Am I crazy for thinking MH + t5 ?

[Reefbrite]

If you are considering Halides these are very energy efficient and run relatively cool without any fans. Three of these would cover 72" set up no problem and due to their light weight compact design (15" L by 8" W by 4 3/4" H) would mount in a canopy no problem. They are also available without the LED's or can be purchased as three individual pendants and you can mount two 60" XHO LED units using the stock brackets for the Halide Hybrids.

 

[lolgranny]

Ive always used halides, ill never not use them. I have 4 250w halides with the coralvue pendants and 3 newest gen radions over my 8' tank. Growing sps great. The reefbrite that was posted above looks very nice. id personally want 4 of them over a 72" tank. Good luck with your search!

Edit- i have no problem with heat, but every system and home is different. I have about 6-700g total. All my equipment is in my garage and the tank is 40' on the other side of the house. LOTS of plumbing. I live in Chicago (GO CUBS) so i get hot summers and cold winters. Have 3 heaters on the tank, no chiller needed and i dont run my ac very much.

 

[reefwiser]

Sanjay has stated that he went with Radions to try and save money. But the cost of heating the tank in the winter made it a wash as far as cost savings. One should not think of savings as there is always a downside to a different path.

 

[Balz3352]

If I were you id do the gieseman mh. I went mh on my 215 with basement sump. Heat is no issue for me (i live in Colorado) even in summer. I would do halide again and again over and over and over.

 

[bif24701]

How many folks run T5s with their MH?

 

[3mm3]

How many folks run T5s with their MH?

I run halide only.

 

[DSC reef]

How many folks run T5s with their MH?

Halide and T5 here, for years. Looking forward to upgrading to the Hamilton fixture boom corals just got.

 

[Velcro]

I’m having a lot of luck with LED. Much better growth and color compared to my previous ATI t5 setup. This is with reefbreeder photon v2 fixtures. Awesome lights.

That being said, I have run halide (geisemann spectra) as well and that was a very nice fixture, but for my it had to be hung pretty low to not be blinding in the room. If I ever went back to halide (unlikely) it would be with the coralvue lumenbrite large pendant in a floating canopy. These things are awesome because you hang them like 16” off the waterline for best spread, which helps with heat. I’d also use some actinic LED bars.

 

[bif24701]

I love MH, but ever since I got a Kessil 360W haven't looked back. They didn't put out light like a MH but they sure looked very close to one. I have two AP700s now over my 180 and very please with them. An AP700 puts out more light than any 250 MH with a pleasing look. I don't have a canopy so couldn't do big reflectors.

 

[A. grandis]

Speaking of propaganda...that's the word I was just looking for!

Hokey smokes, man! Do you own a mercury mine or something? You realize that everyone in this thread is already sold, right??

I guess it's an obsession inducing hobby for all of us, eh?

 

[A. grandis]

Yea I can snag one later.

Pics!

My #1 goal here is coral growth and health. Looks are secondary, as I have tanks I can use with different lights for taking pictures under good lighting, or various lighting etc. I also did want to have a tank set up with T5/Halide as there is a subset of customers who want coral grown under t5/halide and not LED. In the end I'll go with whatever fixtures give me the best growth and health. My current tanks and frags are very healthy and grow quite well. To test I'll put frags of the same cut and size into the various tanks and track progress. I did this with the SB reef vs Kessil, and will post my findings very soon in that thread on my forum, as that would be too off topic here.

But yea I am going to have to figure out how the heck to hang this light. I think I'm going to have to hang from ceiling studs. Back wall could be an option, except that the center of the tank is 26" from the back wall, so I'd need some pretty strong bracing or mounts to hang from with back wall. If I did from ceiling I could probably just buy some chain link and large wood screw eyes.

Here is the stand (not pretty, but I'm not here to impress you with my stand, only my coral ) and current light with the cheapie PVC pipe fixture.

Looks good! We shall see..
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

I've had 250w Phoenix 14k bulbs run for about 14 months before I changed them. The XM 20ks yellowed in spectrum to my eye at about 10-12 months and I even had one burn out around the 1 year mark once- Never had that with a Phoenix. Didn't do an end of life PAR comparison, but when they were both pretty fresh at a few months old a pair of XM 20ks was putting out about 380 PAR at 12inches water depth in the center of a 65 gallon tank, whereas the Phoenix were hitting 450 PAR in the same center spot. Doesn't tell the whole story though, because if you look at the spectral distributions for the bulbs the XM's absolutely smoke the Phoneix when it comes to that 380-410nm range, but the Phoenix hits the 450nm peak way harder. Of course the PAR measurement weights the 450nm range much higher so that explains the discrepancy. Not sure which bulb was putting out more light energy though, since the photon energy in the UV range is higher. Probably also explains the shorter lifespan of the XM since producing that heavy UV spectrum tends to burn through those emitting elements in the bulb faster.

