• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

T5 or LED lights

For me this is the equivalent of purchasing a
Electric car with a gas tank (hybrid)
It just doesn’t make sense anymore since
Tesla has already proven we don’t need gas.
You can 100% run a car with electricity.

In the same breath we can run a successful tank using only LED. so why support old technology?
Exempts laws of physics negates electric cars from this. Some day I’m certain solar will take over. But at this time it takes far more energy to produce and store electric power over the other types of fuels and the batteries have a very limited life span and are far more dangerous and environmentally poor than the many other options. In short. Batteries are the problem. I mean a huge problem. Perhaps when they come up with a way to negate the battery issue. I will be a convert but for now I will never purchase and electric car. I say this with respect. And for those who don’t know. I am employed and in the forefront of the technology industry . I’m not a tree hugging environmentalist (however. I do love trees as well)
 

iTzJu

Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
For me this is the equivalent of purchasing a
Electric car with a gas tank (hybrid)
It just doesn’t make sense anymore since
Tesla has already proven we don’t need gas.
You can 100% run a car with electricity.

In the same breath we can run a successful tank using only LED. so why support old technology?

I am in the LED camp as well but I myself run a hybrid set up on my main tank, 2 x XR15s, XR30 and AquaticLife 36" and 3 x XR15s with diffusors on my frag tank . Old technology doesn't necessarily mean its obsolete or it's "bad" and everything is always a case by case basis. T5s and Halides may be old tech, but they are proven tech. It's hard to argue not to use them if someone was after a certain goal for their tank and corals. I fully support LED but in my own experience and many others still believe that T5s and Halides grow SPS better than LEDs alone. I implement a hybrid setup so I can have the best of both worlds, spectrum control and efficiency of leds with the blanket light of T5s. You can argue that light is light but the way light is distributed is the main difference of the 3 and more recently you can see manufactures are becoming more aware that a T5 like diffused/blanket of light is better overall for corals compared to a concentrated light like LEDs.

Also, hobbyist were the first to implement hybrid setups. from T5s/Halides with LED supplements and vice versa. We as a community are usually the ones accidentally discovering these things. Companies just provide products that's more convenient to implement it to the masses.

Not here to argue since everyone has an opinion and i fully understand where you are coming from but just wanted to say that everything should be approached with goal driven case by case mindset and not to just blanket ideology.

some say, my approach to lights is that there is never enough light. lol
 

amado

Dal
Staff member
Board of Directors
NJRC Member
Exempts laws of physics negates electric cars from this. Some day I’m certain solar will take over. But at this time it takes far more energy to produce and store electric power over the other types of fuels and the batteries have a very limited life span and are far more dangerous and environmentally poor than the many other options. In short. Batteries are the problem. I mean a huge problem. Perhaps when they come up with a way to negate the battery issue. I will be a convert but for now I will never purchase and electric car. I say this with respect. And for those who don’t know. I am employed and in the forefront of the technology industry . I’m not a tree hugging environmentalist (however. I do love trees as well)

This is also not a valid point anymore.
Tesla has developed batteries that are capable of running your own home.
Battery technology keeps getting better.
Gas cars all need batteries to run electric won’t add anymore.

I won’t hijack this thread with details but you can do your own research.

The new led are being made to work like T5. Led bars light your tank from end to end with no shadowing.
 
Last edited:

amado

Dal
Staff member
Board of Directors
NJRC Member
I am in the LED camp as well but I myself run a hybrid set up on my main tank, 2 x XR15s, XR30 and AquaticLife 36" and 3 x XR15s with diffusors on my frag tank . Old technology doesn't necessarily mean its obsolete or it's "bad" and everything is always a case by case basis. T5s and Halides may be old tech, but they are proven tech. It's hard to argue not to use them if someone was after a certain goal for their tank and corals. I fully support LED but in my own experience and many others still believe that T5s and Halides grow SPS better than LEDs alone. I implement a hybrid setup so I can have the best of both worlds, spectrum control and efficiency of leds with the blanket light of T5s. You can argue that light is light but the way light is distributed is the main difference of the 3 and more recently you can see manufactures are becoming more aware that a T5 like diffused/blanket of light is better overall for corals compared to a concentrated light like LEDs.

Also, hobbyist were the first to implement hybrid setups. from T5s/Halides with LED supplements and vice versa. We as a community are usually the ones accidentally discovering these things. Companies just provide products that's more convenient to implement it to the masses.

Not here to argue since everyone has an opinion and i fully understand where you are coming from but just wanted to say that everything should be approached with goal driven case by case mindset and not to just blanket ideology.

some say, my approach to lights is that there is never enough light. lol

Yes I respect everyone opinion. And I see this in all aspect of life. Some people hold on to the old and don’t like change.
Like I stated before people are buying vinyl records. That’s crazy to me because why would I pay money for that.
But you have people that won’t move forward and believe the only way to listen to music is using vinyl records.

Yes T5 and halideds grow corals but now we have better choices.


By the way there is a company making money delivering milk to homes here in NJ.
We are going back to having milk man lol
 
I would so love if we still had milk men. Fresh whole milk with all that cream No antibiotics and hormones. Oh yea. Modern is always better Hahahaha
Don't expect anything different then the exact same milk you can get in the local store. Fresh raw milk with cream is a thing of the past in the USA except in very special circumstances
 
Don't expect anything different then the exact same milk you can get in the local store. Fresh raw milk with cream is a thing of the past in the USA except in very special circumstances
That’s because you don’t have a place in West Virginia... cows are still raised in fields and milk is available from the utter. Now if I wasn’t lactose intolerant that might help a little hahaha. although strangely enough I do better on the raw milk than the pasteurized. Not real sure why :oo:
 
This is also not a valid point anymore.
Tesla has developed batteries that are capable of running your own home.
Battery technology keeps getting better.
Gas cars all need batteries to run electric won’t add anymore.

I won’t hijack this thread with details but you can do your own research.

The new led are being made to work like T5. Led bars light your tank from end to end with no shadowing.
Let’s agree to disagree. Believe me I am in the industry. If you are comparing the 12 volt batteries that run your old car and the giant polymer thing that runs a fully electric car you are talking whole new worlds that aren’t even remotely comparable. And don’t get me started on whole house technology. Those gigawatt storage batteries that MUST regularly be replace and “disposed”of are the modern worlds barrel of chemicals that if we don’t figure out soon Will be the next world crisis. So yes I agree. I won’t bring it up again. This site this forum is not the place for it. And I truly respect your opinion. The technology is close. But absolutely not close enough. And it is being implemented at least 50 years to soon. Nothing I would like more than to be wrong on this.
 

Trio91

Administrator
Staff member
Moderator
Back on topic....

Will LED'S alone work....yes
Will T5'S alone work.....yes
Will a hybrid work....yes

In short it's a matter of preference. Personally, I've run all 3 secerios and all have worked for me. With a hybrid I feel I'm getting the best of both worlds. T5'S for growth and the LED for that "pop" in color
 
Last edited:
Top