MH/LED/T5 what do you prefer and why

[DSP]

awesome.Iv only tried phoenix 14k and the color is awesome,they have a 20 k look.The reeflux bulbs are suposed to be nice to.Vividaquariums uses 20k ushios over there huge display tank and it looks great imo love the color they put out.

 

[Reef Pets]

Metal halides all the way because they work. There is no guessing game, the colors and growth are top notch and every coral does well under them. Yes, they cost a little more money to run than LEDs because you have to change the bulbs every year but most people that run halides either run one or two of them and what's 75-150.00 a year in this hobby to know that your coral and reef will have the best light possible..
Some people say that LEDs save money on electricity and that might be true in the summer months. Most of us live in states that are cold 6 month out of the year. During those cold months metal halides save money by heating your house. With LEDs they don't help heat and you have to run several hundred watts of heaters running which of course isn't cheap. When looked at from that point of view does metal halides or LEDs save electricity?

 

[FMF0331]

I had MH, was sick of the temp and electric bill. Moved onto Acan LEDs, it was nice but it wasn't to my liking. Purchased AI sol super blue LEDS..a little better but not by much. I do enjoy the savings on the electric bill and the temp.
It's been almost a yr that I've been running LEDs - looking to go back to MH hur the deep coloration on my sps.


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[DSP]

totaly agree with everything Reef Pets said,Why play the guessing game espeacily when the good led fixtures are gunna cost ya 300-1000 bucks thats quite a bit of money to spend not knowing if there gunna do what you want them to do,Halides you know what your gunna get cause there tried and true same with t5hos.And i realy believe that there is something about the heat that metal halides put out that corals seem to like,Mimics the sun like no other aquarium light by far.

 

[ParkerB]

lol MH seems to be the oldest and still favorite by a long shot.

What bulbs do you run reef pets? Out of curiousity I'm Tryna see if I still wanna keep the radium look or get a bulb a little more blue.

DSP can you get the Phoenix bulb in a single end version? I always thought they were always doubled, ushios are really nice I hear.

 

[DSP]

Yes they make single ends looks like they cost a bit more then the double ends though.Bulbstock has them for 65 thats the cheapest iv found so far,This is my first time lookin for single ends though lol so im sure u could find em cheaper somewhere.Ebay has em for 69 to

 

[ParkerB]

Much cheaper then the radium.

Thanks for the info


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[DSP]

yup no problem

 

[bucksfan1976]

I have had the following LED types over the last 2.5 years

2 x Boosted LED MU135s
1 x LEDTRIC Infuse 8
1 x LEDTRIC Inspire
2 x AI Sols
1 x Maxspect Razor 16k 160 Watts

The Maxspect is by far my favorite out of all of these. However I am going back to t5/halide combo. Reasoning is because I have just found that my tank first of all a 92 Gallon Corner is a difficult tank to fully light so no matter what I do I can not get the proper spread. Plus I like the growth of corals seems to be better under the t5/halide fixtures.

What I did was order a Odyssea 30 inch fixture with 4 t5s and a single 250 watt halide. I know their bulbs are junk but I personally have NEVER had a issue with their fixtures. I ordered different bulbs, I ordered a Ushio 14k and 20k 250 watt halide bulbs and ATI T5 bulbs. I will be controlling the unit with a Reef Keeper Lite I have sitting around. I went with the 30 in 346 watt fixture because of the design of my tank . So I will be getting it Tuesday and installing so hopefully over a couple of weeks I can give a update on how things progress.

 

[ParkerB]

I have had the following LED types over the last 2.5 years

2 x Boosted LED MU135s
1 x LEDTRIC Infuse 8
1 x LEDTRIC Inspire
2 x AI Sols
1 x Maxspect Razor 16k 160 Watts

The Maxspect is by far my favorite out of all of these. However I am going back to t5/halide combo. Reasoning is because I have just found that my tank first of all a 92 Gallon Corner is a difficult tank to fully light so no matter what I do I can not get the proper spread. Plus I like the growth of corals seems to be better under the t5/halide fixtures.

What I did was order a Odyssea 30 inch fixture with 4 t5s and a single 250 watt halide. I know their bulbs are junk but I personally have NEVER had a issue with their fixtures. I ordered different bulbs, I ordered a Ushio 14k and 20k 250 watt halide bulbs and ATI T5 bulbs. I will be controlling the unit with a Reef Keeper Lite I have sitting around. I went with the 30 in 346 watt fixture because of the design of my tank . So I will be getting it Tuesday and installing so hopefully over a couple of weeks I can give a update on how things progress.

Will you please post pics of the 20k ushio a d 14k I'm looking at those and XM 20k bulbs at the moment cause I want a good bulb like the radium just with a little more pop and no supplement.

 

[bucksfan1976]

I wont get the fixture til Tuesday but as soon as I do Id be happy to ...

 

[PolandSpring]

From my experience, here's what I've noticed.

SPS:
1st Best Option: MH
2nd Best Option: T5
3rd Best Option: LED

LPS (Chalices)
1: T5
2: MH
3: LED

Z/P
1: LED
2: MH
3: T5

 

[ParkerB]

I wont get the fixture til Tuesday but as soon as I do Id be happy to ...

Awesome! Really wanna see how these 20k ushios look. Still thinking the radium or XMs tho cause I keep reading on a galaxy ballast that they run "better"
I just want nice deep colored sps.

 

[ParkerB]

From my experience, here's what I've noticed.

SPS:
1st Best Option: MH
2nd Best Option: T5
3rd Best Option: LED

LPS (Chalices)
1: T5
2: MH
3: LED

Z/P
1: LED
2: MH
3: T5

Can completely agree. LEDs do make the zoas look nice.