Interesting & enriching discussions here on LED. Glad that there is strong faith that lighting efficiency can be better with LED in the future.
With T5 fluorescent best at 92.5 lumens/watt (max), putting MH domimance to some challenge, it will be interesting break-thru if LED can ever produce 170 lumen/watt in the near future.
Of course, right now, my primary concern is how much of what type of lighting will breed nice enough looking red.
In the past, I got 4 PL 55W blasting 16 hours a day, now I only running a 54W T5 daylight for my 4'/5' tanks. No side tanning, & Nan/TFC swtich on only during viewing or photo taking. Factors in consideration include light cost, operation cost, & maintenance need. A reliable brand T5 fluorescent is expected to last up to 24,000 hours. As for choice, I will go for commercial Osram, Philips or GE, etc, it is really quite affordable if one can diy a little. I retrofit T5 (tube & electronic ballast) into one of the Big Boy (come with two T8 tubes). Clean & need, & for those that want more brightness, think a Big Boy can easliy hold 4 x 54W T5. That's cool power right?
