Are MH lights going extinct?

[Warderkous]

I find that on my primary system that the Halides far out perform the Led and I don't have to worry about dialing in spectrum (which by the way is something that I really just don't care for). I think that those of us who use Halides are becoming a very small percentage of reefers. People often talk about energy consumption and I noticed that for the limited time that i tried the LED and T-5 combo that I used more 50 watts less than i do with 4 400watt 20k Radiums. My clams that are on the sand bed love the halides and i think that all together my entire system is better both health wise and growth wise with the Halides.

 

[srad750c]

MH will never go extinct. I have LED now but used MH for many years, you can’t beat if light output, tank coverage or how it makes you tank look. I switched to LED cause I just wanted to try something new. The only thing I don’t like about MH is the heat factor and bulb life. If I had an unlimited budget I would go back to MH.

 

[DSC reef]

Really? My PC glow sux

It was a joke. That fixture really brings out the greens though

 

[stevieduk]

Ive been out of the hobby for 3 years roughly. I recently set my 125 back up and have always ran sps dominated mixed reefs which I plan to do again. I have a beast of a MH fixture. 72" 3x250 watt DE and 2x150watt DE old school aquamedic ocean light. I need to change all 5 bulbs so I drove an hr and half to a massive fish store that I used to buy most of my equipment from. They always had a nice selection to mh bulbs and in general a very large selection of just about every type of equipment you could imagine. Think of a large chain pet store for everything fish tank related.

Anyhow I went to the lighting section and was unable to find anything MH. No fixtures, no bulbs, nothing. The store had been changed a bit since I last had been so I figured I was overlooking them. I got an employee and asked if he could show me to the MH bulbs and he laughed, no joke, he literally laughed. He said when is the last time youve been here sir, to which I replied been a few years. He then told me they no longer carry anything metal halide. He said we have a limited t5 selection and when it sells out we wont have that either . he proceeded to tell me if it isn't LED they wont be carrying it pretty soon. In short he was trying to tell me I'm old and out dated and need to switch to LEDS.

I have ZERO plans to switch to anything. I could never imagine my tank without my beautiful halide shimmer. I suppose ill be relegated to buying them online going forward. I am curious though, has the hobby changed that much in the past 3 years I've been absent? I know LEDS have become very popular but are people not using mh anymore...or much of t5s? Man sorry for the long winded post I am just a bit tweaked about this situation lol. Anyhow thanks for any responses take care folks
Greg

have a look on Ebay U.K. as we still sell plenty over here

 

[Daltrey]

It was a joke. That fixture really brings out the greens though

It just started the diatom bloom stage. Should clear up by next year.

 

[Daltrey]

Just a fun fact. When I setup my first tank using metal halides in 2003 I actually had the DEA show up at my house asking to see them. I guess they are used to grow other things too, ha!

 

[DSC reef]

Just a fun fact. When I setup my first tank using metal halides in 2003 I actually had the DEA show up at my house asking to see them. I guess they are used to grow other things too, ha!

We used have looks at our old house like I wonder what's growing in There? Just corals people, lol.

 

[Daltrey]

I live in a small town and they went by my parents first. Mom called me on the phone asking was I selling drugs, ha. I was like sure mom in between working 7 days a week and raising two kids what else was I going to do with all this free time I had.

 

[turfster26]

I'm keep clams so here FTS and only running at 60%. So enough said?

If these Kessil can keep my clams alive then don't you think it's strong enough to keep any corals out there alive and healthy lol!

No I don't LOL.

 

[turfster26]

I like options as well. I currently use halides but I like the look of kessils mixed with T5. Hydras look nice but I'm not a fan of radions. To me the hydras looked better blended. I believe people are passionate about there lighting and it's a good thing, we all work very hard with our tanks. It's when others start to tell another that there lighting is not as good as there's and the big debate begins.

My point EXACTLY....and then calling the other ignorant to boot. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[DSC reef]

My point EXACTLY....and then calling the other ignorant to boot. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I agree. Calling others fanboys is ridiculous too. I run all 3 lighting types on different tanks. When members start name calling then get defensive when others get defensive it halts the debate and is counter productive.

 

[Reef4Rose]

Sure hope not. Did aquariums years ago and am doing again. Invested way to much in doing this. I went with 2 36” Hamilton Cebu sun units over a 79” tank. I listened to those in the “know”.

 

[turfster26]

I used LEDs for years (before they were cool even.) Tried all sorts of brands and combos. Mixed and matched spectrums best we could then. I ran multiple blues, white, magenta and violet. I had some of the widest spectrum available at the time. It was unheard of to use more than just white and blue. I had decent success but something was off overall. I then switched to a different brand touting it was the best spectrum available. Still not right. Switched again. Nope, still off. I then visited multiple stores and reefers with LEDs. They were all off to my eye.

Now I've got halide and T5 again and absolutely love it! I've yet to see an LED even come close for my eyes and what I like.

If that makes me ignorant and uninformed, good

Great post and I've always respected your input regarding T5's and lighting through many years on several forums.

