All zoa tank what lights to use???
- Thread starter flowflezy
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T5's all day!
Sfgiants55
Active Member
I have used all lighting and so far like t5s the best. However there are Zoa masters like planet Zoa (radion leds), buddythelion (kessil), joshporksandwich (Apollo LEDs), and Poland springs (radions).
OP
OP
flowflezy
Valuable Member
Yeah I have leds on my main display. Had mtl before like the leds but think I wanna try something else on frag zoa tank already have over 30 different zoas in main display. And I think Josh is switching back in his new build.
airfire99
Community Member
T5's my zoa's and poly's colony's multiply crazy fast. My zoa's and poly's hardly reproduced under LED's. I did like LED's so I bought T5 and all my corals seemed a lot happier. My local shop has LED's and his zoa's always look like crap.
MistaOrange
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T5's all the way...
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LED's. My Zoanthids never grew under T5. They love LED.
For instance I had a 4 Polyp Miami Vice and after 6 Months absolutley no Growth.
Put it under a Kessil A160 and in just 2 Weeks went from 4 to 16 Polyps.
For instance I had a 4 Polyp Miami Vice and after 6 Months absolutley no Growth.
Put it under a Kessil A160 and in just 2 Weeks went from 4 to 16 Polyps.
JVI90gREEF
Well-Known Member
T5 + a reefbrite strip (for the pop)
Rob&Gab
unregistered
dont think its cause of your lights your zoas did not grow. cause i have LEDs and have sick crazy growth and color. it might have been your water too clean or something else.
same thing with t5's have crazy sick growth might have been your water bud.
I have the new 155e from reef radiance coming to put over my 40 breeder, currently under t5, its mixed reef but will be heavy on the paly/zoe side of things .. I was contemplating setting the leds up getting everything acclimated and dialed in, then adding 2 or 4 t5 bulbs. overkill? thoughts?srry not trying to jack your thread... we always saw mh supplemented with other lights ... with the toss up on the posts between t5 and led maybe both would be an good option?
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TJ's Reef
Valuable Member
Trying not to sound like bully or know-it-all here but, can tell you all for a fact that the/your zoanthids and or palys do not care if the light is coming from a MH, T5 or LED as long as it is in the correct spectrum and intensity. You the Reefkeeper has this control and should learn what's necessary to provide it correctly for any given light source. We as Reefkeepers need to take responsibility for our choices and for passing along real or revalent information to others. Saying that any light source by above categories will damage, kill or be inadequate for any Coral including zoanthids is simply wrong or misleading at best. We need to educate ourselves here and then pass on valid facts in addition our opinions to which we like best and for what reasons. There are Pros-n-Cons to all three lighting choices mentioned above and have been covered in many threads and on many forums, unfortunately LED's are still mostly misunderstood it seems. I've used the following analogy a lot about comparing MH to LED's "If you place a 400w MH over your 28 BioCube you will most certainly damage your corals just as you would by placing a 120-160w LED fixture over it running at 100%" We seem to have adjusted our thinking to MH, T5 and even VHO lighting over the years but still in the learning curve with the use of LED's.
This is my .06 from decades in the hobby and years of working in the Lighting Industry. If you would like my opinion on how best to setup a LED fixture/array over most any given Reeftank scenario feel free to ask me on this forum or in pm. Always happy to share my knowledge and or experience with anyone willing to learn.
Cheers, Todd
This is my .06 from decades in the hobby and years of working in the Lighting Industry. If you would like my opinion on how best to setup a LED fixture/array over most any given Reeftank scenario feel free to ask me on this forum or in pm. Always happy to share my knowledge and or experience with anyone willing to learn.
Cheers, Todd
EW_Fish
Valuable Member
+1 I'm not using a reefbrite strip but a buddy of mine has his zoa tank t5s and the strip awesome color. I used a full spectrum led and I get great results. I will be adding 2 t5s for a better pop
A. grandis
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T5s here!!! All the way!!!
I'll quote one of the best explanations I could put together to try to understand/explain why things work better with MHs and T5s than LEDs:
"There are some reasons why LEDs aren't the same as MHs and T5s.
Heat energy is transmitted by infrared electromagnetic radiation.
Light itself is electromagnetic radiation. The power of the bulbs (watts) is the transformation of energy from one form to another. So the LEDs could have the power (watts), but not so much heat. That we know...
