Radion to MH - advice needed.

deerhunter06 · May 19, 2015

Well after seeing awesome tank after awesome tank under MH lighting. I just couldn't take it anymore. I have a 120g Sps tank under two Radion G3 pros that max out at 70% I have growth in SOME acros that is what I would call pretty good. Others are not growing at all that I can notice they maintain their color but never get any bigger. I have been running LEDs from the start, about 2 years ago. I am also not happy with the coloring in my sps. Under MH corals look sooooooo much more vibrant. I need to have this. There is no reason I cannot, my tank parameters are perfect i obsess over making sure they are. I think the answer is MH lighting. Soo I bought

2 - 250w reefoptics pendents with icecaps ballasts. With 14k pheonix bulbs, and also 20k xm bulb, 10k ushio bulbs. Didn't know what was going to be the best.

Now i literally know nothing about MH lighting. Which bulb is going to give me the best look and growth, I am assuming the 14k bulbs are a happy medium for coloration and growth??? how should i acclimate my MH after swapping them out with the Radions? Also how high off the water should i place them? Am i going to need fans? I keep my house at 70 degrees. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

DaveMorris · May 19, 2015

First off, I totally agree with you regarding the look of MH lighting. The LED stuff has definitely come a long way, but MH lamps really do look quite nice. I believe that a lot of that look comes from the fact that they are a more smooth color spectrum. I like to make the analogy of digital and analog music. I consider LED lighting digital and MH analog. MH light output just looks more natural to me.

All that said, I think you will do best with the 14k Phoenix lamps. They are phenomenal. Since your tank is already used to the LED fixtures, I would start your MH at the same height on your tank. Keep in mind that the protective glass on a MH fixture gets extraordinarily hot and you will be "projecting" a fair amount of heat into your tank that your LEDs did not do. For that reason it may be better to raise the fixtures up a bit. I would definitely leave yourself with the ability to raise or lower them without much trouble. Heat can usually be dealt with by using a fan blowing across the top of the water surface. Be aware that you may notice a higher evaporation rate because of this.

Good luck and keep us all posted on how it goes.

deerhunter06 · May 19, 2015

Thanks Dave! That is a GREAT analogy, I couldn't agree more. Phoenix bulbs it is.

Vaughn17 · May 19, 2015

If you turn your red and green channels way down (less than five percent), ramp up your blues and UV, and use the white as needed I believe you will see better results with your Radion.