Why I love my Metal Halide

[mcarroll]

You can't compare that 90w led to a couple 250w mh. A single 250w mh in a proper reflector will give wayyyy better coverage/spread.
That's the problem is people don't compare apples to apples.
I had 4 radions pros over a 7' tank and it wasn't near enough for sps. I really needed at least two more. That would be 6 total.
Instead, I replaced them with three 250w mh and four 80w T5. That's 1020w in led vs 1070w in mh/t5. Negligible difference.

Red herring - wrong LED fixture at the wrong price point.

It may not be for everyone, but if you design an LED fixture for the tank instead of choosing to do it with shoebox fixtures, the cost difference would be astronomical.

(You do make an excellent comparison with that product though! [emoji106])

 

[d2mini]

Red herring - wrong LED fixture at the wrong price point.

It may not be for everyone, but if you design an LED fixture for the tank instead of choosing to do it with shoebox fixtures, the cost difference would be astronomical.

(You do make an excellent comparison with that product though! [emoji106])

Yes, I fully agree... of course DIY is much cheaper, but the mainstream doesn't have the know-how or ability, including myself.
I don't believe Radions are a red herring though. They are just one very popular fixture that everyone has access to, especially at their LFS.
Radions, AI, Kessils.... you need to compare popular, quality, commercially available fixtures to popular, quality, commercially available fixtures. Apple to Apples.

If you want to talk DIY, then maybe compare DIY leds to retrofit T5's?

But in the example you quoted I was talking about power draw. Not purchase cost. The point was that if you have enough leds to give proper coverage/spread over the tank, any difference in power consumption is much smaller than initially thought.
Again, this has nothing to do with which is "better" since that will be determined by one's goals/expectations/preferences, just pointing out a simple fact.

 

[McMullen]

I guess when I grow up, mature, and gain more life and reef experience I'll be switching back to MH.

You guys..........nodding head........this was never meant to be an argument or debate......not it's just sad.........

 

[bobman]

Well the question is would you be willing to spend $750 or more on quality LEDs to make a good comparison? Lol or get a grant

umm no I would spend the same on each type of lighting. If I spend 750 bucks on LED but 200 on MH I fail to see a fair comparison. You can spend 750 bucks on any on these lighting (not that I have that much loose change under my couch). Besides the tanks I have to use are all 29 gallon tanks. I will drill them so they can use the same sump and filtration. I will see what I have for powerheads as I would need the same flow in each tank so that wont be a factor. I already have about 3 5 gal buckets full of dry rock that I can split up to be as even as possible. Since I am not rich by any means I would get entry level lights that are said to grow sps well and make sure the MH and T5 have new high end bulbs so that is not a factor. From there Give them the same timeframe of lighting both white and blue. Just try and keep every factor as even as possible even price. You can toss a 750 dollar fixture on a tank and no matter what type of lighting it is I am sure it will do very well that's not what I am trying to prove here. For your newbs that always ask the question what type of lighting should I use on a budget well lets find out.

 

[timkenagy]

Well the question is would you be willing to spend $750 or more on quality LEDs to make a good comparison? Lol or get a grant

Why does everyone keep referencing $750? I think that's an insane amount to spend on any light fixture period. There's plenty of quality options without the $750.00 one.. Just like there's other great options besides the $350.00 powerhead.

 

[lewis.maryann08]

Where do I find these lights halide ?

 

[bobman]

Metal Halide lights are available in many different shapes sizes and form just check out marine depot under lighting and you can find as many as you will ever care to see. Just remember not all metal halides are created equal. You have doubled ended bulbs, single ended bulbs, retro fit kits, fixtures the options are endless but its all comes down to what your end goal is. IMO when it comes down to metal halides bulb selection and reflectors are key. Ballasts are important but to be honest as long as it fires the bulb you should be ok there.

 

[Elton20]

Why does everyone keep referencing $750? I think that's an insane amount to spend on any light fixture period. There's plenty of quality options without the $750.00 one.. Just like there's other great options besides the $350.00 powerhead.

Sure there are, but kessils only have two channels, AI's are good but still $500 for the HD, and all the black box will eventually fail on you. I guess $750 is an average price where Orphek is near $1000 and AI is near $500.

 

[Txdragonslayer]

I love my Giesemann Infinity, some times i wish i would have gone with the spectra, to use the radiums, but for now i am happy with my 20K ushio bulbs.

Plus I like what all lighting types have to offer, so I installed kessils into my MH t5 fixture.

sheck my build here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/red-sea-reefer-450-white-tiger.211634/page-7

 

[NanaReefer]

I guess when I grow up, mature, and gain more life and reef experience I'll be switching back to MH.

You guys..........nodding head........this was never meant to be an argument or debate......not it's just sad.........

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but....when it comes to talk of lighting a reef aquarium there will always be much heated debate.
Some just gotta complicate the heck out of this hobby [emoji17]

 

[mcarroll]

@d2mini it's a red herring in that it's a design that is least suited to the shape of the tank and not at all designed for efficiency.

