No love for MH?

[missourimud]

I guess thats my question as well? The way i was looking at it was worse case. Trying to figure out how much power would be needed anyway as the lowboy is only 10" deep?

 

[oreo54]

Do the reef brite drivers push them to the max 3 watt per diode? I’d want to verify that by measuring the current draw from the wall, because even the 400 watt will not likely pull exactly 400

Yes most likely around 2w each.

 

[SpudGunn]

I've never used MH so my vote was other of course. I think the people who have used them find the tank stays a bit warm

 

[oreo54]

I guess thats my question as well? The way i was looking at it was worse case. Trying to figure out how much power would be needed anyway as the lowboy is only 10" deep?

Your "watts" depend on par demands.
You are stuck w/ 400w w/ the mh and can only adj by changing height and light spill.

One can argue all day about mh vs led efficiency but generally speaking and for shallow tanks you can use slightly less wattage of led vs mh.

 

[missourimud]

While watching some old BRS videos when they measured par with the MH at 6" depth the difference from center hot spot and out only 6" was 50%! So maybe this is not a good option for me. I was thinking a single 400w? @ a high mounting height would make things simple as this is going to be a sps frag tank.
I have a display with t5 so was thinking something else would be nice but may just go t5 on this as well....be easy thats for sure

 

[spllbnd2]

How did this MH topic veer off course and go to talks about LED lighting?

 

[oreo54]

How did this MH topic veer off course and go to talks about LED lighting?

It is now also about t5's .

 

[jda]

In the real world, you are not likely to save any wattage from one type over another on a tank like a 50g lowboy. Some good savings can come in on large tanks where spread is better with reflectors, but let's don't get distracted with that here. You can do a lot of math and come up with a lot of stuff, but in an actual application, they are going to be about the same wattage for the same amount of light.

I have a 50g zoomed lowboy and I light it with a pair of 150 HQI halides. Reflectors are about 12x12 or 14x14 and the spread fills the whole tank. Actual wattage at the wall is about 350w. This is going to be about the same as a pair of Radions/Hydras (at running wattage - not 100%) with some T5s. PAR is about 500 in the middle and 275-300 on the edges at the bottom.

The BRS video on MH was really stupid. They mostly used stuff that they sell, which is not a lot of the best of breed stuff. Please don't EVER use a BRS video for anything more than a jumping off point or an infomercial - they are not science or anything like that. For example, I don't even think that BRS tested 150w HQI on real HQI ballasts which would cover better than a 400w and be less wattage - my apologies if they did and it has been a long time since I watched it since it was SO bad..

 

[missourimud]

Excellent!
Not trying to change it to LED or T5. Actually looking for MH info, just comparing it to what i already knew.
thanks @jda exactly the kind of information I was trying to confirm.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

It is now also about t5's .

It's only a problem if we start talking Power Compacts

 

[oreo54]

Make sure you ignore it.
All marketing ..and inferior products.

 

[Butcher333]

for Christ’s sakes.

 

[Hot2na]

Just wondering if anyone has tried THIS bulb ? https://eyehortilux.com/grow-lights/blue-metal-halide/#400W-specs
closest to natural sunlight ...thats a huge claim

 

[Mike konesky]

Never tried that bulb. Hortilux makes good ones though. Whoever gave that bulb a 90 CRI didn't think it was that close to natural light.

 

[X-37B]

Just wondering if anyone has tried THIS bulb ? https://eyehortilux.com/grow-lights/blue-metal-halide/#400W-specs
closest to natural sunlight ...thats a huge claim

I was going to try it but run the Ushio 7k instead on my frag tank.
It needs supplemental blue, OR3 blue plus or sky, one day.
Its also 1/2 the price of the hortilux.
I run the 600 watt on a selectable ballast.
I had many ballasts and bulbs left over from my hydro days.
The growth is incredable and I plan on using 2 on my 3x my 120 upgrade with or3 bars to supplement for color.
I only run them 5 hrs.
I did not notice much difference running them at 450 vs 600.
I like being able to run the 600 at 300/450/600 if needed.
I have a thread on the subject but have gone back to my 175 MH and the fixture is in the closet until my upgrade is complete.
It was a test and I just dont need the mega wattage on a 12" deep frag system, lol.

 

[Hot2na]

Never tried that bulb. Hortilux makes good ones though. Whoever gave that bulb a 90 CRI didn't think it was that close to natural light.

my thoughts exactly ...whats sunlight , like 95-100?

 

[oreo54]

my thoughts exactly ...whats sunlight , like 95-100?

By def 100 cri but at a particular k temp

Standard illuminant - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[A. grandis]

Make sure you ignore it.
All marketing ..and inferior products.

Even though they say some good stuff about halides, I can't help but think that the truth of the matter is that they were trying to sell their left over inventory in order to apply the market strategy of promoting LEDs when they made that video. That Spectra video had also the same essence! That is also what is going on today, following that process. The core of their message is ALWAYS around what they want to do with their present inventory and manipulate the customers' minds and market, promoting the updates and eliminating what stays in front of what they would make less profit in the long run. And that is disgusting IMO! This hobby will be doomed if people don't wake up! Truth spoken!
And you like to provoke people all the time with your little stuff here and there! Shame on you!

 

[oreo54]

CONSPIRACY I tell you !!!!!!!
Everyone's doomed!!!!