T5 vs 3w LED

[Sleepy_lancs]

Hi All,

Its been awhile since I have a running tank. Yes! I will be restarting my planted tank again. I have been reading the forum for the last few months and I am stuck so I need help.

I am planning for a 3ft (L) x 3ft (B) x 2.5ft (H) tank. As it is in the middle of the house, I need to suspend it (Perhaps 3.5ft away from bottom of tank, recommendation welcome). I am deciding between T5 lights and LEDs. I know the price varies greatly between brands. So I decided not to go for the big expensive brands narrowing it down to:

1. Odyssea T5 OH
2. Odyssea MHX LED
3. Aquazonic T5
4. UP Aqua Pro LED
5. Beamworks?

Feel free to let me know any better ones I am also very concerned that the lifespan and electric consumption of the lights.

Just for information on Plants, Initially it will be likely to be fast growing plants and glossos. Then it will be slowly replaced with crypts and Anubias. But the carpet plant would likely still be glossos.

[Berny]

up aqua pro z led (if you're talking about the Z series) isn't really strong, letting it sit on your tank might already have issues, not to talk about hanging it.

[milk_vanilla]

2.5 ft tank height?? + another 1 ft hangin. I suggest you go to Metal halide

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[BFG]

If you're doing a square tank, take a look at the Kessil led. The 360W model, not the 360N.

[Sleepy_lancs]

Thanks for all those whom reply. Much appreciated.

I think I will forgo using LED. So between Aquazonic and Odyssea T5. Any comments on both lights for those whom has used them before? Also please let let me know the size of your tank so that I can make better judgement.

Thanks in advance.

[Berny]

I'm using aquazonic t5ho 4tubes, 39w each with 12000k color temperature. water temperature will go up by 1°+ after few hours.

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[lzw814]

Hi,

I'm using T5HO aquazonic 24w x 2 for my 2ft tank. Initially, it was working great. But after a 1 or 2 months, every morning have to manually switch on and off a few times for the light to light up. Very troublesome and in the end, my timer's job is just to switch off the light rather than do everything for me. This problem is quite common I think among the bros here. Not sure whether it is just the 2ft lightset having this problem or the brand.

[li_gangyi]

Initially, it was working great. But after a 1 or 2 months, every morning have to manually switch on and off a few times for the light to light up. This problem is quite common I think among the bros here. Not sure whether it is just the 2ft lightset having this problem or the brand.

Yeah, seems like multiple users are reporting the same fault.

I was trying to locate a lightset like yours with the same problem and either fix the problem with the original ballast, or retrofit another electronics ballast to fit within the original cavity. (I do realize that space might be an issue.) Haven't had someone pass their semi-faulty lightset to me yet though.

[qngwn]

the main issue here is the height of the tank. T5HOs might be sufficient to grow anubias at your tank height, but to grow glosso will be a big question. Metal Halide can be considered for a tank of great depth like yours.