Help with an age old debate - MH or T5?

mitch91175 · Aug 6, 2020

Ok so was looking at my electric usage to see if adding a chiller (in replace of fans) and MH would I have a big increase. Looks the opposite of what I expected. Been running the MH for about a week and the chiller about 2 weeks.

I changed lighting on July 30th. All seems fine to me.

Graffiti Spot · Aug 7, 2020

mitch91175 said:
Yeah those are huge! Think I had the same ones like 20 years ago.

I just bought new ones, some of the best reflectors imo. Nothing else will push light down low like these will. I think if more people were willing to use halides or t5 with 10k or 14k light most would be surprised at the color they bring out on acropora. Reds, blues and yellows are so much better. I have never seen an led tank that impressed me with these colors, but some have been close with all channels at 100% but who does that anymore right

But any decent tank with 10k t5 or halide normally makes me say, wow.

naterealbig · Aug 7, 2020

@JCOLE - to your specific question..... Figuring out which one you want boils down to a simple question: do you want shimmer or not? If you do, go MH. If not, go all T5.

I would recommend MH+T5, only because the sleek, pre-built MH fixtures are already set up to run this hybrid.

For what it's worth, I'm running MH+LED inside a canopy.

Bpb · Aug 7, 2020

Pedoconfuego said:
I just bought new ones, some of the best reflectors imo. Nothing else will push light down low like these will. I think if more people were willing to use halides or t5 with 10k or 14k light most would be surprised at the color they bring out on acropora. Reds, blues and yellows are so much better. I have never seen an led tank that impressed me with these colors, but some have been close with all channels at 100% but who does that anymore right But any decent tank with 10k t5 or halide normally makes me say, wow.

i was getting 400 par on the sandbed with those reflectors at 38” (24” water) away from the bulbs using 250 watt 20,000k bulbs.

Chibils · Aug 7, 2020

mitch91175 said:
Ok so was looking at my electric usage to see if adding a chiller (in replace of fans) and MH would I have a big increase. Looks the opposite of what I expected. Been running the MH for about a week and the chiller about 2 weeks.

I changed lighting on July 30th. All seems fine to me.

How often does your chiller run? I'm wondering if your heaters are working less, since it's not uncommon to have a few hundred watts in heaters. If your tank stabilizes around 78F with the halides on, that would account for 8-12 hours of heater-free time per day. Just a theory.

mitch91175 · Aug 7, 2020

Chibils said:
How often does your chiller run? I'm wondering if your heaters are working less, since it's not uncommon to have a few hundred watts in heaters. If your tank stabilizes around 78F with the halides on, that would account for 8-12 hours of heater-free time per day. Just a theory.

In Texas if my heater is running I wonder what is the problem lol. I think by running the chiller that I have less evaporation than before so less humidity in the house. The central AC must be taking less time to cool the house now. That's my only estimation because I do know that I am "consuming" more power. Before the chiller I had fans that would literally run all day evaporative cooling.

Chiller seems to run 3-4 times a day. 1/3 HP on a 240g. It drops temp fast so only runs a few minutes each time.

Joedubyk · Aug 7, 2020

I'm getting great growth w/ radion Gen 4's. there are coral grow farms that use them, some add the t5s for spread. I have no clue about the spectrum of your LEDs, but Radions (4 and 5s) are SUPER close to an AB+ ATI bulb. have you put a par meter to your sticks yet? If not, you may be way off on par , either too high, or too low, which will stunt growth as well. the only corals i have are sticks

JCOLE · Aug 7, 2020

Joedubyk said:
I'm getting great growth w/ radion Gen 4's. there are coral grow farms that use them, some add the t5s for spread. I have no clue about the spectrum of your LEDs, but Radions (4 and 5s) are SUPER close to an AB+ ATI bulb. have you put a par meter to your sticks yet? If not, you may be way off on par , either too high, or too low, which will stunt growth as well. the only corals i have are sticks

Yes. I am getting crazy high par that I am talking to Seneye about. Colors look good and nothing is bleaching.

