Metal halides???

Fishninja · Jun 30, 2017

In the process of planning an anemone propagation system, I have come to the conclusion that in order to keep the best colors on very high end anemones, metal halides or t5 would be best. I would prefer to use metal halides, however I have no experience using metal halides and it is a whole nother world to me. Going on BRS I am lost on how to choose which ballast to match with which bulb and then which reflector. Marine Depot sells metal halide systems, which I like because it take the guessing out of matching the ballasts, reflectors, and bulbs together. My plan for the anemone propagation tank is to take two 20 longs and put them side by side. How many metal halides would I need to properly light both tanks? Also what kelvin bulb would be best, and what wattage metal halide would I need? Sorry for all the questions but I can't seem to find this information anywhere. Thanks.

Zero Nitrates · Jun 30, 2017

How high off the water do you plan to hang the lights?

Fishninja · Jun 30, 2017

Zero Nitrates said:
How high off the water do you plan to hang the lights?

I think maybe 12 inches or so? Since 20 longs are shallower should I go higher? It might also help with heat issues.

alton · Jun 30, 2017

You might want to contact Farmer Ty on your venture and uses LEDs. Ty can grow anything including anemones
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/farmertys-215-gallon-sps-tank.207702/page-30

Fishninja · Jun 30, 2017

alton said:
You might want to contact Farmer Ty on your venture and uses LEDs. Ty can grow anything including anemones
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/farmertys-215-gallon-sps-tank.207702/page-30

Thank you! I just sent him a message.

3mm3 · Jun 30, 2017

A 20 long is pretty narrow. Would be a pain fitting a good reflector setup for halide/t5 combo.
Maybe look at 40 breeder?
As far as halides go I would do a 250w bulb setup. You can choose single end or double end. I'd go single end if you decide to use radium bulbs but for the rest of the bulb choices I'd go double end setups.
For ballast pendant matching you can use Hamilton cayman sun pendants matched with luxcore ballast. They have same connectors.
Or could go with reefbright pendants and matching ballasts. You could also just use a setup like the spectra or giesemann.
Biggest choice would be deciding what bulb type se or de to use.
My personal favorite is the double end phoenix bulbs ran with cayman sun pendants.

AcroNem · Jun 30, 2017

I have a 250w Radium over half of a 33L, an LED pad over the other. It's about 20 inches off the water and it runs for 6.5 hours per day. There is a lot of overspill, as has already been mentioned. But to me halides still can't be beat.

KJoFan · Jun 30, 2017

Holy moly, I'm using a 250w fixture over a 66g. You all are using 250w over 20 and 30 gallons?

AcroNem · Jun 30, 2017

Just measured, Mine's 21 over the water. Yep, over a 33long I use as a rock anemone propagation system and holding tank.

saltyfilmfolks · Jun 30, 2017

Fishninja said:
I think maybe 12 inches or so? Since 20 longs are shallower should I go higher? It might also help with heat issues.

Like all light, intensity is directly relative to proximity. IE a 250 MH gives off say 1500 par at 12 in. So using higher wattages farther away or lower wattages closer is an option. Like choosing leds, you want to decide on your par ranges you want to work in and choose a fixture that delivers close to that and then adjust with a par or lux meter by changing the heights, and consider the spread of the fixture.

Much like Leds, each fixture will have a signature spread to them. I have two 150 pendants, one delivers a very smooth spread with a small hot spot in the middle. the other one has a hot spot that nearly sets fire to the sand.
A larger reflector will in general spread the light more and reduce the hotspot and to some extent the intensity at distance much like a lens does. or parabolic reflector in the case of MH bulbs.
So depending on the reflector or pendant, the par /lux intensities will vary greatly with the same wattage bulb. This same wattage/intensity principal applies to leds , but its lenses and not reflectors.

Fishninja · Jun 30, 2017

Thank you to all that have replied, after speaking with FarmerTy I am beginning to rethink the lighting plan and go with either an Ati t5 fixture with led strips as supplement or an ocean revive t247 with t5 as supplement. I initial purpose for going metal halide was so that the higher end anemones (example: Colorado Sunburst) wouldn't morph colors under inadequate light, however FarmerTy seems to have had great success with the t247s.

3mm3 · Jun 30, 2017

I ran 500 watts over a standard 29 gallon and loved it.
My frag tank uses double end halide with m81 ballast.
My new red Sea Peninsula will run 250w DE halides with electronic ballasts.

Fishninja · Jun 30, 2017

If I went the metal halide route, would it be best to get this? https://www.marinedepot.com/Hamilto...y_Fixtures-Hamilton-HT1679-FILTFIMHMO-vi.html
Maybe get one for each 20 long.

Zero Nitrates · Jul 1, 2017

Fishninja said:
If I went the metal halide route, would it be best to get this? https://www.marinedepot.com/Hamilto...y_Fixtures-Hamilton-HT1679-FILTFIMHMO-vi.html
Maybe get one for each 20 long.

That would be a great option. A good controller (reefkeeper or apex) would be a good option to control the light period. A small Reefbrite blue led would pair nicely with it to give some color pop.

3mm3 · Jul 1, 2017

Fishninja said:
If I went the metal halide route, would it be best to get this? https://www.marinedepot.com/Hamilto...y_Fixtures-Hamilton-HT1679-FILTFIMHMO-vi.html
Maybe get one for each 20 long.

Did you get the 175w version?
EDIT: I misread your post.. I would definitely look into bulb availability at the 175w power level before you buy.

Fishninja · Jul 1, 2017

3mm3 said:
Did you get the 175w version?
EDIT: I misread your post.. I would definitely look into bulb availability at the 175w power level before you buy.

Haven't pulled the plug yet.

bpseal · Jul 3, 2017

I recently switched from T5/LED (Kessil 360WE's) to T5/MH on a fixture from eBay. I usually buy the best of the best but the price could not be beat with the combo. I got the two Giesemann Crystal 17.5k DE bulbs. I however, bleached the living crap out of my sticks the first day, luckily, I didn't have a ton of them. Any clue on how high to hang them from the surface? Thank you guys!

vanpire · Sep 6, 2017

I also tried Geismann Crystal 17.5k but I had several corals bleach on me. I switched one side to XM 10K (old I know but I had some) and the other to a Radium. That was just the bulbs I had at the time. Corals stopped bleaching.

Could have been coincidence, but I threw out my Crystal 17.5. Too bad because they were expensive. Now, I just use Radiums.

DSC reef · Sep 6, 2017

The Hamilton fixture is great. I'd go 250watt single end. You can upgrade to the radium bulb with the M80 ballast. Hamilton's bulbs are great though, I've been using them and I'm impressed.