Whats this light?

[heystopthatman]

Ive been seeing this light used on many reefs (picture) and i read an article from georgia aquarium to find what light they are. It appears they use 14000k hamilton and 6500k sunmaster. I looked this up and they were for the most part decently cheap and had to be switched every 6 months. Whats the reason they are so cheap yet such spectacular aquariums use them. Also. Like queen of reef i think shes called uses these large lamp lights similar to them. I need new lights, mine are 12 years old and now im getting into coral for my 100gallon. Would these be good or are there downsides?

 

[therootcause]

It sounds like you are describing hot, high energy consuming, metal halide lights?

As an alternative, consider retrofitting similar fixtures with Radion's or Primes that vent through the top.

Millenium 10" Pendant Fixture
Pendant Fixtures

 

[mrpontiac80]

Ive been seeing this light used on many reefs (picture) and i read an article from georgia aquarium to find what light they are. It appears they use 14000k hamilton and 6500k sunmaster. I looked this up and they were for the most part decently cheap and had to be switched every 6 months. Whats the reason they are so cheap yet such spectacular aquariums use them. Also. Like queen of reef i think shes called uses these large lamp lights similar to them. I need new lights, mine are 12 years old and now im getting into coral for my 100gallon. Would these be good or are there downsides?

Queen of reef if I’m not mistaken, uses Radion XR 30 GEN five or six lights. She just hid the lights in those big lampshades.

 

[themcnertney]

Few years back I ran (3) 400W MH lights over my 220G. Never grew coral better. Way too hot, too much evaporation and pretty expensive to run. But man did it grow coral.

 

[doubleshot00]

Queen of reef if I’m not mistaken, uses Radion XR 30 GEN five or six lights. She just hid the lights in those big lampshades.

This. I think it looks awesome other than the wires showing.

 

[heystopthatman]

Few years back I ran (3) 400W MH lights over my 220G. Never grew coral better. Way too hot, too much evaporation and pretty expensive to run. But man did it grow coral.

Do you know the exact setup you had for them? Personally heating, expenses, and evaporation arent a big worry for me. So i would try those anyday personally. Im to poor for photons, radions, neptunes, ai primes, etc.

 

[themcnertney]

Been so long, cant tell you too much.
Don't remember the bulbs, maybe Hamilton. Could be wrong, but I think its tough to find bulbs for these now a days. Here's a couple of 3reef links, maybe you can read through and find some info.

220 Gallons of Eye Candy

Well heres the start of what will be one awesome build. Over the weekend I purchased a 220 gallon tank with stand. The dimensions are 72Lx24Dx30H. This...

www.3reef.com

220 Gallons of Eye Candy

civiccars2003 submitted a new Showcase Item: 220 Gallons of Eye Candy The main display tank is 220 gallons mixed reef with a 110 gallon refuguim. The...

www.3reef.com

The photo in the avatar was grown with the MH lights.

 

[twentyleagues]

Forgive me if im way off base here but the bulbs are not that much but you'll need ballasts and reflectors and if the reflectors dont come with them whatever they call the end caps into which the bulbs clip or screw (Ive forgotten). Over all cost for replacing bulbs isnt bad but the start up is what will get you if you can find the stuff anymore. Just doing a quick google search most look to be notify me when avail. If you already have the stuff to run mh then you should be good.

 

[ReefRacer]

@twentyleagues is right. I still have most of the receipts for my 250 MH that I had on my 120. The link below is for the bulbs. But, then there were CoralVue Ballasts, reflectors and connectors for each set (I had 3) and then you typically had to run T-5 actinic bulbs to supplement blue spektrum that the MH were not good at. I remember my first AI SOL being quite a bit cheaper....AND WAY LESS HOT. I can't overstate how hot the reflectors got. They would easily blister your skin.

Phoenix Metal Halide 14K Double End Bulb

Provide light intensity for growth while bringing out the color of your fish and corals with the Phoenix HexArc Blue 14000K Double Ended Metal Halide bulb. Crisp white color with blue tint Great combination of color and PAR Works well with or without supplemental Actinic bulb Electronic, HQI or...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Sesty22]

Ive been seeing this light used on many reefs (picture) and i read an article from georgia aquarium to find what light they are. It appears they use 14000k hamilton and 6500k sunmaster. I looked this up and they were for the most part decently cheap and had to be switched every 6 months. Whats the reason they are so cheap yet such spectacular aquariums use them. Also. Like queen of reef i think shes called uses these large lamp lights similar to them. I need new lights, mine are 12 years old and now im getting into coral for my 100gallon. Would these be good or are there downsides?

those are Radions with custom shades.

 

[heystopthatman]

Forgive me if im way off base here but the bulbs are not that much but you'll need ballasts and reflectors and if the reflectors dont come with them whatever they call the end caps into which the bulbs clip or screw (Ive forgotten). Over all cost for replacing bulbs isnt bad but the start up is what will get you if you can find the stuff anymore. Just doing a quick google search most look to be notify me when avail. If you already have the stuff to run mh then you should be good.

Im not very smart so i need a deep explanation lol. So what are the reflectors and all these clips and whatnot that i would need? Originally i was gonna save for another 2 years for photons but these so far seem a lot cheaper and still great.

 

[heystopthatman]

@twentyleagues is right. I still have most of the receipts for my 250 MH that I had on my 120. The link below is for the bulbs. But, then there were CoralVue Ballasts, reflectors and connectors for each set (I had 3) and then you typically had to run T-5 actinic bulbs to supplement blue spektrum that the MH were not good at. I remember my first AI SOL being quite a bit cheaper....AND WAY LESS HOT. I can't overstate how hot the reflectors got. They would easily blister your skin.

