t5 or led

The 60" ATI is more than capable of lighting a 72" tank

 

gcarroll, in your "savings" breakdown, the cost of the heat output into the ambient room should not be forgotten, nor should the heat added to the tank. There's savings in needing less AC in the room, and huge savings if LEDs prevent you from needing a chiller on the tank.

 

The heat coming off the ATI fixture is minimal. Less than 25% more than led. Remember these LED fixtures are not using the most efficient LEDs that you read about!

 

im testing out the marineland double bright on my 90 in the next 2 months hopefully in the next few weeks actually im not sure wether its actually down or upgrading? i have a 2 bulb t5ho on it now and a pretty good reflector but with 12 year bulb life of led and energy savings no heat and the shimmering effect i dont know whats going to happen

 

My 8 bulb t5 I have now over my 90 throws off a lot of heat. When the lights come on my temps go up almost 4 degrees and it warms my living room. Leds generate a lot of heat too but none of it is directed into the tank. All the heat is directed to the heatsink and away from the water.

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The ATI has a fans so the majority of the heat is directed up through the top. Remember, the ATI is the cream of the crop when it comes to T5. It is in no way comparable to any other T5 fixture.

 

The heat is from infrared light and the fans are for cooling the bulbs. I know ati are the best but there will still be heat put into the tank. Leds produce a very narrow spectrum of light and produce no infrared therefore no heat into the tank.

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So I am to understand that these lights are the best but you mean to tell me that a 4 bulb fixture is going to be enough for my 72 inch long tank. That is a dead spot on each end of a foot and that is only 320 watts of light. From what I have read it is hard to believe. Not looking to start anything but I think I need to do some more research.

 

LED's put off plenty of heat as their heat sinks get quite warm. It may not be IR but it is heat. The percentage of IR heat compared to radiant heat from a T5 is not very significant and the fan of the ATI definitly helps. I know several people with ATI units and they do not use chillers.

As for LED heat, If an LED is confined in a canopy and the heat cannot escape, it will surely heat up the tank. Just like any other souce of lighting. If you doubt ho much fan vented lighting makes in cooling, contact Reef Empire who has fann cooled 400 watt metal halide. There are no temp issues in his facility! He has the most thought out Aquaculture facility in the business.

 

The ATI has a very smooth even light spread. Below I have attached a light distribution chart for the ATI Powermodule (very similar to the Sunpower) Notice that the measurement grid is 36" x 36" The 6 bulb fixture has no problem puting out light to a 24-36" wide tank (keep in mind a 125 is typically 18"-20" wide. also notice that the 36" fixture also put out additional light that was limited by the 36" measuremt. looks to me that the light spread was at least 4-6" more on each end.