as a whole unless you add enough LEDs to match the initial power draw of the MH.