Metal Halides are the bomb

pdxmonkeyboy · Feb 25, 2020

This is actually a nice reflector for aquariums.

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They make it a single ended config as well, they just stopped making them.

greekspec2 · Feb 25, 2020

Bpb said:
Hey man. Brand new + free = I can’t afford NOT to use them

I went back to MH because this set fell into my lap free of charge. Used the sale of my t5ho fixture to back stock up a variety of bulbs. And here I am now 1.5 years later

off topic are you a Jim Carey fan?

Bpb · Feb 25, 2020

greekspec2 said:
off topic are you a Jim Carey fan?

Once upon a time. Not so much lately. Why? Did I inadvertently quote him somewhere in my posts?

greekspec2 · Feb 25, 2020

your profile pic no worries just asking.

Bpb · Feb 25, 2020

greekspec2 said:
your profile pic no worries just asking.

That’s actually Mark Hamill lol

greekspec2 · Feb 26, 2020

Bpb said:
That’s actually Mark Hamill lol

same thing

pdxmonkeyboy · Feb 26, 2020

greekspec2 said:
same thing

One was LUKE frickin SYWALKER and the other starred in two movies tittle dumb and dumber...

A. grandis · Feb 26, 2020

WallyB · Feb 26, 2020

Interesting.

I tried to Sell my MH setup couple years ago, but nobody wanted it. Collecting dust but still around. I Even have unused spare bulbs (Variety too).

Moved over to T5/LED, and will keep that for now on Tanks.
But certainly open to Try the MH on the Empty Frag tank (Till I get next electricity bill)

Bpb · Feb 26, 2020

WallyB said:
Interesting.

I tried to Sell my MH setup couple years ago, but nobody wanted it. Collecting dust but still around. I Even have unused spare bulbs (Variety too).

Moved over to T5/LED, and will keep that for now on Tanks.
But certainly open to Try the MH on the Empty Frag tank (Till I get next electricity bill)

That’s what made it so easy to transition back to MH for free. people hang onto gear so long they just want it out and are willing to give it away. I lucked out with my ballasts as the previous user got them stock with his cebu sun, but immediately realized he wanted to run radiums so he got different ballasts right away and gave me these

LadyTang2 · Feb 26, 2020

Bpb said:
I went back to MH because this set fell into my lap free of charge.

If you had your choice of lights forgetting price would you not be using MHs?

LadyTang2 · Feb 26, 2020

duplicate post

Bpb · Feb 26, 2020

Lalili said:
If you had your choice of lights forgetting price would you not be using MHs?

That’s a good question. I don’t know if I have an answer for that to be honest.

Speaking on the tank I’m upgrading to which is 60”x24”x24”, it would likely be a flip of the coin between an a Giesemann Spectra or an ati powermodule. Though the new radion and new Philips led panels look quite promising Especially if in a hybrid with t5’s. I can’t rightly say if I’d rather have one or the other on any of those options. Money being no option I’m taking form into account here beyond just function

pdxmonkeyboy · Feb 26, 2020

I bought new halides for both of my bigger tanks. I bought a geiseman spectra for my 300 and it is a beautiful fixture.

The heat thing is really over stated. I put a office fan over my sump for like 3 weeks in the summer time.

And as has been stated already, for an SPS tank to do equally well under LED you need close to the same wattage.

It has always been amusing to me how much people emphasize the cost savings of LED in terms of electrical costs. When you factor in the time you have to run halides and the cost of heating your tank water there is like zero cost savings.

"Well, if I spend $5,000 more on my lights I can save $30 a month on my power bill"

The Philip's LED do look cool. I was thinking about them for my frag. I just get such good color and growth from my MH I am reluctant to switch.

oreo54 · Feb 26, 2020

pdxmonkeyboy said:
It has always been amusing to me how much people emphasize the cost savings of LED in terms of electrical costs. When you factor in the time you have to run halides and the cost of heating your tank water there is like zero cost savings.

"Well, if I spend $5,000 more on my lights I can save $30 a month on my power bill"

That's a bit of an exaggeration but agree, unless you are in a business the electrical cost savings should be considered more of an added perk to other factors..
Even in "ancient times " the watt efficiency can exceed 2X MH's..
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature2

Some could save a lot.. others not so much..some..possibly nothing.
quality matters..

