LEDs vs. T5s Part-II : How can newer lighting technology = better coral coloration?

[randyBRS]

To follow up Ryan's video about Mastering Coral Coloration, what better than a Part-II showdown to LEDs vs. T5s??

See if we can recreate our BRS Recommended T5 spectrum mix using LEDs...some WIN while others show interesting results outside of the normal spectrum!

 

[flabryth]

For the price nothing beats a set of T5 lights...I would and am using a aquatic life T5 hybrid. I have not settled on the LED's for it but Kessle sounds like a good idea or a set of AI primes. The good thing they are primarily for the shimmer not the PAR or PUR. This means I do not need to risk getting COVID robbing a bank to purchase these lights. There is an upside to everything.

 

[AlainD]

@randyBRS , what will be your bulb choice for 4 T5 ?

 

[randyBRS]

@randyBRS , what will be your bulb choice for 4 T5 ?

As you'll see in this Friday's ATI Sunpower video (5/15) along with mounting heights and PAR numbers we're recommending B+ | C+ | Actinic | B+

 

[blasterman]

The reason T5's show more colors with corals is simple - lack of orange / red with LEDs reef lights.

White T5s regardless of color temp have a phosphor that emits around 630nm, which is orange / red to our eyes. Most reef LED lights however are dominated with orange/red anemic cool white LEDs. Cool white LEDs are designed to be efficient, not deliver warm color rendition.

Many of the higher end LED fixtures add red, but stupidly counter it with green under the psychosis that more colors = better. A gifted fifth grader will happily tell you red plus green = yellow, and yellow is what we are trying to avoid.

I modded my Mars Aqua units to match the "Disney" color rendition of some of the wilder T5 bulb combinations, and trust me, the colors are crazy without having to run the blue channel flat out.

A good example of this is the Kessil. Great shimmer with Kessils, but their color rendition is horrid because their LED matrix lacks a discrete warm channel. The result is your tank looks like a 2011 DIY cool white and royal rig. Corals are pasty grey looking because you cant dial in a red channel.

Just my opinion, but most American LED reef lights are vastly over priced and *still* made in China. They can at least fix the color problem easy enough and stop focusing on transient reefers with money to burn and wont have a tank up for more than a month before putting it in the garage.

I'll now sit back back and wait for the mythical nonsense claims about T5 that rival flat earth believers; full spectrum, UVA, etc.

 

[lpsouth1978]

The reason T5's show more colors with corals is simple - lack of orange / red with LEDs reef lights.

White T5s regardless of color temp have a phosphor that emits around 630nm, which is orange / red to our eyes. Most reef LED lights however are dominated with orange/red anemic cool white LEDs. Cool white LEDs are designed to be efficient, not deliver warm color rendition.

Many of the higher end LED fixtures add red, but stupidly counter it with green under the psychosis that more colors = better. A gifted fifth grader will happily tell you red plus green = yellow, and yellow is what we are trying to avoid.

I modded my Mars Aqua units to match the "Disney" color rendition of some of the wilder T5 bulb combinations, and trust me, the colors are crazy without having to run the blue channel flat out.

A good example of this is the Kessil. Great shimmer with Kessils, but their color rendition is horrid because their LED matrix lacks a discrete warm channel. The result is your tank looks like a 2011 DIY cool white and royal rig. Corals are pasty grey looking because you cant dial in a red channel.

Just my opinion, but most American LED reef lights are vastly over priced and *still* made in China. They can at least fix the color problem easy enough and stop focusing on transient reefers with money to burn and wont have a tank up for more than a month before putting it in the garage.

I'll now sit back back and wait for the mythical nonsense claims about T5 that rival flat earth believers; full spectrum, UVA, etc.

Nothing against T5's except the flat look/lack of shimmer. T5/LED all day!

 

[Falcar]

As you'll see in this Friday's ATI Sunpower video (5/15) along with mounting heights and PAR numbers we're recommending B+ | C+ | Actinic | B+

Interesting! How about the 8 bulb @randyBRS ?

 

[blstravler]

Interesting! How about the 8 bulb @randyBRS ?

One of the first things discussed in the video.

 

[Falcar]

Whoops! Thanks, I thought this video was coming out this friday. Thanks!

 

[madweazl]

In regard to the Kessil, would bumping the green channel to 20% and red channel to roughly 10% fill in those peaks the T5s are emitting that aren't being filled by the Kessil with those channels at 0%.