New bulbs or switch to LED's

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cjrudy

Member
Its that time of year for me to change my T5 bulbs and I am wondering if its time for me to take the plunge and switch to LED's. New bulbs run about $125 and for literally a few hundred more I can get some DIY LED's.

I have been researching for months and may settle on the Rapid LED kit.

Any thoughts ?
 
PSU4ME

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Pros and cons to both but noes the time to do it. I'm an led guy but you'll here good arguments for T5 do it really is up to you. A premium bin led build is no joke...... I've seen amazing tanks with these kind of builds
 
goma

goma

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
I recently switched to LEDs for the exact reason you are stating, I was tired of spending the money onT-5s each year. As PSU4ME stated, you will find people on both sides of this argument so you'll have to do your research and make a decision. Me, I'm happy I made the conversion!
 
Choff

Choff

Well-Known Member
I just built a rapid led rig for my FT. Very very easy, especially if you get a solderless kit. Attaching the optics was a bit annoying and buy some extra ones. Some didn't fit. They must have a wide manufacturing tolerance on the openings.

Otherwise, very happy with it.

Sent using Tapatalk 2
 
ohiojeff

ohiojeff

Member
was just talking to the owner of a local coral farm. we have gotten to be friends over the past couple years, and his farm switched to LED. I would only throw out a word of caution, LED's can harm your reef if you aren't carefull. start slow. they can be very intense. he is seeing good results, but he says that there is a learning curve to them.
 
Willie McDaries

Willie McDaries

Well-Known Member
ohiojeff said:
was just talking to the owner of a local coral farm. we have gotten to be friends over the past couple years, and his farm switched to LED. I would only throw out a word of caution, LED's can harm your reef if you aren't carefull. start slow. they can be very intense. he is seeing good results, but he says that there is a learning curve to them.
Click to expand...

yea, they are deceiving, they don't look as bright to the human eye as some other lights, they are a more focused type of lighting, kinda like a laser, less wasted light outside the tank too
 
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cjrudy

Member
Ugh...............thanks for all the input, lot's of opinions out there, still can't decide. Don't really want to spend the money but yet I could definitely swing it. Still not totally convinced LED's are it, and definitely don't want to sacrifice any of my SPS.
 
PSU4ME

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
I think you jeopardize you sps by not knowing..... But now you do. Just start them low (meaning buy dimmable ones!) and you'll be able to ease them in. If you do that I doubt you'll lose anything.
 
G

gbose

Member
+1 to LEDS and to going slow. I nearly wiped out my tank with a Panorama Blue LED strip. It didn't look so bright, and I just wanted to add some actinic color.. then my coral started to die. I should have acclimated them slower.

GBose
 
DianaKay

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
I just switched from the stock T5s on my RSM 250 to Steves LEDs. Just completed week 1 at 50% and today bumped it up to 55%. I love the sunrise/sunset effect with the LEDs but it's too early for my opinion on how they affect coral growth. My corals seem to have done fine the 1st week. I have LPS corals only right now.
They run SO MUCH COOLER than the T5s and I'm not seeing hardly any evaporation. I top off manually so I like that my water level stays up better.
 
GlassMunky

GlassMunky

Active Member
As the others have mentioned, if you go the LED route, START SLOW. I bleached the crap out of all my SPS when i first got my Radions. Now they are set to only reach a max intesity of around 65-70% and all my SPS are back to growing and have fully colored up. just start slow.
 
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cjrudy

Member
Tanks 90 gallon SPS dominant, been up for almost three years and doing great. Most of my SPS are in the mid to upper portion of the tank and have done well under T5's. Guess I'm looking at LED's for the same reasons as everyone else. No more bulbs to buy, cooler, the ability to run them off my controller and lots of possibilities with the DIY fixtures.
 
DianaKay

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
cjrudy said:
Tanks 90 gallon SPS dominant, been up for almost three years and doing great. Most of my SPS are in the mid to upper portion of the tank and have done well under T5's. Guess I'm looking at LED's for the same reasons as everyone else. No more bulbs to buy, cooler, the ability to run them off my controller and lots of possibilities with the DIY fixtures.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest if you don't go with the LEDs this time, you might have your mind ready and set on LEDs at least by the next due bulb change. By then, there should be A LOT MORE reviews on them. Happy deciding either way :D
 
Mayja

Mayja

Social Media Moderator
RS STAFF
FB Response to this thread: Daniel McCormack says, "In the long run LED's financially will save you not only in bulbs but from ringing up the electric bill as well. Switch over to LED's if you have the money, you will not regret it..."
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Mayja said:
FB Response to this thread: Daniel McCormack says, "In the long run LED's financially will save you not only in bulbs but from ringing up the electric bill as well. Switch over to LED's if you have the money, you will not regret it..."
Click to expand...

I look at LED like an RO/DI unit... the sooner you switch to (or buy as in RO/DI) the sooner you start saving $$ on your tank. You'll save every month for MANY months down the road.
 
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