Talk Me Into Or Out Of Halides

[Reefcowboy]

How is the tank these days? How do you like the MH?
Gotta say, my favorite if it wasnt the darn heat. As far as looks, the spectra looks at least to me better then most leds. Light it puts out looks beautiful and corals...lets not even go there.

Im curious to know if you moticed color improvements/growth

 

[Mark Gray]

I agree MH are great I had them 20 years ago then t5,s now leds. Love my meds low power consumption low heat witch means less power consumption for me because the room stays cooler so LED,S for me

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

Your not going to get better growth out of any light over metal halide but heat especially in the summertime can be an issue if you do not have a chiller if you mix 20 and 14 k bulbs color is good And you can get them on line from two different places for 15 dollars each for 250 watt bulbs .As far as savings on electric you have to add up total watts of your leds how many fixtures do you need to cover your tank and in winter my heater does not turn on as much as my tank that is lit with leds do you have savings there

 

[Reefcowboy]

In regards to radium bulbs, will they dissapear from the market anytime soon?

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

Not sure but I used them before and I can't see any difference in the ones I use now and at 15 compared to at least 60 a bulb can't go back to radium

 

[MrSkumfrog]

I had the 48" spectra a few years ago on my 105g. I loved the amazon.com Plus Rite 10k 250w bulbs mixed with blue+ ×4. The tank was very white sand crisp and the coral colors realay stood out. I had a fan plugged into my Apex and no chiller. I didn't see a notable difference in my electric bill. Definitely the best growth I've had in a reef tank.



I don't have that reef anymore. Today I use a Geisemann Aurora T5/Led hybrid.

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

If I am thinking right correct me if I am mistaken if your using multiple leds and your total watts are high don't see much savings over metal halide because you will be using less on electric because heater will not run as much .Sumertime is another story because chiller runs