# Lighting for planted tank LED vs T5 HO



## Goldstone

I am trying to decide on some lighting and trying to decide between T5 HO or Led. I have a 45 gallon tank tall tank with DIY CO2. I have some low light plants but I would really like to grow a carpet tank like pygmy chain swords. I have read that it can also grow in med light. Please help me decide on the proper lighting. Here are links to two models that I am interested in. I know people have problems with Odyssea lights in the past but I have read that they have improved. These lights also fit my budget.

36" T5 Dual High Output Light Fixture 6500K

Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

BeamsWork HI LUMEN Freshwater Bright LED Light 36" 6500K

LED Aquarium Lighting Freshwater Bright 6500K

OR

36" T5 Quad High Output Light Fixture 6500K

Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

OR

AquaSun T5 HO Double Light Linear Fluorescent Hood - 36 in.

Petco was selling this for for $50 but now its out of stock

http://www.thatpetplace.com/aquasun...n?gdftrk=gdfV2226_a_7c268_a_7c9788_a_7c252155

Being the bargain hunter that I am, I also found a good source for T5HO lamps if I decide to do that instead of LED

GE Starcoat Fluorescent T5 High Output Lamps

3FT- 39W T-5 6500K LAMP/T5/865

$9.30

http://www.horticulturesource.com/g...e-6500k-3-ft-6500k-fluorescent-40-case--p491/


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## Vancitycam

Depends on your budget but t5ho are good enough to grow with, cheaper to buy but you spend yearly on bulbs so it adds up over time and also more power is used and more heat is created. LEDs are more to buy initially but run cooler eliminating my tanks temp swings and there's no bulbs to replace and less power used so it probably a wash in the end. Go new with lighting also don't buy used. Other than that it comes down to your wants needs and plans, I don't have any experience with the LEDs you were looking at I went with kessil but I found them to be better quality fixture than others i had seen with plastic lens and housing and run quite, have the shimmer of a mh and was a really easy install because I'm not handy with DIY stuff. One other thing I preferred with the kessil over other led strip units was the coverage of the tank, the way the light is cast from the round led cup better covers the tank front to back and all around where as some strip lights didnt light all the way from the back up the front only really lighting up a bright centre strip going from end to end. That being said I spent hundreds but and planning on keeping long term if you change up quickly I'd just get a dual t5ho and stay cheap.


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## Captured Moments

I can't really help you with the LED because I have no experience with them. The quad T5HO will put you into high light so be careful if you use all 4 bulbs.


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## randylahey

Where in Canada are you? IPU has there aquanova (which are actually zoo med)t5ho on final clearance.
Personally, I would go with a t5ho. I have a beamswork 48" 0.2w led on my 50g no-tech and had a 48" 1w on my 90g high-tech. I switched the 90 to a quad t5ho, 
I find them to be too limited in terms of color spectrum and what you could do with it. That particular model has a moonlight but no way to use it with a timer. I was having problems with algae and growth on certain plants. I will not be going the led route again until I go big time with a diy led custom canopy with a controller.


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## Goldstone

I live in Vancouver BC. It's really hard to decide for me. I have a 24" high tank but the T5HO have higher light penetration but I will have to replace the lights every year and will cost more in electricity. The LED lights are more expensive but I will cheaper in the longer run. The only thing I am worried about is the light penetration cause I have a 24" high tank. I found a beamswork like with 3W leds but I am worried its still not enough. I always found that IPU is always on the expensive side and I don't mind going to Point Roberts to pick up my internet orders.

LEDs Count: 24
3240 Lumens
Super energy efficient 3 watt high output LEDs
24x 6500K LED
Use 72 watts

EVO 36 LED Bright (FW/ Planted)


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## PaulCheung

I have not heard a lot of success stories using LED to grow plants. I would choose T5HO for now and upgrade them to LED later.


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## Goldstone

Paul is right about growing with Led, I am not sure if the plants grow as well in LED vs T5 HO. Wow, Beamswork has ton of 36" Led Models.

