why buy expensive t-5's when led's are better?

[spacenyc]

finally convinced myself to get rid of my all my power compacts and buy expensive t-5's when now it seems leds are the way to go. can anyone make a good argument for high quality t-5's over leds. if you already have an expensive t-5 fixture it seems worthwhile to replace bulbs but for someone like me who needs to light a 75 and a 90 from scratch with good fixtures why would i buy t-5s? seems from what everyone is saying no bulb changes, no heat problems, less electric costs the higher price is covered in 3-5 years. anyone defending t-5 anymore ( or pc).

 

[jerl77]

led are big bucks still t5 alot cheaper then leds by far
the led setup i want is 2700.00
the tek t5 set i have with bulbs cost me 560.00

 

[THEDLO]

t5 arent too bad on heat, way better then MH. but its mainly the up front costs of LEDs that cause ppl to think twice...u can get a nice T5 fixture for under 500 on here, and a LED fixture can cost WAY more for like 2'. e.g. acan lighting (not knocking them, they have an amazing product and great customer service)

 

[D1J8Z]

initial cost is the only reason.

A good t5 fixture for both tanks will run around 1200
while the leds I would want for those tanks would run about 4500

Of coarse my numbers are just rough estimates.

 

[D1J8Z]

wow guess I took too long typing lol

I agree with jerl77

 

[KathyC]

And keep in mind the prices the guys are quoting above for the T5 lighting is for new fixtures. You can usually find used T5 fixtures in our Marketplace for a fraction of that cost.

 

[NYreefNoob]

and led's do not give the complete tank coverage of t5's, nor do mh give the coverage light t5's, example seeing i have used all 3. i currently use a ati 6 bulb t5, and have no dark spots in my tank except under rocks, i had a maxspect 170w led 3' unit, had great coverage on 2\3 of tank but not complete nor did it seem as bright to the eye, i guess with big enough pendent i could get the coverage, btw i have a 3x2x22" tank. and it is a mis-conception t5 put's out less heat the mh. mh is more of a spot light heat effect as where t5's put heat out clear across the bulb thus heating a larger area of water. the cost of led's is the main reason most havent switched.

 

[bartmalave]

look its all on what u want to spend. i dont have 20 yrs experience but i think i have tryed every type of set up so far. i have heard this one is best and this one is better, i have spend months resurching learning and asking a lot of ????s. and bottom line is their all right. somethings that worked for my freinds did not work for me. i just had to find what worked for me. people r afraid to try new things i call it a learning experience. so with that said leds or t5 depends on ur pocket, there r cheap ones that work real nice and expensive ones that work real nice i have tryed both. there are t5 that everyone bad mouths,but they never had them,or had a bad experience with them as for me , i was very very happy with my cheap ones they gave me the biggest bang for my money. everything grew from hard to soft coral. as per led i decided to experiment again this time i went thru china told them what i wanted and how i wanted them , and i got it. i got to say im very happy again so man dont be affraid to try. i dont say brands because people go crazy for them so peace and good luck.

 

[Wes]

T5s allow you to mix and match different color bulbs.

LED is pretty much blue and white.


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[CONSTANTNE]

LEDs keep changing constantly and are always being upgraded. Thats the number one reason why I havent made the change yet. Seems like people are increasing LED wattage and using different colors as well. Oh and T5 gives you great uniform coverage.

 

[THEDLO]

LEDs keep changing constantly and are always being upgraded. Thats the number one reason why I havent made the change yet. Seems like people are increasing LED wattage and using different colors as well. Oh and T5 gives you great uniform coverage.

good point, in a year or so the technology will be better for them and their price will be lower.

 

[guarda]

Your electric bill I believe is also a factor. LEDs should cost less to run in general as well as the replacement cost of the T5 bulbs every 3/4 year or so.

 

[NYreefNoob]

true, but it also depends how many leds you end up going with, 170w led vs 234w t5 not alot different, someone with a 180 or bigger tank the amount of leds needed and cost of over all would take alot of $ difference before it equals out

 

[Hefe-Weizen]

The savings over T5 will be seen more on replacement costs and not electrical consumption. They will pay for themselves in just a few years.

 

[NYreefNoob]

ati fixture used $350 bulb replacement $120 once a year led for my tank $1800 or so for 2 pacific suns , more then a few years, trust me i rationalized it when i bought my leds before and at the time and price i got my maxspect for it was worth it cause i had a 8 bulb t5 and for what i sold fixture for and for what bulbs were gonna cost me it was close to even trade out, i think people expect more out of the leds cause of the cost then what they get, and they are no where near as bright to the eye as t5 or mh

 

[Hefe-Weizen]

Over a 4' tank:

$560 for the ATI fixture + $120 per year X 3 years($360) + 60 watts per hour per day over three year(approx. $120)= $1040

2 X AI about $1100

So in about 3 years they are about a wash. Over MH the leds will pay for themselves in 2 or less years depending on chiller usage/necessity.

LEDs may not appear as bright but they give more PAR per watt and cause those glitter lines that we all love.

Plus, for those GREEN people, they contain no mercury.

 

[NYreefNoob]

2 ai fixtures wont cover a 4' tank either, had a AI module also, would need 4 of them to completely cover 4' 3 would leave alot of shadows

 

[spacenyc]

well now more confused than when i started thread

amazing how many people must be thinking this along with me. really like the idea of no maintance of changing bulbs, and lower electric cost of led. like the idea of full coverage with t-5s and especially like idea of different colors with t-5

 

[strendo]

I've been using my LED's as supplements to my MH bulbs on my work tank & my T5's at home and like it. As for using exclusively LED It seems like the technology is advancing so rapidly that a 3 year cost replacement is a little too long. I doubt that I've used any single piece of equipment for longer than 2 years at this point anyway.
That being said I might try them on a 12" deep frag tank to see how I like them

 

[dj ze]

i've been using china made led's for about 2 years they were made to my specs i can put any color spectrum that i want right now i have blue whte and purple never had a problem with them my sp's growth are ten times better than when i was running my 400 wt halides and i have better coverage better than halides or t5. i went from 1500 wt halides to 360 wt led's and my cost was $720 for 3 units u cant beat that