For no better reason than their popularity, you kind of picked the worst possible option, or at least a good example of the worst possible option, to compare since you need a so many fixtures.

In other words, with one of my GU10-based fixtures I could light the same space with about half the power give or take. Smart design including the use of lenses is all it takes, no magic tricks. And GU10s are standard AC current bulbs, so they are really easy to DIY, BTW.

I think even a comparison to an orbit marine pro setup would be more interesting... In the numbers, if not the popularity. [emoji6]

 

[mcarroll]

I don't want to create a"This light is better than this light " debate posting this. I'm just stating and going with what works for me. I started this 40b with an ati 6x24 t5 powermodule. Before that I had it over a smaller jbj20L frag tank till I transferred over to my current tank and I was happy with it on that tank. I had good colors and everything i read said that the ati would be plenty of light for my current 40b tank. But being me, i just couldn't make it work, so i went back to a 250w radium.
This pic was taken on Dec 18 2015 under the ati

This pic 5 days later under the radium

I couldn't believe the change in 5 days

Any chance of taking lux or par readings from both fixtures just for comparison? (Take measurements of the T5 at the equivalent distance of the water surface when it was mounted.)

Someone posted a free lux meter earlier that actually seems to give accurate readings. It's called "Galactica Luxmeter"

Your mileage may still very, but it should be worth a try.

 

[SunnyX]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but....when it comes to talk of lighting a reef aquarium there will always be much heated debate.
Some just gotta complicate the heck out of this hobby [emoji17]

Lol, that's the truth. I find that I am a much happier reefer when I avoid the "forum wars". Years ago the"DSB vs BB" threads were atrocious. Not to mention the "MH vs T5" stuff. Every couple years some major "issue" appears and everyone loses it. The threads and wars are not without use as they often contain some good information. There are a million ways to grow a reef. What works for me may not work for you, and so on.

 

[d2mini]

@d2mini it's a red herring in that it's a design that is least suited to the shape of the tank and not at all designed for efficiency.

No arguments there! Kinda my point/experience.

So what commercially available gu10 fixtures are out there? And if none, why???
What would you do if you wanted to replace a Radium bulb and end up with the same spectrum, intensity and spread?

 

[timkenagy]

Sure there are, but kessils only have two channels, AI's are good but still $500 for the HD, and all the black box will eventually fail on you. I guess $750 is an average price where Orphek is near $1000 and AI is near $500.

I haven't price LEDs for a while but from my limited knowledge there's only a few companies that really manufacture LEDs (at least that can be used in the hobby) the 3 main being bridgelux, epistar, and Cree. Most of your high end expensive fixtures are made with Cree and your Chinese cheap lights the other two have fought for next best/worst. So all these expensive ones use Cree chips.. So research how much those cost and you'll discover how much you're actually paying for the nice fancy case it's in. (And packaging.. Btw off subject I got a Maxspect gyre and the fancy tin packaging it came in with all the cool stuff to look at.. Could've done without and knocked $60 off the price but back to my ltd knowledge on LEDs) I haven't priced LEDs in a while because I haven't needed to. But when I did the top 2 were the AI sols and the Rapid Onyx. I went with the Rapid onyx.. I lit my 6' tank for well under 1k $299 dimmable (they sell referb for $100 off now) and they have an amazing warranty (something like $75 replacement lifetime) and the same Cree technology as the $bazillion dollar fixture. Are there better? Probably.. But how much better for the money? And if you wanna get creative you could buy all the stuff and build your own that would kill a Radion for the price. FWIW a friend has 3 or 4 grand in Orphek and doesn't have near the color or growth I have. I'm sure @jedimasterben will clean up the mess I just made now

 

[timkenagy]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but....when it comes to talk of lighting a reef aquarium there will always be much heated debate.
Some just gotta complicate the heck out of this hobby [emoji17]

It's the fun part.. The geek stuff.. Unless it gets too dramatic.. Which it often does.

 

[anarchy]

You are right McMullen. The op didn't want this to turn into a vs. thread.
I'll leave it alone with pic of why I love a 400w halide
June 20th by rich colombo, on Flickr

DSC_0047 by rich colombo, on Flickr

IMG_2530 by rich colombo, on Flickr

IMG_2531 by rich colombo, on Flickr

Man that first acro pic is amazing. Got a name for it?

 

[RedneckReefer68]

Any chance of taking lux or par readings from both fixtures just for comparison? (Take measurements of the T5 at the equivalent distance of the water surface when it was mounted.)

Someone posted a free lux meter earlier that actually seems to give accurate readings. It's called "Galactica Luxmeter"

Your mileage may still very, but it should be worth a try.

I sold the t5s.. An app on my phone gave me a reading of 32000 lux at water level 16" below the bulb the other night.. I'll try that app you mentioned tonight after work

 

[mcarroll]

I sold the t5s.. An app on my phone gave me a reading of 32000 lux at water level 16" below the bulb the other night.. I'll try that app you mentioned tonight after work

Sounds good! I'm interested. [emoji106]

 

[Tegridy Reef]

How do u guys adjust to your corals when u swap out the bulbs just cut the time it's on for