BeamsWork Bright LED Light 36" 6500K

LEDs Count: 42
2610 Lumens
Super energy efficient 1 watt HQ LEDs
35x 10,000K LEDs
7x Actinic 460nm LEDs
Use 42 watts

LED Aquarium Lighting Fixture from $34.90 featuring 1watt per LED

LEDs Count: 129
2900 Lumens
Super energy efficient 0.2 watt high output LEDs
129x 6,500K LED
Use 26 watts

LED Aquarium Lighting Freshwater Bright 6500K

LEDs Count: 190
3300 Lumens
Super energy efficient 0.2 watt high output LEDs
190x 6,500K LED
Use 38 watts

LED Aquarium Light Fixture - 24" HI Lumen 120 x 0.20W LED at $69.95 only. Free Shipping.

LEDs Count: 52
4000 Lumens
Super energy efficient 1 watt high output LEDs
52x 6,500K LED
Use 52 watts

BeamsWork HI LUMEN LED Light Fixture Quad 1W 36" (TR)

Fixture Size: 34.50" x 5.00" x 1.00" (Add 0.65" in height with bracket installed)
LEDs Count: 24
3240 Lumens
Super energy efficient 3 watt high output LEDs
24x 6500K LED
Use 72 watts

EVO 36 LED Bright (FW/ Planted)

Is it correct that I should go with the LED light will the most wattage or the one with the highest Lumens? Then there are fixtures will .2 watt / 1 watt / 3 watt Leds Does that mean I should use a fixture with 3 watt led for a 24" high tank?

Here are some results of T5 Vs Led for growing Lettuce. Results are pretty interesting


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## 2wheelsx2

LED's grow plants just fine, as you can see from my ADA cube below. The problem with LED is the choice of colour rendition/spectrum. There are plenty of threads on BCA, Plantedtank.net, barrreport.com of high tech high light CO2 injected tanks. ADA even markets an LED light now.










Edit: The problem comes into play when one goes with cheaper LED lights which get too hot and put out light in the wrong spectrum. I have not seen too much success with the Beamswork for growning nice plants (I have a low output Beamswork LED myself growing Subwassertang, Anubias and crypts). I personally own AquaRay and Panorama LED's and they work great. My 125 gallon is 22" deep with the lights 8" above the water as I am doing a low light/low pressurized CO2 setup. I have seen them grown with Vertex, AI, and all kinds of high output LED's.


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## Vancitycam

Check these out

Kessil LED Lights about dense matrix led
Kessil LED Lights this one shows color spectrums

http://m.youtube.com/results?q=kessil amazon sun&sm=1 many videos of these lights on youtube or head out to j&l aquatics and see them on the display tank


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## Goldstone

2wheelsx2 said:


> LED's grow plants just fine, as you can see from my ADA cube below. The problem with LED is the choice of colour rendition/spectrum. There are plenty of threads on BCA, Plantedtank.net, barrreport.com of high tech high light CO2 injected tanks. ADA even markets an LED light now.
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> Edit: The problem comes into play when one goes with cheaper LED lights which get too hot and put out light in the wrong spectrum. I have not seen too much success with the Beamswork for growning nice plants (I have a low output Beamswork LED myself growing Subwassertang, Anubias and crypts). I personally own AquaRay and Panorama LED's and they work great. My 125 gallon is 22" deep with the lights 8" above the water as I am doing a low light/low pressurized CO2 setup. I have seen them grown with Vertex, AI, and all kinds of high output LED's.


How many watts are your LED lights?


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## Goldstone

Vancitycam said:


> Check these out
> 
> Kessil LED Lights about dense matrix led
> Kessil LED Lights this one shows color spectrums
> 
> http://m.youtube.com/results?q=kessil amazon sun&sm=1 many videos of these lights on youtube or head out to j&l aquatics and see them on the display tank


Wow, those things are expensive. My wife would kill me if she knew I spent $200 on lights :bigsmile:

Kessil A150W Amazon Sun 6500K | eBay

OK found a better deal but still too expensive for me $168.00

http://www.horticulturesource.com/g...s22/hydrofarm-led-grow-light-150-blue-p19911/


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## Vancitycam

Haha mine encouraged me to get three :lol: instead of doing a retro fit t5 kit on my old lid, man she's the best


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## Goldstone

Wow, you spent $600 on lights? You must be growing something else beside aquarium plants :bigsmile:


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## Vancitycam

Haha no no. I paid $250 per light I guess that's the retail markup.


