Talk Me Into Or Out Of Halides

[tqpolo]

Luckily none of those scare me... I have a 65 gallon RO/DI storage and fully automatic top off, so evaporation amount doesn't bother me at all. Bulb changes are just part of the game... no different than T5. I have heard horror stories about how much the electricity bill goes up. But this is reefing after all... I don't expect anything to come cheap lol. All good points though.

You didn't address the heat. Are you concern of adding a chiller?

 

[dragon99]

Don't count on MH bulbs for too much longer. The world is moving to LED (and quickly). With reefs being a tiny niche of the lighting world, it will be one of the first things cut when money gets tight.

http://glassbox-design.com/2016/radium-20k-lovers-consider-stocking-up/
And from the wikipedia entry about the new company:
"The name was created from the words "LED" (for the core business with LED light sources) and "Advance" for progress."

The new company is also in the process of selling to China...

 

[Midrats]

That Giesemann you have on there now is beautiful!

 

[ksfulk]

That's a helpful relpy! My tank is only 22" deep... do you still recommend the 400's? I'm not sure what spectrum bulb I would run since I would also have the T5's for some actinic or super actinic action. I don't like an overly blue look, as evident by my FTS.

I also added your option to the voting

If I were doing it, I would grab a 400w ballast that has 250w selectable (I think it's a luxcore, but I'm in a meeting and can't look it up). Then you can run either the 250 or the 400s. I like the color in the 400s better myself. And you can always raise the fixture or drop to 250s if it's too much. At least this way you have the option.

With mostly lps on your sand bed and some softies the 400 might be too much of a par shock to begin with as well. If you were growing all sps, then the 400s would let you grow sticks on the sand.

And I voted too!

 

[dricc]

Are you not happy with the giesemann? What was your experience with the light?

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Sanjay went from halides to radions... need I say more?

(6:00ish - 8:00ish)

 

[Broadfield]

You didn't address the heat. Are you concern of adding a chiller?

I noted in my original post that I would do a chiller if necessary... whatever it takes.

That Giesemann you have on there now is beautiful!

Thank you, it definitely is!

If I were doing it, I would grab a 400w ballast that has 250w selectable (I think it's a luxcore, but I'm in a meeting and can't look it up). Then you can run either the 250 or the 400s. I like the color in the 400s better myself. And you can always raise the fixture or drop to 250s if it's too much. At least this way you have the option.

With mostly lps on your sand bed and some softies the 400 might be too much of a par shock to begin with as well. If you were growing all sps, then the 400s would let you grow sticks on the sand.

And I voted too!

Yeah, I had intended to buy the selectable Luxcore anyway... really no reason not to.

Are you not happy with the giesemann? What was your experience with the light?

As noted in my original post, I love everything about my current Giesemann. I just like trying/building/designing new things and I have always wanted to try halides. I love the crispness of them and I'm not a huge fan of an overly blue tank. So the advantage of all the blue channels, that LED fixtures provide, is not as much of an importance to me as it may be for others.

 

[Black Pearl]

Giesemann Spectra is what I run and I love it, and I do want to grow sticks on the bottom of the tank. There is heat, I use fans in the sump, staying away from chillers more electrical cost plus they need to be placed where they can expel the heat, I have a small sump room and a chiller would defeat itself. I must add that your tank looks stellar with what you already have

 

[Black Pearl]

triple post

 

[mcarroll]

Since you're pretty well invested already, why not set a frag tank up with a little 70 watt halide to try it out?

 

[tqpolo]

You have the best technology light available. You don't need to go back to use the old stuff.

 

[dburt520]

I also just went through this same decision... I had a DIY LED/T5 fixture for a while, had a Razor, had 4 radions, and most recently ran 3 A360WE's/T5. I just recently (within the last week) hung 3 MH fixtures with 250w radiums in between my T5's.

Yes, all of the other solutions produced great growth (some better than others), and good colors (again, some better than others).

And yes, all of the things mentioned here are relevant points but to me, at the end of the day a MH/T5 setup is the most visually appealing and simple/tried and true solution around.

It looks great, and to me the pros outweighed the cons. You can deal with heat, electricity, evaporation etc more easily than you can deal with investing alot of time and money into something you're not happy with or something that you want to change.

BTW - I went with reefbrite pendant reflectors (due to space limitations in my existing canopy) and reefbrite 250w 0-10v adjustable ballasts and am really happy with them so far - granted it's only been a week. The ballasts are literally cool to the touch after an 8 hour cycle, slightly warmer than room temp. I have the reflectors mounted 10-11 inches off of the water line and my tank temp rises 1.2 degrees over an 8 hour cycle. I will solve that tonight with the help of a fan in my canopy to vent the warm air.

 

[Fishmantim]

I have many different types of lighting hands down metal halide best growth and color only draw back is heat

 

[Reefcowboy]

Spectra is probably one of the best fixtures in the hobby. Try it!

 

[jsker]

I am from the old days and that was were halides were the new thing and one could grow great coral get a tan standing by the tank, and heat the house in the winter all at the same time Why not give them a try as stated before, technology has changed. I am now in the south were the AC runs year round and I now have LED's. That being said and after I replace the AC in the house this year I would consider a Halide/LED combo on tank #2 and roll with the Geisemann lights.

 

[adam knaus]

Imy a huge fan of mh! I've seen this tank in person and it's amazing! I wouldn't change over considering how wonderful it's doing now. Maybe if you got into more sps a halide would deff be an option. But it's all up to you and you can always switch back.

 

[Salty1962]

Your tank looks awesome. I wouldn't change it. Halides are hot, they can really heat up the room their in, power hungry and have to be replaced every 6-8 mths for proper spectrum. I'm sure your current fixture get warm but halides get HOT. I love the light but not the cons that go with it. I've had both and prefer the LED/T5 hybrids. My Radions give me the same power and spectrum as I got from previous halides. JME

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

You won't get better growth than metal halides and ther is a store you can go to online and get 10k 14k and 20k bulbs for 15 dollars each. And they are good have used them All. You would have to use so many leds that your wattage would almost be the same.And at those prices for bulbs you can change them out sooner. The only thing is the heat . When I had my 600 reef I made my fixture vent outside

 

[Zero Nitrates]

You'll never know if you like them unless you try. I personally love the mh/T5 look, but to each his own.

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

I have a 300 now with the halides and the chiller only runs in spring and summer months and they actually help heat the living room in winter time . My heat hardly runs when they are on