Light times MH

[Brycnz]

Hey guys so just brought some Metal Halide lights it has 3 150w bulbs and 6 pl-24w blue lights what’s the best time to have the blues on and the white on?

 

[maroun.c]

I used to keep my halides on for 8-10 hours a day when halides were the main lights of the tank, supplemental t5s were on for 2-4 hours longer split before and after.

 

[Brycnz]

Did you get much algae growth with MH on for so long I always thought only on for 5 hours and blue on all day ?

 

[MJ in Boise]

9hrs here. Was running 12 without much algae growth.

 

[Brycnz]

9hrs here. Was running 12 without much algae growth.

Is that 9 hr with MH or 9 hours with blue

 

[MJ in Boise]

Mh

 

[jstncoffman]

I ran mine 8 hours mh and 1 hour before and after t5s.. man I miss those lights, I had 3 250w on top of a 300g , what I dont miss was my power bill, its was stupid expensive, but corals grew like crazy, and my spectrum was 20k

 

[jda]

7-10 hour of MH and then use the T5s for your viewing pleasure - if you are not around the tank before or after the MH, then just don't run them unless you need them. You don't have to run the T5s at all to get good results in the tank.

150w Halide is a good light and can run a typical mixed reef all by themselves. They also do not use a lot of power and are equivalent to what most people run a Hydra 52 or xr30 at. Most people would probably really love them if they ever used them.

14k Phoenix is the best bulb for 150w DE, IMO. They are both cheap, powerful and good looking - a rare trifecta in this hobby.

You are going to find that most of what people say about MH is not true at all.