When running a radio-spectrometer side by side with a relatively high end PAR meter, we have found that PAR meters are consistently reading about 30% lower than the actual value in the 445nm range (that's royal blue, or 20,000-24,000K actinic blue folks!), the most important range for coral since that's where the primary alpha (α) photosynthetic peak lays. It also gets saturated in the 460nm (regular cool blue), 430nm (violet) and 520nm (green) wavelengths as well, but to a lesser degree of about 12% reduction. We found negligible saturation (<5%) in the amber (600-700nm) and red (640-680nm) ranges too. These tests were performed on the Philips Luxeon Rebel and Philips Luxeon ES series LEDs. We can expect other high-end LEDs to perform similarly, whereas the no-name chinese LEDs (Epistar, Bridgelux, etc) perform at about 50%, or half as well, or about half as efficient dependent on the individual LED.

WallyB · Feb 26, 2020

Bpb said:
That’s a good question. I don’t know if I have an answer for that to be honest.

Speaking on the tank I’m upgrading to which is 60”x24”x24”, it would likely be a flip of the coin between an a Giesemann Spectra or an ati powermodule. Though the new radion and new Philips led panels look quite promising Especially if in a hybrid with t5’s. I can’t rightly say if I’d rather have one or the other on any of those options. Money being no option I’m taking form into account here beyond just function

Philips is coming out with a Reef light?

Bpb · Feb 26, 2020

WallyB said:
Philips is coming out with a Reef light?

Not sure if serious

RCS82 · Feb 26, 2020

Bpb said:
That’s actually Mark Hamill lol

This makes me laugh a bit. I know its Mark Hamill but the face is who I imagine is making the post lol. Funny how people's avatar can kinda play games. There was a good poster on RC with a great build thread and a 300 gallon tank I think. His Avatar always cracked me up with just the site of it. A formal family picture with everyone having the same funny face lol. Can't remember his name.
Sorry to derail lol

Bpb · Feb 26, 2020

RCS82 said:
This makes me laugh a bit. I know its Mark Hamill but the face is who I imagine is making the post lol. Funny how people's avatar can kinda play games. There was a good poster on RC with a great build thread and a 300 gallon tank I think. His Avatar always cracked me up with just the site of it. A formal family picture with everyone having the same funny face lol. Can't remember his name.
Sorry to derail lol

Precisely my intention. I’m known to make this very face when taking group pictures a lot.

leepink23 · Feb 28, 2020

Bpb said:
That’s a good question. I don’t know if I have an answer for that to be honest.

Speaking on the tank I’m upgrading to which is 60”x24”x24”, it would likely be a flip of the coin between an a Giesemann Spectra or an ati powermodule. Though the new radion and new Philips led panels look quite promising Especially if in a hybrid with t5’s. I can’t rightly say if I’d rather have one or the other on any of those options. Money being no option I’m taking form into account here beyond just function

I always see the spectra mentioned as a top fixture, I have the 48 inch infiniti. I see the reflectors are much larger on the spectra. Is it a huge upgrade changing from the infiniti to the spectra? Just curious because I am very happy with my lights but my sps are still small and growing

naterealbig · Feb 28, 2020

leepink23 said:
I always see the spectra mentioned as a top fixture, I have the 48 inch infiniti. I see the reflectors are much larger on the spectra. Is it a huge upgrade changing from the infiniti to the spectra? Just curious because I am very happy with my lights but my sps are still small and growing

I have a 48" Infiniti and a 48" Spectra. It really depends on how deep you tank is. My display is 38" from front to back, and i originally installed the Infiniti above it. The Infiniti lit the tank well, but left the edges a little dim. The Spectra i have over it now provides a blanket of light over every square inch, from top to bottom.

I moved the Infiniti over my 24" deep growout. Up to 30" inches front to back the Infiniti will cover very well. And anything less than that, the Spectra will not make it look better. For tanks deeper than this, the Spectra is best.

Does this answer your question?