Recommended Light for 3ft Tank? 3W LED vs T5HO

[Jason]

Hi,

I am setting up a 3 ft x 1 ft x 1.5 ft planted tank and would like to get some recommendation on manufacturer and model to go for. Initially, i'm thinking of going with 4 x T5HO as that's the most common setup, but as I looked around, I came across comments that The 3W LED nowadays are better than T5HO. Is this true? Would 3W LED give the light penetration and sufficient lighting necessary? Would appreciate if anyone who has used 3W LED for their tank, or anyone who has done detail study in this subject to share. Thanks.

[Phillipians]

I have 2 sets of 1.5ft 3W LED set from Green Element. I am using it on my 2 x 1.5ft x 1.5ft tank now but vertically instead of horizontally. Seems good and my plants are bubbling with the right CO2 injected. Initially skeptical but I think the LEDs work unless you have a 2ft height tank.

Looking at even moving to MaxSpect Razor LED now - Heard it compares to MH lighting let alone T5.

[fateddee]

Hi,

I am setting up a 3 ft x 1 ft x 1.5 ft planted tank and would like to get some recommendation on manufacturer and model to go for. Initially, i'm thinking of going with 4 x T5HO as that's the most common setup, but as I looked around, I came across comments that The 3W LED nowadays are better than T5HO. Is this true? Would 3W LED give the light penetration and sufficient lighting necessary? Would appreciate if anyone who has used 3W LED for their tank, or anyone who has done detail study in this subject to share. Thanks.

The shop owner of East ocean recommended me one unit of 3w Green element Odyssea LED for plant for my tank 60x30x45. 3w led is considered high powered LED sufficient for aquariums 45cm to 60cm. This was what he recommended to me as i was initially considering the UP Aqua LED (which is good to about 30cm).
As for coverage, the uncle also told me one unit is sufficient, seeing that the width of your tank is the same I'm assuming it should be sufficient?

[fateddee]

Sorry when i meant 45-60cm i was referring to the height of the aquarium

[Phillipians]

Actually since his width is only 1ft then 1 set of 3W LED is sufficient

[milk_vanilla]

Good t5 brand with finer reflector, still preferably for wider spread and deeper penetration compare to LED.

I

[Jason]

Thanks for the sharing

(1) How's the heat emitting from Green Element 3W LED? Do you need fans to cool the lights?
(2) How's pearling with the 3W LED?
(3) Are the LED replaceable if it burnt?
(4) Are 3W LED more durable than T5HO?

[David]

All I would say is do not under estimate the effectiveness of a well built T5 Lightset.

1. All lightset produces heat one way or another. For the T5 tubes itself, it produces more heat compared to the LED but the E-Ballast of the T5 produces less heat than the LED Driver. Brands like ATi and Maxspect tend to separate the E-Ballast or Driver from the main unit.

2. Pearling is a state that when dissolved O2 in a given body of water has saturated and cannot absorb anymore. Pearling is not always a gauge that the lights are effective as not all plants pearl like Echinodorus and Cryptos. It also depends on suspension height and depth of tank.

3. Depends on brand.

4. Yes LEDs are more durable than the T5. However the E-Ballast is not as sensitive as the Driver to current surges.

[erwinx]

Depending on the plants you have, you might want to consider 1 x Green Element EVO 3w AND 1 x Up-Aqua at the back of the tank.

If you put the green element Evo in the middle of the tank, background plants (especially certain stem plants, for me its the Rotala Wallichi and Ludwigia Brevipes) will start growing towards the Green Element light source instead of straight up. This might be distracting and cause the stem plants to shade other plants. So my background stem plants need another nearby light source (the Up-Aqua) to encourage them to grow straighter....

[tcg170980]

i used green element 3w*6 for one feet tank with 40cm height. The penetration is not great.
T5 have better penetration.
FYI- i based on my plant reaction. as pearling is observed from using t5. all variables remains the same. But i had changed my bulbs from 12k to 6500k.

PS: David mentioned pearling is not a gauge for effectiveness. i am just starting to learn.

[Jason]

Wow thanks for all these info

@Erwinx: your point on having an additional light source at the back to encourage plant growth direction is a good one. I have not considered that. Thanks for sharing.

I have gone ahead to purchase a Beamswork 24x3W 90 CM length LED. Hope I won't regret lol. I will consider having another light source at back if insufficient. I will update the result once it's installed.

[wynx]

In a similar dilemma...my question is..in the case of T5 tubes, we can replace them quite easily...but in the case of LED what do we do? Driver can kaput, then the individual LED too...are these replaceable?

[milk_vanilla]

That should be checked with your brand dealer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[limz_777]

In a similar dilemma...my question is..in the case of T5 tubes, we can replace them quite easily...but in the case of LED what do we do? Driver can kaput, then the individual LED too...are these replaceable?

i doubt brands like green element and up aqua have any support locally , so far i only know maxspect razer got spare parts led not sure about drivers thou

[AQMS]

Usually the answer is no by most LSF,but if you can find the exact or similar led and driver, you can ask an electrician to fix it for you or you can do it
yourself if you are up to it.

[felix_fx2]

In a similar dilemma...my question is..in the case of T5 tubes, we can replace them quite easily...but in the case of LED what do we do? Driver can kaput, then the individual LED too...are these replaceable?

LED for some models like green element can be repaired via soldering a replacement LED part. only worry is buy wrong port from ebay.

the driver unit for my led set is external.

[limz_777]

driver always should be always external , sleek look at the light unit side , bulky and ugly on the plug side