Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Reefman
I admit that t5 do a slightly better job of growing healthy coral, but it's not like leds can't. In fact they do it quite well. My reasons for choosing leds over t5 are these:
1) no heat (my fans are thermally controlled and never run as the fixture is at room temp all the time!)
2) sunrise/sunset/moonlight control (only one expensive t5 fixture can do that)
3) 6 channel color control without having to buy and replace bulbs
4) no bulbs to replace (I had MH/t5 hybrids and I save enough in replacement bulbs to pay for my led fixtures in just 4 years)
5) one button mode change (I can show off my coral fluorescence by going all blue with a single button, and I can go full sunny or moonlights the same way)
6) good looking, slim (1" thick) fixture that is very modern looking
7) my acro and digi sps corals grow fast enough that I'm selling frags all the time
This tank has been running 6 months and this photo is from about 2 months ago:
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I think Ron's suggestion is and always is fantastic (man you are quick to post this in every light-related thread!
). I do think that if you go with more of a point-source LED like the Kessil AP700 that T5 is a great supplement -- which is what I'm doing. My AP700 is great but the shimmer is overwhelming and it can look a bit dim. The T5s will help chill the shimmer, and increase visual brightness and coverage.
I can't decide what I'd do differently if I were to do it again. The one thing that I don't like about the Photon v2 is how you have to tune it yourself. It seems really tedious. The nice thing with Kessil LEDs and T5s is that you never have to worry about screwing up the spectrum and can just focus on aesthetics and PAR. I got my AP700 for the price of the Photon V2... If I were faced with the AP700 at msrp vs the Photon V2 at msrp I'd probably give the Photon a shot, no questions asked.