1. Have you ever used Metal Halide and T5 Lighting on a reef tank?
I'm using T5's on my tank right now, running one of the hybrid LED/T5 fixtures.
2. Do you currently have a tank running MH or T5 lights?
See above. =)
3. Do you remember the discussion about LED and about how there wasn't proof that they would work?
Oh hell yes. My first tank was an Oceanic BioCube 29 that came with the power compact bulbs... could barely grow anything with them. Shortly after I got into reefing, the first LED fixtures started coming out, and while they were too expensive for my budget at the time... I was just foolish enough to decide to try my hands at a DIY fixture.
Well, they did in fact work, and how - I could actually grow corals for a change, and had some great growth on a couple of corals... I had a bird's nest that did especially well (enough so that I actually fragged it a couple of times), and I'm convinced I've come across frags from those frags at multiple LFS around here.
So LEDs are great, and I've been a believer in them since basically Day One... but they have their limitations, and there was a reason I decided to add in the T5 bulbs on my new tank. No matter how you blend it, you'll never get that even spread of consistent light that a T5 offers through an LED fixture. Combine the two, and you can get the best of both worlds.
I'm using T5's on my tank right now, running one of the hybrid LED/T5 fixtures.
2. Do you currently have a tank running MH or T5 lights?
See above. =)
3. Do you remember the discussion about LED and about how there wasn't proof that they would work?
Oh hell yes. My first tank was an Oceanic BioCube 29 that came with the power compact bulbs... could barely grow anything with them. Shortly after I got into reefing, the first LED fixtures started coming out, and while they were too expensive for my budget at the time... I was just foolish enough to decide to try my hands at a DIY fixture.
Well, they did in fact work, and how - I could actually grow corals for a change, and had some great growth on a couple of corals... I had a bird's nest that did especially well (enough so that I actually fragged it a couple of times), and I'm convinced I've come across frags from those frags at multiple LFS around here.
So LEDs are great, and I've been a believer in them since basically Day One... but they have their limitations, and there was a reason I decided to add in the T5 bulbs on my new tank. No matter how you blend it, you'll never get that even spread of consistent light that a T5 offers through an LED fixture. Combine the two, and you can get the best of both worlds.