No love for MH?

[Jay Norris]

Agreed, I have lived in central or south Florida all of my life. Several systems - all but one run off halides. Never, ever, used a chiller. I have used a small Honeywell fan run from my apex on the sumps, and it has always worked great.

How cold do you keep your house? I live in South Florida, and for the last 25 or so years that’s all or ever ran, but I ran a chiller.

 

[naterealbig]

So different places I have had to run different temperatures. Usually I'll start my AC thermostat around 72, and the move the thermostat up each day until peak tank temp matches the temp I want to run - usually 80.0 inside the display. My last apartment I had to keep 77 or lower. Usually 76-78 was the magic number for my AC thermostat. Once I have it set for my current apartment I will post.

 

[naterealbig]

Hi all,

I reached out to Hamilton on our "mercury" discussion. With Dave's permission I posted his reply below:

 

[spllbnd2]

MH are the only thing I do these days. Even on my nano I have a MH. As I always say though, reef lighting is just like everything in life, to each his/her own and everyone will have their opinion on why one is better than the other. Happens with a lot of things in life, BMW vs Mercedes-Benz, Apple vs Android and the list goes on.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[homebrewdude]

I was just going to start a thread to ask if it is worth the effort to dust off my old MH/T5 TO use on my future tank. Sold my large tank 8 years ago, and want to get one again.


Looks like I just need to research what the latest bulbs are.
Looks like the fixture maker is out of business.

 

[naterealbig]

I was just going to start a thread to ask if it is worth the effort to dust off my old MH/T5 TO use on my future tank. Sold my large tank 8 years ago, and want to get one again.


Looks like I just need to research what the latest bulbs are.
Looks like the fixture maker is out of business.

You are right - the super cool fixtures are not in production any more.... The beautiful fixtures that Sfiligoi, ATI, and Giesemann produced unfortunately a thing of the past.... You can still get fixtures from Hamilton and eBay. If you're a DIY-er, the eBay fixtures can be used, and they don't look half bad. You just need to be able to take them apart and check the wiring and connections.

Their electronic ballasts seem to be ok. I'm not sure about their bulb spectrum - I can't find any spectral plots for them. I have one of these fixtures that I purchased right before I found my used Giesemann fixture a few months ago. I would use it for sure if I didn't find the Giesemann......

There is also XHO but their largest fixture is 36" I believe. They have some pretty cool bulbs, but they only produce SE.

Ushio, Hamilton, Radium, Phoenix, and Giesemann seem to be the only "big" bulb manufacturers still in business. The good news is, all of these companies make excellent bulbs.

 

[jda]

Giesemann still makes the Spectra and Infinity. AquaMedic is another one of the long-gone manufacturers that made great lights - they are still in business, just do not do lights anymore. I do wish that Hamilton made a nice, sleek form-factor fixture like the old Sfiligoi or current Giesemann.

 

[naterealbig]

Giesemann still makes the Spectra and Infinity. AquaMedic is another one of the long-gone manufacturers that made great lights - they are still in business, just do not do lights anymore. I do wish that Hamilton made a nice, sleek form-factor fixture like the old Sfiligoi or current Giesemann.

Can you point me in the direction of where to purchase the spectra fixture?. I can't find it or the Infiniti on Giesemann's website anymore. And the normal US channels for the spectra either don't have it or show it as discontinued.

 

[Jeremy Luke]

Can you point me in the direction of where to purchase the spectra fixture?. I can't find it or the Infiniti on Giesemann's website anymore. And the normal US channels for the spectra either don't have it or show it as discontinued.

Coralvue sells the Spectra. That's where I got mine.

 

[Jeremy Luke]

BRS has a great deal on an open box 6' Spectra right now as well.

 

[naterealbig]

Coralvue sells the Spectra. That's where I got mine.

Not anymore my friend. And while they may have them at BRS, they don't have any 48" fixtures, and all sizes are noted as discontinued.

 

[shred5]

Not anymore my friend. And while they may have them at BRS, they don't have any 48" fixtures, and all sizes are noted as discontinued.

Infinity is at Coralvue but they do not show the Spectra anymore.

I will talk to my contacts at Coralvue and see if they know what is going on...

 

[Johnson556]

Moving in a few months and downsizing to a 48" 100G tank.

The question is, do I go with 2-3 Radions or keep my 48" Giesemann Spectra. Skimming through this post is making me question my decision. Tank will be mainly acropora

 

[Jeremy Luke]

Infinity is at Coralvue but they do not show the Spectra anymore.

I will talk to my contacts at Coralvue and see if they know what is going on...

Ouch, I just checked the Giesemann online store and they don't have them there either. Perhaps the Spectra has truly been discontinued.

 

[jda]

That is weird. Ouch. They said that they had no plans of discontinuing. I wonder if this is a German to US thing... wonder if the current tarrifs on metals are impacting new imports. Can anybody read German and check their other site?

 

[Jeremy Luke]

Moving in a few months and downsizing to a 48" 100G tank.

The question is, do I go with 2-3 Radions or keep my 48" Giesemann Spectra. Skimming through this post is making me question my decision. Tank will be mainly acropora

I'm certain you could be successful with either lighting solution. My question would be, why spend the $$$ of buying the Radions if you've already got a great fixture that will definitely be successful growing those acros?

 

[jda]

That spectra is a best-of-breed acropora light. You can always downgrade and spend more money later. I would give the spectra a go.

 

[Foothill Corals]

The manufactures and retailers make WAY more money off LEDs.

Why sell someone a fixture once when you can get them to upgrade every few years? It's like the TV industry.

 

[Johnson556]

I'm certain you could be successful with either lighting solution. My question would be, why spend the $$$ of buying the Radions if you've already got a great fixture that will definitely be successful growing those acros?

Good points going to 100% regret getting rid of it, my counter is 1016W of metal halide and T5 probably wouldn't do to well in a 700-800 sqft Boston apartment.

 

[JDowns]

Starting in 2020 mercury based products and products requiring mercury for production will simply go by the way of the dodo. It won't be too long that CFL's, T#'s, and other halogen based lighting will be phased out to LED, either because the reduced mercury content will no longer meet lighting standards and or the cost of mercury due to reduction in mining will no longer make it a viable competitor to other lighting technologies. Not sure if California actually ended up passing the legislation or not, wouldn't be surprised though. They were working on banning any lighting greater than 72watts that contains any level of mercury.