No love for MH?

  • Thread starter Thread starter riche
  • Start date Start date
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Would you ever use Metal Halide lighting again?

  • Yes I use MH lighting now

    Votes: 264 20.5%

  • Yes maybe in the future

    Votes: 319 24.7%

  • No I would not

    Votes: 679 52.7%

  • Other (please xplain in the thread)

    Votes: 27 2.1%
  • Total voters
    1,289
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Top Shelf Aquatics
Well thats why you live in Minnesota where you can run 400 watt radiums 10 months round the year without a chiller :D and even pay less for heater during winters . The lesser I have dependence on something as untrusty as a heater , the safer my tank is !

Seriously though, I personally can't say that MH grows acros better than some of the amazing led technology .
I just do it because it doesn't look like a reef without a MH to me . Period !

Regards,
Abhishek
 
I also think that a lot of this comes down to what level you want to reef at. In the real world where everybody does not get a trophy for showing up, there are serious differences for some type of coral with the different types of lights. Many people might never get to this level and then it might not matter... and it is hard to argue with these people since they are not watching the same game as you are. However, there is a place that some hobbyists achieve where they have hit a ceiling and want more... this leads to Metal Halide if they keep going to the end. There are some people who can totally see the difference, but just do not care - these are the "best lights I ever had, but don't use them anymore" people who have made choices where what is absolutely best for their coral is not paramount... I say this with no judgement since there are other things matter in life too.

I am not about name dropping or throwing people under the bus, but I can think of more than a dozen members who would swear on a thread just like this one two years ago that they would never use Metal Halide, but they have them now.
 
Hey Crabs - was there a day in the your past reefing career (no matter how far back) when you would have voted "I will never use Metal Halide?" Just curious.
 
Deltec
I loved my MH, but the heat was too much. I didn't even have all the lights wired up on the tank and the Apex started shutting them down for heat. I decided it wasn't worth it to run 1200+ watts of MH and then a massive chiller to boot.
 
I also loved my halides back in the day - ultimately I moved away from them due to 1)heat issues 2) high energy consumption compared to my LED's 3) I got tired of changing bulbs (MH and T5). I like the "set and forget" ability of LED's and I also like how you can modulate the color of an LED. I should note that I travel a lot for work - so anything that makes my reefing easier I am all for so that is also a big LED draw for me.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
jda said:
Hey Crabs - was there a day in the your past reefing career (no matter how far back) when you would have voted "I will never use Metal Halide?" Just curious.
Click to expand...
I dont think so. I'm open to many ideas and trying different things. And dont get me wrong I do love kessils and LEDs. If it wasnt for the deal I got on my hybrid fixture I'd likely still be running my ap700 with t5s. But if someone said to me "you should try metal halide" I wouldnt be opposed to it. In fact that's how I got my current setup lol
 
For anybody who wants to use MH again but has concerns, start a thread and we can help. Neither heat nor "too much wattage" need to be an issue outside of S. Florida or the Mojave - most of these problems were with inappropriate choices (like anything, right?) and/or bad implementation. I never had any heat issues with 100 degree and 100% humidity summers in the Midwest... and 150w Halides that effectively cover a 2x2 area without shadows or T5s are pretty wattage effective (most people never needed 400w Metal Halides, so comparing these to a 90w panel is more of a "bad choice thing" rather than an "increased efficiency thing.")

The only thing that I cannot help with is if you absolutely want a thin/small form factor... the larger fixtures of the MH is what makes them great with reflectors and better coverage. A Giesemann or ReefBrite is going to be about as thin as it gets... too bad that AquaMedic and Sfilogi got out too before the current boom since they had some nice fixtures.

I might suggest that everybody watches Tullio Del Aquila's presentation at MACNA... there is not light source that is more efficient that another once you factor in all of the nuance. ...so expect to spend the same wattage to do the same thing... if you can "get away" with less of one source, then you could have gotten away with less of another.
 
APC said:
I also loved my halides back in the day - ultimately I moved away from them due to 1)heat issues 2) high energy consumption compared to my LED's 3) I got tired of changing bulbs (MH and T5). I like the "set and forget" ability of LED's and I also like how you can modulate the color of an LED. I should note that I travel a lot for work - so anything that makes my reefing easier I am all for so that is also a big LED draw for me.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone wants to turn this into a M/H vs LED debate but I feel like chiming in. First your #1 and 2 issues, have you seen the new reefbrite M/H units? I haven't experienced them in person but from the posts about them I've come to think they give off barely any heat and run very very efficiently. Issue 3 about changing bulbs, I see no downside to plugging a new bulb in and having basically a brand new light again. Sure beats buying thousands worth of Radion gen 1 or 2s maybe 5 or 6 years ago and already replacing them with gen 4s let's say. And set it and forget it I would not use to describe LEDs, M/H is the most plain and simple set and forget system. I see thread after thread regarding what channels to run at what intensity or how much reds or greens should we run.
Sorry just my 2 cents, nothing more.
 
Nutramar Foods
When i got into reefing you had 3 light choices, MH, PC or VHO. T5 was new still and unproven and many people were skeptical. PC and VHO died out and T5 was now proven to work really well for coral. LED was just coming on the scene and was moslty DIY, PFO had the Solaris and that was the first LED light fixture on the market for reef use. The Solaris met with the same skepticism as T5 did. I started with a 130w PC fixture from Current USA and very quickly changed to MH and never looked back. LED has interested me but MH is just too good at providing the proper lighting for a reef tank.
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
OLDREEFER44 said:
Had Hamilton T5/halide. Noisy, hot and kind of ugly. Switched to Orphek v4's and solved all those issues without noticing any real difference in growth. Up in my garage near Seattle if anyone wants it. 60 inch version.
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Was it the cebu sun?
 
I love my halides! They just work and work well. I use a small clamp on fan to mitigate heat issues. Bulb replacement doesn't bother me at all. I do not like tinkering with intensities and color blending on leds. I prefer to set an on/off timer and leave it at that.
 
I enjoy comparing reef lights to cars ;)
Halides are like your muscle car. Old, reliable, powerful, but also lager and cumbersome with a lot of energy waste.
T5s are like your 80s-90s street racers. Slick, good handling and user feedback, simple to customize but still hot and inefficient. (These two will require periodic matinnence and "tune ups")
Leds are the newcomer, electric cars, they definitely have potential and have unparalleled tech but the actual results can still be disputed against the established champions.
 
Orphek OR3 reef aquarium LED bar
I loved my M/H's and VHO's for over 3o years, but when the LED technology finally caught up with M/H's it was time for a change, to much heat, tired of changing the bulbs and the lack of ramping up and down of the M/H lights was what sold me on LED's. The trouble with LED's is their are only a very few good light manufactures on the market, thus causing the high price of the very good LED's. Also LED's as of now are not for everyone, as they are not like the plug and play, M/H's, and T5's, hopefully in the near future they will be able to fix this problem.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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