Going back to halide after 4+ years with LED

[Boa1277]

I started 7yrs ago with LED never got coloring like I saw in all the really nice Halide tanks. I tried a Pacific Sun Pandora LED / T-5 hybrid same thing. 3yrs ago I went to a 400watt Radium setup and my corals look just like all the TOTM tanks I see on the internet. I don't ever see me leaving Haiides unless something really changes BIG TIME.

 

[cilyjr]

Anyone want to stick up for the Hamilton 14k? I'd love to hear your opinion

 

[mcarroll]

I swapped with the Hamilton 20K a few times over the years. Other than it running at the lower-wattage (and being correspondingly less bright) I didn't think it was bad. Certainly for the price it was nice enough.....but I always switched back.

 

[ksc]

Hamilton Tech is a great place to buy Radiums. They usually have them on sale for $65 a pop a couple times a year.

I've run Radiums on a M80 ballast over an SPS tank for over 2 years with great results. My current set is just over 13 months on a Galaxy and Lumatech (one on each) and I'm pretty sure they've lost less than 10% of their par output. I only run them 6 hours a day with no supplementation. I let my tank run up to about 83 or so, that way you don't waste all that heat and it makes your corals a little hardier.

 

[Greybeard]

I switched from an Aquaticlife Halo to a 250w DE halide in Hamilton's Bimini Sun reflector, 14,000k Hamilton bulb about a month ago. Over my little 60 cube, it's plenty of light As for the Hamilton 14,000k DE bulb, bright, crisp blue/white. I like the color.

I'm looking at a 5' peninsula style tank, if I make the move, I like Hamilton's 5' unit with 3x 175w 14,000k bulbs and 4x 80w T5's. Using the 175w SE bulbs is going to limit me on bulb choice, I know, but I really like the Hamilton 14,000k bulbs I'm using now. <sigh> It's only money, I guess.

 

[DanConnor]

I used to run DE bulbs back in the day (doing t5 now) and always found getting them in and out of the fixtures a pain. Have they fixed that yet?

 

[cilyjr]

I don't know I am running SE bulbs.

 

[USMC4Life]

What LED's do you have now ?

 

[cilyjr]

The radium is I believe essentially a DE wired into an SE bulb. I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong. But it's definitely a strange bulb. It runs at 270 watts (part of the reason the hqi/sl settings work well for it because that's usually outputting about 275w (10% more of 250 for super lumen on a lumatek).

 

[cilyjr]

What LED's do you have now ?

None. I have 3 250w metal halide. I was running 4x ai sol blues.

 

[mcarroll]

I've run Radiums on a M80 ballast over an SPS tank for over 2 years with great results. [...]I let my tank run up to about 83 or so

Funny enough that's the same temp (well...82.9º)I ran my tank under Radiums....coolest it would get during the day, so I set up the heat to lock it in there day and night. I never had a problem either.

 

[Greybeard]

I used to run DE bulbs back in the day (doing t5 now) and always found getting them in and out of the fixtures a pain. Have they fixed that yet?

There have always been well designed and poorly designed DE fixtures. I had an 80w DE pendent back in the day that was great. Used it over a seahorse tank with lots of macro algae. Seen some recently that were junk. Heck, I've got a DE sodium light fixture out by the dog run and chicken coop that is a nightmare to put a bulb in, and it's only a year old.

The Hamilton Bimini Sun reflector comes with a solid, easy to use fixture. Getting a bulb in and out is simple, just press the ceramic ends into the fixture, slides right in. Now, I'm using a Hamilton bulb, in a Hamilton reflector... if I were to pick a different brand bulb? Who knows.

The worst part about the Bimini sun is that it comes with a fairly useless set of plastic 'legs', or you can order a hanging kit, and there isn't any other way to mount the thing. I disassembled the housing, drilled 2 holes, used a couple 1/2" lengths of tube as standoffs, and mounted a 1" wide piece of aluminum bar stock to mine. That way I could mount it however I wanted to. Worked out well.

I had 3x 400w mogul base bulbs back in the day, in PFO reflectors, and _they_ were a pain in the but. Actually broke the glass of one bulb trying to unseat it after a year's worth of use.

 

[DanConnor]

Thanks; good info.

 

[cilyjr]

Something interesting is happening since adding halide. My ph has gone up. The swing which used to be 7.9 to 8.1 is now 8.0 to 8.2...probably means nothing but it's an observation

 

[mcarroll]

Any physical mods to the canopy or doors during installation?

 

[ksc]

Probably an increase in photosynthesis. Watch and see if your ALK starts to drop.

 

[cilyjr]

Any physical mods to the canopy or doors during installation?

No just took out the sols and t5 and put the halide reflectors in.

 

[cilyjr]

Probably an increase in photosynthesis. Watch and see if your ALK starts to drop.

I was thinking along this line of thought. The photo period is shorter and more intense, maybe driving ph up

 

[mcarroll]

I'm not sure that explains the new nighttime high though....I'd think household CO2 (and gas exchange with the tank) would determine that....interesting detail to keep an eye on though.

 

[mcarroll]

Do you have a fan system in the canopy that might be kicking on now that wasn't before?