Coralife mini aqualight t5

[MikeGio]

I just added this fixture in addition to my DIY led strip and my corals sprang right up. But when I just have on the Coralife t5's they don't look bright at all compared to the LEDs, is that normal? How bright should t5's be?, & compared to 3 watt LEDs?

 

[MikeGio]

Anyone?

 

[oyf709]

I think it is just that your 3 W LED is not enough that is all. I would think 3w LED should has less Lumen than a 6W T5 ( I think that is what the coral life mini is). When you say they don't look "bright" do you mean the water is not as crystal clear as only having the LED? or do you actually mean it is not as bright. Cuz if I put on my 250W MH, everything looks really bright but everything start losing color and look really white. When I put on my LED 90W, it looks like everything suddenly become a lot more crystal clear and color are more vibrant.

 

[MikeGio]

No it's just not bright like the t5 bulbs don't give off as much light as the LED. And let me rephrase about the led, it's 9 3w bulbs 6 white, 3 blue and seems a lot brighter then the t5.

How bright are t5's supposed to be?

 

[MikeGio]

Thanks for the response

 

[oyf709]

oh so it is 9x3w? Yea for sure that would be brighter, I am talking about when the watts are equal, T5 should be brighter to human eyes in most cases

 

[MikeGio]

I see thanks. How bright should t5's look in a tank compared to LEDs of equal wattage?

 

[oyf709]

there is no 100% conversion of T5 to LED and their characteristic are all different.
It is more of pros and cons of each.
when comes to LED, it really can't use the watt/gallon rule to calculate it. LED should provide more PARS in most cases as coral doesn't really care about lumens. They care about PAR/PUR. I am not sure why is your coral having issue when having the LED alone. What kind of fixture do you have? Or are they just generic LED strips?

 

[MikeGio]

there is no 100% conversion of T5 to LED and their characteristic are all different.
It is more of pros and cons of each.
when comes to LED, it really can't use the watt/gallon rule to calculate it. LED should provide more PARS in most cases as coral doesn't really care about lumens. They care about PAR/PUR. I am not sure why is your coral having issue when having the LED alone. What kind of fixture do you have? Or are they just generic LED strips?

I bought a dimmable DIY strip from a friend who had it on their tank w/ corals and it seemed fine. The lights seem very bright and strong but are kind of one directional and don't cover the entire tank. I bought the t5 to see the difference and the LEDs seem 100x brighter then the t5 so now I'm really stumped. I'm thinking about putting them both on eBay and shopping for a new light. I'll post pictures of what the set up looks like and a coral that I can't seem to get to open all the way.

 

[oyf709]

LED doesn't use reflector, they use lenses. It is because the their Laser-like characteristic.
That is why you will need to have the fixture at least 4-5 inches above your water level if it is small tank or 6-10 inches if it is a regular larger tank. What you can try is to move the light a bit higher and see if it does cover your whole tank. What is your tank's dimension?

 

[MikeGio]

LED doesn't use reflector, they use lenses. It is because the their Laser-like characteristic.
That is why you will need to have the fixture at least 4-5 inches above your water level if it is small tank or 6-10 inches if it is a regular larger tank. What you can try is to move the light a bit higher and see if it does cover your whole tank. What is your tank's dimension?

17" across 10" down 6 gallon

Did u look at the picture of the coral does it look like it is not opening fully for some reason?, the color looks fine?

I feel like when I move it up the coral doesn't respond as well.

 

[oyf709]

it could be the coral just not use to LED/spectrum/intensity change. It is very hard to say,but if base on the info you provide you , I don't think lack of light is the issue for it. 3w x 9 each is a lot to a small tank of yours.

 

[MikeGio]

it could be the coral just not use to LED/spectrum/intensity change. It is very hard to say,but if base on the info you provide you , I don't think lack of light is the issue for it. 3w x 9 each is a lot to a small tank of yours.

Thanks for all the advice, I've gotten better advice from you then the 3 LFS in my area. Your a 100x more knowledgeable then they are. They tried selling me a $200 marineland reef led and told me that's one of the best on the market.

Could it be the LEDs are too strong?, this is the coral towards the end of the day. Does it look good?

 

[oyf709]

Marineland reef bright is not the top of the line and they cost quite a bit for the size of that. They are easiest for you to access tho,
I am not sure about the coral, it seems ok, usually if it not doing well, it should fully closed polyps.

 

[MikeGio]

Marineland reef bright is not the top of the line and they cost quite a bit for the size of that. They are easiest for you to access tho,
I am not sure about the coral, it seems ok, usually if it not doing well, it should fully closed polyps.

Could it be to many polyps on one piece of rock?

They sort of seem squished

 

[Beengirl]

It's not too many on one rock. How long have you had the light? If you've only had the light a couple of days, the zoas are probably still adjusting to the light. Some zoas can take up to a week to open fully when under new lighting.

 

[mr_X]

I have to disagree here. Between T5's and LED's of equal wattage, the LED fixture will be tremendously brighter than the T5. I am currently using 120 watts of LED per 2 feet and they far outshine a 250 watt halide. Probably closer in intensity to a 400 watt halide. This is one of the main reasons we use LED over other other lighting.
Perfect example:
Sea Life Aquarium at LEGOLAND Lighting Retrofit from Metal Halide to Ecoxotic LED - YouTube

My 4 LED fixtures equaling 480 watts replaced 864 watts of T5.

 

[oyf709]

I have to disagree here. Between T5's and LED's of equal wattage, the LED fixture will be tremendously brighter than the T5. I am currently using 120 watts of LED per 2 feet and they far outshine a 250 watt halide. Probably closer in intensity to a 400 watt halide. This is one of the main reasons we use LED over other other lighting.
Perfect example:
Sea Life Aquarium at LEGOLAND Lighting Retrofit from Metal Halide to Ecoxotic LED - YouTube

My 4 LED fixtures equaling 480 watts replaced 864 watts of T5.

It would depend on the actual LED was being used, most LED fixtures would use at least 50% to 60% blue LED and using NW or CW which is closer to 10000K to 12000K Kelvin. Most T5 would be around 14000K so when comparing that at same Watt, it will be a lot brighter than the LED at same watts. However, if you running full current on CREE NW, it should look brighter than the T5. bt I rarely see any company or anyone would go with more NW than blues or royal blues

 

[mr_X]

How can you say that most t5's are around 14k? I would think it's up to the hobbyist to choose what lamps he or she likes. The color temperature of the t5 fixtures V.S. the LED units I have now were about the same, give or take. I used a lot of ATI Blue Plus and Aquablue specials, as I expect most to do.
So, we are talking out of the box fixtures with standard lamps then, with no adjust-ability? I was under the impression the OP was using a DIY LED unit. - just trying to clear things up for anyone reading.

 

[oyf709]

I donno, the picture doesn't look like a DYI one =/