The sun produces incandescent light, which is light energy converted from heat, and it's a source of electromagnetic radiation. MHs have similar properties, of course, and it's an incandescent source of light. T5s convert other types of energy (electricity through mercury vapor) to light, with less heat, but still have the heat.
How many people know that sunlight is the best light for the corals??
Besides the heat, some LEDs, not all of them, still don't have color rendition (CRI) like incandescent lamps either. The example used for the color rendition is the sun, as the model, and equals 100. Color rendering is the ability of a light source to show true colors as seen outdoors in sun light. LEDs aren't normally compared using CRI. It's mostly used for incandescent bulbs and tubes.
So, that said, the MHs and T5s are still, and probably will be for long time (until LEDs come with better CRI and some heat!!) the best artificial reef lights.
One of the properties of the LEDs (and the goal for many reefers) is to have almost no heat. That alone removes the LEDs of the list for better light for reef tanks, because that isn't simply what the sun is about. The organisms on the reef use the infrared electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, in a long period of time, the corals and zoas will begin to perish with the lack of such important light quality found on natural reefs.
Hope this will help many to understand why so many people are coming back to their MHs/T5s for better and healthier zoas and corals, besides their visual preferences, if so.
That's my point of view. I think no matter how much we want to pay less electricity and have those nice effects with fancy/expensive computer programs, the facts are that LEDs aren't as good as MH and/or T5s.
Lots of money for trials with a hype and some weekly announcements of those new updated versions and features. Another money machine?"
T5s are more uniform and less heat than MHs, and that's why I choose them.
For deeper tanks MHs are still the best way to go.
I wouldn't change my T5s for any LEDs in the market today.
I've heard too many people complaining and loosing organisms due to the change to LEDs too.
Too many went back to their old T5 fixtures and lost time and money with their LEDs.
T5s and MHs are the best choice and many times we will notice that only in the long run.
Just my US$.02.
Have fun! :wink:
Grandis.
I'll quote one of the best explanations I could put together to try to understand/explain why things work better with MHs and T5s than LEDs:
"There are some reasons why LEDs aren't the same as MHs and T5s.
Heat energy is transmitted by infrared electromagnetic radiation.
Light itself is electromagnetic radiation. The power of the bulbs (watts) is the transformation of energy from one form to another. So the LEDs could have the power (watts), but not so much heat. That we know...
The sun produces incandescent light, which is light energy converted from heat, and it's a source of electromagnetic radiation. MHs have similar properties, of course, and it's an incandescent source of light. T5s convert other types of energy (electricity through mercury vapor) to light, with less heat, but still have the heat.
How many people know that sunlight is the best light for the corals??
Besides the heat, some LEDs, not all of them, still don't have color rendition (CRI) like incandescent lamps either. The example used for the color rendition is the sun, as the model, and equals 100. Color rendering is the ability of a light source to show true colors as seen outdoors in sun light. LEDs aren't normally compared using CRI. It's mostly used for incandescent bulbs and tubes.
So, that said, the MHs and T5s are still, and probably will be for long time (until LEDs come with better CRI and some heat!!) the best artificial reef lights.
One of the properties of the LEDs (and the goal for many reefers) is to have almost no heat. That alone removes the LEDs of the list for better light for reef tanks, because that isn't simply what the sun is about. The organisms on the reef use the infrared electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, in a long period of time, the corals and zoas will begin to perish with the lack of such important light quality found on natural reefs.
Hope this will help many to understand why so many people are coming back to their MHs/T5s for better and healthier zoas and corals, besides their visual preferences, if so.
That's my point of view. I think no matter how much we want to pay less electricity and have those nice effects with fancy/expensive computer programs, the facts are that LEDs aren't as good as MH and/or T5s.
Lots of money for trials with a hype and some weekly announcements of those new updated versions and features. Another money machine?"
T5s are more uniform and less heat than MHs, and that's why I choose them.
For deeper tanks MHs are still the best way to go.
I wouldn't change my T5s for any LEDs in the market today.
I've heard too many people complaining and loosing organisms due to the change to LEDs too.
Too many went back to their old T5 fixtures and lost time and money with their LEDs.
T5s and MHs are the best choice and many times we will notice that only in the long run.
Just my US$.02.
Have fun! :wink:
Grandis.
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