T5HO overpowering MH Lights

[Gti_Leo]

i agree in some ways, you can simulate a great sun rise and sun set with LEDs, they are also very powerful, but so expensive right now, sooooo soo expensive

i also found this link for growth between MH and T5s, from what it says that T5s have a similar to a superior growth rate due to the actinic supplements as well its been observed that under MH corals seem to branch towards the light source where as under T5s they open up and grow normally. either way both grow corals extremely well, and just my example that T5s will grow just as well as MH

Metal Halides Vs. T5 HO Lights: Leveling the Playing Field - 3reef Forums

 

[Sarcothelia]

The video he posts has such a loud wave maker . But yep, there's no reason to buy halides for the pure sake of growing sps when both can get the job done.

 

[Gti_Leo]

lol true but then again you can say that about LEDs, if they do the same job whats the point in buying LEDs it'll be a while before they start to be worth the total cost of them

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[Time2reef]

In our research LEDs came out superior
in PAR and PUR. PAR is photosynthetically useful radiation
And is different than PAR which is photosynthetically active radiation. It's all about color spectrum and which uv lighting is usable by the plant or animal. Zooanthella needs a 400- 550
Nanometer range in color spectrum. 620- 720 is the red bandwidth which is the
range of the upper spectrum necessary. Flourescents and compacts produce a lot of greens and yellows which aren't usable. Halides produce good PAR & PUR but quickly begin to fail as bulbs age. Here is a
Pretty good Link to explain the needs of the color Spectrum.

Aquarium Lighting; Kelvin, Nanometers, PAR, Bulb, Watt, MH, LED, Light Basics.

this is a very good link and it is important that we talk about spectrographs too. PAR can easily be fooled by blue LED. Up the blue. up the PAR. Bad for your tank if it's not the right spectrum and you can only get that from a spectrograph. Many of the companys out there are using white that are only 6500k LED and while they look bright they are giving off most light in the 520k to 650k range which is great for growing algae but not for corals.... This is also where the lumens comes in. Lumens is what our eyes see and it is not what our tanks need. Don't be fooled into thinking that anything with high lumens is good for your tank. With LED it is important more now than ever to know what you are putting in your tank.
I clean my glass once a week at the most. I don't flood my living room with light, I have a brightly lit tank and am getting good growth. I am 100% LED. All my frags start out small.