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## Vancitycam

Just saw your edit and those other ones are just the h150 they are horticulture lighting you would use a combo of those to grow tomatoes or orchids depends what you are trying to do. I was looking into those for her she has two orchids by the window.


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## 2wheelsx2

Goldstone said:


> How many watts are your LED lights?


That's the Aquaray mini tile. 12 w.


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## 2wheelsx2

Vancitycam said:


> Haha mine encouraged me to get three :lol: instead of doing a retro fit t5 kit on my old lid, man she's the best


The Kessil Amazon Suns are amazing. J&L has a display planted tank with one in the showroom. I'd love to do one except I'd have to do open top and a pendant and that's not happening in my living room because of the excess humidity.


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## Tommy72a

I recently took a plunge and spent few$$ on DIY LED light set up. I read so many comments about how LED can't grow very well but I can assure you it does a great job. I used to utilize T5 bulbs and they work great. However I believe LEDs can offer you more in terms of control and added benefits. Check out my recent pictures here. http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/plan...ed-diy-project-planted-tank-66601/index2.html

There is no doubt cost is a major issue and it will be several years before you see offset in cost. I think most of the off-the-shelf LED lighting isn't strong enough and I find it annoying that lot of the manufactures don't fully disclose the specs. IMHO, the LED lighting is the next big thing in planted aquarium but it's not widely available in retail package yet. (I'm sure there are some good ones out there) Good luck in your decision making! BTW, if you decide to go with DIY LED lighting, I will be happy to assist. i did outline some pros and cons, build details and my overall experience in my postings.


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## JTang

Hey guys any news on this topic. I'm trying to decide on the lighting for my new 33g setup. Tank is 21" high.


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## Nobody1

I have a fluval led light. The box said it was for plants. Pile of junk. Wouldn't grow plants in my 75. Won't buy anymore fluval leds. I put 1 t5ho to help led and plants are going nuts. I am going to go t5ho from now on. The fluval is going to be an expensive shop light- thats all they are good for.


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## Reckon

JTang said:


> Hey guys any news on this topic. I'm trying to decide on the lighting for my new 33g setup. Tank is 21" high.


That sounds cool what are all the dimensions?


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## JTang

Reckon said:


> That sounds cool what are all the dimensions?


I bought the tank from m_class. Exactly the same as his except that the front bottom trim is a bit scratched up. I believe it is 24" x18" x21.5H. It's going to sit on a custom built stand. Any suggestion?

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/monster-fish-21/red-bellies-rbp-138545/


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## Bien Lim

Hi there,
IMHO both are a good choice, it will only depends which brand you go for. I have set up a tank with marina led and I find them ok but it does not spread the light to cover 18inch wide tank. This is not good if your only buying one fixture and I know that if you put another fixture over the tank you might end up with a high light set up. I don't have experience with the other led you mentioned, but in general led will penetrate the tank a lot better than t5ho. Which is good if you decide to grow a more demanding foreground plant later on. I also set up a 36inch tank lit with the new tuna sun kessil, I use 2 of them. And I must say that I'm very impressed. It gives you option on intensity as well as color or kelvin you want to use. You can also set it up as you have midday and late afternoon setting. I would recommend this light over some LEDs that you mentioned. With the t5ho which I use on my home tank, I love it. I have Tek lights fixture on all my tank and it grows everything. The only drawback is buying new bulbs if u want to maintain the light intensity. I change mind every year and whenever I do, through experienced that I have to up my co2 and ferts for the first month or so since the new bulb will give you more growth. Take note though that the reflector on tek fixture are really good compare to the ones available now. I hope that helps a bit on your decision


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## Goundar2010

I have the fluval aqualife and plant led on my 20G long. I have a full carpet on my tank with no co2. On my 10G tank I got current led+ the plants are growing like crazy. Last for my 5.5g and 2.5g I got a current plus pro led over bought of them growing pond plants and carpet plants. Which are all doing good.














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