I've never fell for the LED craze through the years and still run 250w MH with VHO's and my wallet is still packed with $$$ from all the savings chasing all the iterations of LED's.

With that said, one day I will make the switch, but I feel strongly that will be many iterations down the line when they sort out the spectrums, etc.

FWIW

 

[Bruce Burnett]

When you live where it reaches 120+ sometimes during the summer and the air already has trouble keeping the house cool you don't want halides. I have a brand new Current USA 72" metal halide, T-5, led moon light fixture still in original box. I purchased it 7 years ago and then got out of hobby for health reasons. When I got back in 4 years ago I decided to go with led. Recently I decided to sell the halide fixture I took it out of box just to make sure everything still works. I put the legs on it and sat it on my tank as it isa nice looking fixture, asked the wife what she thought about the tank with it or the Orpheks she said she liked the looks of the tank with the Atlantiks and I had to agree. So it is a matter of choice as I have seen nice tanks under halide, all T-5, led and combinations of them.

 

[rtparty]

When you live where it reaches 120+ sometimes during the summer and the air already has trouble keeping the house cool you don't want halides. I have a brand new Current USA 72" metal halide, T-5, led moon light fixture still in original box. I purchased it 7 years ago and then got out of hobby for health reasons. When I got back in 4 years ago I decided to go with led. Recently I decided to sell the halide fixture I took it out of box just to make sure everything still works. I put the legs on it and sat it on my tank as it isa nice looking fixture, asked the wife what she thought about the tank with it or the Orpheks she said she liked the looks of the tank with the Atlantiks and I had to agree. So it is a matter of choice as I have seen nice tanks under halide, all T-5, led and combinations of them.

The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) is one of the most important things in this hobby. I can get a couple hundred bucks approved easily if it meets WAF.

My wife is the exact opposite of yours. When we walk into a store with LEDs, she immediately complains how bad all the tanks look and wants to see the corals under a halide.

Gotta love wives!

 

[aabjones888]

When you live where it reaches 120+ sometimes during the summer and the air already has trouble keeping the house cool you don't want halides. I have a brand new Current USA 72" metal halide, T-5, led moon light fixture still in original box. I purchased it 7 years ago and then got out of hobby for health reasons. When I got back in 4 years ago I decided to go with led. Recently I decided to sell the halide fixture I took it out of box just to make sure everything still works. I put the legs on it and sat it on my tank as it isa nice looking fixture, asked the wife what she thought about the tank with it or the Orpheks she said she liked the looks of the tank with the Atlantiks and I had to agree. So it is a matter of choice as I have seen nice tanks under halide, all T-5, led and combinations of them.

That's what fixture I'm still running. The 4' version though. It's got 2-250w halides and 4 t-5s. I love it and so does the wife. She's as much of a lover as halides as me.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) is one of the most important things in this hobby. I can get a couple hundred bucks approved easily if it meets WAF.

My wife is the exact opposite of yours. When we walk into a store with LEDs, she immediately complains how bad all the tanks look and wants to see the corals under a halide.

Gotta love wives!

The Atlantik v2.1b with 90 degree lens are as bright as halide and the shimmer is as good. I just switched the lenses from 120 to 90 after using them for 4 years. I just can't go back to using a chiller. The leds used in most lfs are not good enough except to give the coral a glow. There are some lfs that have large displays with good led fixtures.

 

[Servillius]

I would love to see a data on this just for the curiosity sake. Not saying this is the case but a 0.5% market share goes up to a 0.75% share is an impressive 50% bump. However, in the grand scheme of things, it’s still insignificant.

Oh I’m not about to argue it’s significant. My gut says there’s more MH out there now though. I think the data on t5 is more compelling. If you just look at the number of available fixtures or hybrid fixtures it’s clear there’s more of a market than manufacturers anticipated a few years back.

 

[Breadman03]

I’m assuming the OP went to That Fish Place.

Either way, y’all made me put my 400 watt Hamilton halide back between my Radions.

 

[cilyjr]

Wow this thing went all over the place. I mentioned I tried LED for 4 years then decided to go back to MH. Someone else said something about trying quality LED and that would make a difference.

For the record I used 4 aqua illumination sols with 2 t5 (ati purple plus on a workhorse5 ballast) over a 180. These were top of the line at the time. I think I paid about $1800.00. I wanted them to be great so badly for the money I spent but found it just ok. I didn't see any savings on electricity. When the time came to change again, I decided to go with what worked for me. Buying used mh equipment was easy (people were practically giving them away) I spent about 300 for 3x lumatek ballasts and 3x lumenmax elite pendants.

We're I to go back to LED I guess I'd try the orphek Atlantic v4. Or maybe 6 radion g4. But that's more than I want to spend and it seems the next big thing is always a year away. So I probably want to do it again and again (you win commercialization). I think I may of reached my "upgrade" limit (I already need new video cards) or maybe I need to upgrade the way I think about upgrading.