No doubt Radions look great. I just can't justify spending $6k on Radions when I can grab a MH/T5 combo for $1200.

RobB'z Reef · Aug 7, 2020

Fin said:
Well, one other thing that I meant to add about using MH is you might see a little increase in your electric bill. So, you may need to start a list of excuses if you go that route.

The only reason I didn't go T5/MH... Power companies are the worst out here

Dr. Jim · Aug 7, 2020

oreo5457 said:
Metal Halide - Lighting - Bulk Reef Supply

Bulk Reef Supply - Saltwater Aquarium Supplies for Reef Tanks

www.marinedepot.com

Pushes 1070W...

I recently bought a Cebu Sun. Part of the reason for choosing this fixture was because it came with legs. (I didn't want to hang it). The problem is....the legs are metal instead of plastic which makes them worthless (unless you want to cover them with a plastic bag as I did). Otherwise, they will rust. Also, the halide bulb is not centered. (Some day I will fix that). Other than those 2 complaints, it is a great light. 3 power cords: one for each pair of T5's and one for the halide. The fan comes on when the outer T5's are on.

Graffiti Spot · Aug 8, 2020

Bpb said:
i was getting 400 par on the sandbed with those reflectors at 38” (24” water) away from the bulbs using 250 watt 20,000k bulbs.

Wow! I should get a par meter then. Mine are mounted about the same. But I don’t have a sand bed just rocks covering the bottom. The rocks are probably 26” from the bulbs.

JoshH · Aug 8, 2020

mitch91175 said:
I'm gonna stick with MH for the foreseeable future. Liking how my tank is reacting to the change from LED based. Also miss that MH shimmer from back in the day.

I was looking at this fixture for my setup, love the plug and play idea behind it. Any issues with the fixture itself? As someone else mentioned it's not discontinued atall. Coral Vue stopped bringing it in so retailers have stopped carrying them unfortunately. As far as MH fixtures go they are definitely the best looking.

mitch91175 · Aug 8, 2020

JoshH said:
I was looking at this fixture for my setup, love the plug and play idea behind it. Any issues with the fixture itself? As someone else mentioned it's not discontinued atall. Coral Vue stopped bringing it in so retailers have stopped carrying them unfortunately. As far as MH fixtures go they are definitely the best looking.

So far so good. Working like a champ. When the MH kick on you can tell. Those 14k bulbs are crisp with a lot of shimmer

mitch91175 · Aug 8, 2020

Was watch the BRS video last night about his 360. Saw him want that shimmer. He chose Kessils and Reefrite bars. Good choice but I was over here screaming “Slap some MH on that tank

“

Chibils · Aug 8, 2020

mitch91175 said:
Was watch the BRS video last night about his 360. Saw him want that shimmer. He chose Kessils and Reefrite bars. Good choice but I was over here screaming “Slap some MH on that tank “

Yes!! That was killing me! C'mon, Ryan!

Dr. Jim · Aug 8, 2020

You can't beat the Coral Vue Lumen Brite reflector for halides. Ugly, but efficient!!

4 reflectors over a 4' x 4' tank.

Chibils · Aug 8, 2020

I'm with you Dr. Jim. I have 2 Lumenbright Minis gathering dust that I want to use for an upcoming build, but I want to find a clean way to display it that doesn't involve a 24" tall canopy.

I dont mind them being visible, as long as the setup is clean.

X-37B · Aug 8, 2020

Dr. Jim said:
You can't beat the Coral Vue Lumen Brite reflector for halides. Ugly, but efficient!!

4 reflectors over a 4' x 4' tank.

Agreed! Running 8 T5's and switching to 2 lumen bright mini's with 14k de 250 watt with hqi magnetic ballasts.
I have had them for over a year but setup my tank with T5's.
Will be interesting to see what they do for my 13 month old tank.
Here it is with T5's.