For general use as a standalone light I recommend the Phoenix. You'd definitely want some royal blue LED or blue T5 to supplement the XMs for aesthetic reasons, but the results were spectacular when I used to run them.

Great info. Thanks very much!
Please feel free to tell us more about the experiences and comparisons with other bulbs, if you have.
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

If you are considering Halides these are very energy efficient and run relatively cool without any fans. Three of these would cover 72" set up no problem and due to their light weight compact design (15" L by 8" W by 4 3/4" H) would mount in a canopy no problem. They are also available without the LED's or can be purchased as three individual pendants and you can mount two 60" XHO LED units using the stock brackets for the Halide Hybrids.

What type of ballast we should use to make sure the bulb will have it's maximum efficiency with the PAR, spectrum and savings?
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

Ive always used halides, ill never not use them. I have 4 250w halides with the coralvue pendants and 3 newest gen radions over my 8' tank. Growing sps great. The reefbrite that was posted above looks very nice. id personally want 4 of them over a 72" tank. Good luck with your search!

Edit- i have no problem with heat, but every system and home is different. I have about 6-700g total. All my equipment is in my garage and the tank is 40' on the other side of the house. LOTS of plumbing. I live in Chicago (GO CUBS) so i get hot summers and cold winters. Have 3 heaters on the tank, no chiller needed and i dont run my ac very much.

Lucky boy!
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

Sanjay has stated that he went with Radions to try and save money. But the cost of heating the tank in the winter made it a wash as far as cost savings. One should not think of savings as there is always a downside to a different path.

Yup!
Besides saving money, Dr. Sanjay actually said the main reason he went to try LEDs is because of a tragedy he had with the chiller and the Apex didn't send him any message reporting the problem because the chiller was running but not working. I'm sure his tank isn't the same and I do hope he goes back to those Radiums soon. He is pretty serious about his Acros and I don't think the LED train is fast enough for him not to jump from it!
Grandis.

 

[teller]

I have one question.
If MH is the God of lightning why only a very few still use it?
And many who advocate it no longer use it?
Is there something I am missing?

 

[DSC reef]

T

I have one question.
If MH is the God of lightning why only a very few still use it?
And many who advocate it no longer use it?
Is there something I am missing?

This question has been answered on the other thread. Like I posted, do your research and you'll see people selling there leds as well. If you like your current lights then keep them, no one said you had switch. Speaking of, what do you use @teller?

 

[Radman73]

All three technologies, MH, T5, and LED have proven capable of growing coral successfully. While some may try to claim the any single technology, or combo is "the best" for corals I don't think we have scientific evidence for that. Let's face it, the best light source for corals is the sun filtered to replicate the correct or ideal depth for that coral. We take deep water acros, blast them with light, and then claim which one is the best?

This has been alluded to earlier in the thread. There's no need to bash any other tech just because they didn't work for you or some people you know. It's also very silly to compare an emerging technology performance of 5-7 years ago to the latest iteration of that technology. Have T5's and MH stayed exactly the same since their inception or did it take time for manufacturers to develop the types of bulbs, reflectors, and ballasts available today?

Trying to judge the effectiveness of a fixture based off of the number of for sale threads is ridiculous. LED's have achieved significant acceptance in the hobby where MH has largely faded. I wonder what the yearly shipments are for each technology? I'd wager LED far outpaces T5's and MH combined. That means nothing when it comes to the effectiveness of the technology, but it explains why you see a gap in the number of fixtures for sale from each technology.

People need to stop making these threads a "this better than that" ticking match. If MH works for you, great! But it's naive to sit there and say that MH is better than LED. Could you say a 250w Radium is better for a 24" cube than a Kessil A160? Maybe. Depends on what they're keeping right? Blanket statements like that help nobody, certainly not newcomers to the hobby.

Again, each technology has its pro's and con's. We'd all be better off if we stated our opinions as exactly that, opinions, rather than as fact.

 

[JasPR]

The the marine hobby God's way of telling you-- You have too much money!"? I think so, when it comes to crazes in the hobby. After 35 years in the marine hobby, I have a MOUNTAIN of plastic bio media, and a store room full of light fixtures!! And lighting is the worst offended of money burning! I replaced a coralife pro metal Halide, which I was perfectly happy with, for two Kessil 700 panels . Now the Kessils ARE great, they give a nice shimmer too-- but so did my $1000 Coralife metal Halide/actinic pro. Today I tried to see the coralife 48" and the 72"- I put the, on for $200-- one guy responded and offered me $100! Thousands on light fixtures because the craze advances is definitely a case of diminishing returns for the money

 

[mcarroll]

I think for folks not used to a light meter. Being able to walk around the house and out side in different weather is pretty eye opening.

This should be mandatory practice for anyone before buying a reef light fixture! It really can be eye-opening if you've never had a light meter before....even for a seasoned reefer.