# T5 vs led for coral growth in frag tank



## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

Hi all,

So I have a little 20g long that i set up about 2 months ago for frags and my nems. I had it with 2 T5 10,000 and everything was doing great, just too white.
So I figured I would get some PAR LEDS. I got a 36 par and a 30 par. I must say, neither both of the lights cover the same range, neither my corals are growing like under the t5's. I am dosing FUEL and even with that my zoas and mushrooms are having a hard time. Is a shallow tank 20" x 10". doing some research im starting to read that t5's are actually better for coral growth and that LEDS dont compare.... WDYT? any ideas? should I bring other LEDS spectrum, such as red and green color? Should I get more bulbs?

Thank you!


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

I use a aquaticlife 36" and two par38 over my 75G and I must say that the zoa/paly grow faster under leds than under the t5.


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

In my limited novice experience I think it depends on the corals as to what they prefer. Under t5's my xenia goes nuts and is almost a weed but under led it doesnt spread very fast at all and looks deflated.


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## aquatic_expressions (Mar 17, 2006)

In my experience you get better growth under t5. The light is distributed evenly through out the aquarium. LED you get better coloration but not better growth IMO.

I do only use LED currently and I still get good growth but fantasic coloration.


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## Thoreffex (Dec 31, 2013)

In my experience water quality does a lot too, I grow zoos with a florecent bulb and they grow fast.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

I hate LED, but I should admit that with the AI Hydras running less than a half capacity (acclimatization 26% whites), I got grown much more than with T5s - zoas, palys, setosa, bidrnest, ORA birdnest of paradise.

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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

Still not happy with the colours Sig?

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


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## thmh (Mar 17, 2011)

In my experience for sps led will grow sps quicker and t5 can colour up sps better.


-Tony


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

kamal said:


> Still not happy with the colours Sig?
> 
> Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


T5s are better colors, but it is just me

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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

A 20x10 - 20 gallon tank is considered an extra-tall actually - it should be ~24 inches tall. The standard 20 gallon is 24x12x12.

If that is in fact the case, at 24 inches its comparable in depth to 70-90 gallon (and larger) tanks. And if that is in fact the case, I don't think its an issue of T5 vs. LED - you just don't have enough light.

If the T5's were working - I'd go back to it. Get a stunner strip with 20K if its too white. You can always use a timer and use your T5s with your LED's.

That's a bit of an awkward tank - you may want to trade for a shallower one - tanks are cheap.


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## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

Noy, the tank is 12" tall by 30" long. Sorry, i got the measures wrong.

It is pretty shallow.

In regards to the color, with LED, agreed, I like them better, In regards to the distribution, I hate them, totally wrong, there is shadows everywhere, specially when you use PAR lights. im frustrated. not sure if keep investing on more led strips to make it more evenly distributed, or just buy new bulbs for my T5 and throw the par LEDs in the garbage  not only that, but my plant is to change form T5 to LEDS on the DT, and now im thinking i will spend big $$$ to be disappointed like SIG. Grrrrrrr.

I think the only way is to put the T5's back, if the frags thrive, then I'll stick with the t5 and to hell with the LEDS.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I own both t5's and LED and I've owned quite a few types of different lights and my opinion on PAR lights is they are really good on smaller tanks that can use up a spotlight type of lighting. T5's are still king when it comes to growth though. On my DT I have 4xT5HO and its doing awesome

The frag tank has a maxspect razor and my LPS are doing amazing but the spa have all browned out and almost died off. I tried to adjust the channels but I opted to move the spa to the DT to make sure they were alright.

Its funny that 6 months ago everyone wanted to buy the PAR bulbs and now there are countless sales threads trying to sell them. 

If you are going to do LED then try one of those chinese fixtures everyone is buying!!


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## TankCla (Dec 31, 2010)

Letigrama said:


> ...should I bring other LEDS spectrum, such as red and green color? Should I get more bulbs?...


You don't need red spectrum. Green is good.

So far I noticed an increased growth under T5HO + LEDs.

You could also look for new T5 bulbs, different spectrum, if you don't have coral growth. I am happy with Giesemann bulbs (True Actinic + Actinic puls + Aquablue plus + Lagoon Blue). I have a full spectrum T5HO.


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

In my experience SPS have always grown faster under T5 lighting. Xenia, LPS like hammers and frogspawn have also grown well under my T5's, but the various zoas and palys have always colored up much nicer under the DIY lighting I have installed over my frag tank. If you could somehow incorporate both Led and T5's over your tank you would have the best of both worlds - good growth and spectacular coloration.


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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

Leti - what type of frags do you have (what species - popular name)?

Also, is your frag tank just a staging area before you mount these in your DT? If you are not keeping them in the frag tank long you may want to just go for growth using your T5's and let it colour up in your DT.


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

I would love to give an opinion most likely personal experience but you guys forgot that growth depends not only on light also in placing the coral or frag in the right place with the right water chemistry.
Now my own personal experience is that I can grow softies, zoas, palys and LPS as good with LEDs than with T5s but for SPS they will never grow better than with T5s and MH is a fact!!!!..lol..... now whats better ....LEDs with T5s equal growth and coloration......


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## jkoot (Apr 17, 2012)

I use a tek 6 bulb fixture with a full actinic reefbrite XHO stunner strip.

I get great growth and a lot of colour pop.

I think the way to go is a mix of both!

>jason


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## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

noy said:


> Leti - what type of frags do you have (what species - popular name)?
> 
> Also, is your frag tank just a staging area before you mount these in your DT? If you are not keeping them in the frag tank long you may want to just go for growth using your T5's and let it colour up in your DT.


Hi Noy- I keep my nems for sale and started to experiment with some blue srooms, zoas and kenya tree as frags for sale..... 
T5 are back with one PAR LED... is too soon to see if we are doing better....I do think it could be because of water parameters, The frag tank is in ICU now, doing some changes


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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

Letigrama said:


> Hi Noy- I keep my nems for sale and started to experiment with some blue srooms, zoas and kenya tree as frags for sale.....
> T5 are back with one PAR LED... is too soon to see if we are doing better....I do think it could be because of water parameters, The frag tank is in ICU now, doing some changes


Mushrooms actually thrive better in low light - make sure you have shady spots for them. The corals you have don't really require intense light. You probably couldn't give away the Kenya trees.

I think you are OK as far as lighting is concerned. The PAR30 and PAR36 LEDS - make sure these are 10K+. Most of the general use ones are in the 2500-3K spectrum range (just bought a couple today).


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