Phoenix Metal Halide 14K Double End Bulb

Provide light intensity for growth while bringing out the color of your fish and corals with the Phoenix HexArc Blue 14000K Double Ended Metal Halide bulb. Crisp white color with blue tint Great combination of color and PAR Works well with or without supplemental Actinic bulb Electronic, HQI or...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

To me what your saying is to advanced for my peanut brain so i would just have to ask questions :/

So lets just keep it simple for the sake of my sanity. So im not sure anything about what reflectors are and whatnot but lets ignore that and say its not a worry.

So my 100gallon is 60×18×24 so how many of these t5s and halides thinys or whatever they are would i need for like sps and lps and how would i have to place them if you can answer that. Im asking for a lot sorry.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Do you know the exact setup you had for them? Personally heating, expenses, and evaporation arent a big worry for me. So i would try those anyday personally. Im to poor for photons, radions, neptunes, ai primes, etc.

Are you too poor for a chiller?

 

[twentyleagues]

To me what your saying is to advanced for my peanut brain so i would just have to ask questions :/

So lets just keep it simple for the sake of my sanity. So im not sure anything about what reflectors are and whatnot but lets ignore that and say its not a worry.

So my 100gallon is 60×18×24 so how many of these t5s and halides thinys or whatever they are would i need for like sps and lps and how would i have to place them if you can answer that. Im asking for a lot sorry.

probably you'd need 2-3 halide sets and maybe 2 60" t5 for actinic/ deep blue color. Depends on corals you wish to keep. So for the halides you'd need 3 ballasts thats the part that powers the bulb, 3 reflectors which directs the light where you want it, 3 wiring/ end caps to screw the bulbs into and the three bulbs. As for the supplemental t-5 lighting not needed but will help with certain spectrums for coral health and viewing you'd need a ballast capable of running 2x60" bulbs 2 reflectors 2 end caps with wiring and 2 bulbs. google these terms with reef or saltwater in the google and you should be able to comprise a price list. I'd guess somewhere around $1200-1500 would get you there. Maybe a little less might find used too but then youve gotta worry about if it works and for how long. You could easily run 2-3 kessils with t5 supplementation or 3 Reefis, or 3 AI blades or a ton of other led options for around that same price range. You'd use less power, have more control without extra add ons, and the heat directed toward the water would be less. The heat issues with mh could cause you to need a chiller as @EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal alluded to, which are not cheep either.

 

[heystopthatman]

probably you'd need 2-3 halide sets and maybe 2 60" t5 for actinic/ deep blue color. Depends on corals you wish to keep. So for the halides you'd need 3 ballasts thats the part that powers the bulb, 3 reflectors which directs the light where you want it, 3 wiring/ end caps to screw the bulbs into and the three bulbs. As for the supplemental t-5 lighting not needed but will help with certain spectrums for coral health and viewing you'd need a ballast capable of running 2x60" bulbs 2 reflectors 2 end caps with wiring and 2 bulbs. google these terms with reef or saltwater in the google and you should be able to comprise a price list. I'd guess somewhere around $1200-1500 would get you there. Maybe a little less might find used too but then youve gotta worry about if it works and for how long. You could easily run 2-3 kessils with t5 supplementation or 3 Reefis, or 3 AI blades or a ton of other led options for around that same price range. You'd use less power, have more control without extra add ons, and the heat directed toward the water would be less. The heat issues with mh could cause you to need a chiller as @EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal alluded to, which are not cheep either.

Oh boy.. thanks for the info but ill stick to photons and ai blades in a year or two lol. Which would be better do you think for sps and lps or really any coral type? And obviously in general function, coral growth, reliability, etc. (Ai blades or photons?)

 

[mrpontiac80]

I love my reefbreeders photons! Great for anything in the tank in my opinion.

 

[twentyleagues]

Oh boy.. thanks for the info but ill stick to photons and ai blades in a year or two lol. Which would be better do you think for sps and lps or really any coral type? And obviously in general function, coral growth, reliability, etc. (Ai blades or photons?)

never used a photon. I do have a blade grow 21" over my 30 cube its set at about 65% intensity easily covers the majority of the middle level of the tank with about 170 par, less towards the far back and front, 105-110 at the bottom, tank is 20" deep. I have it on the raised legs, so 5" off tank surface. Could probably play with mounting height and intensity to get better coverage and or higher par numbers. If I planned on keeping this tank set up i'd probably add another one and I may have gotten 2 to begin with but the 12" versions for this tank.

 

[mrpontiac80]

The photons are pretty powerful. Mine are about 18” over the tank. With my blues at 100% and whites at 25% and red and green at 13% I’m hitting 200-300+ par at the top of my rocks about 1’ under the surface depending on where I take the measurement.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The photons are pretty powerful. Mine are about 18” over the tank. With my blues at 100% and whites at 25% and red and green at 13% I’m hitting 200-300+ par at the top of my rocks about 1’ under the surface depending on where I take the measurement.

Photons are also surprisingly heavy! Lol!

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

Might check out @noopsyche I run AI hydra 32’s and 64’s in my tanks and when I set up a drag system I bought the K7 pros from them for much less. Harder to program, but once done you don’t have to change them much or often if you set them right the first time. And you said you don’t mind heat, expenses etc but you keep saying LED’s are too expensive. Unless someone else is paying your electric bill the LED’s will pay for themselves especially if you have to buy a chiller.