Anyone miss MH lighting?

[Reefering1]

Aquabrightsolutions.com

 

[VintageReefer]

I don't miss the heat or the melting of my skin when I accidentally bump my light

I was thinking the exact same thing

 

[Johnd651]

I was thinking the exact same thing

Just reminded me of what I was missing.. Kentucky fried human

 

[56longroof]

I don't miss the heat or the melting of my skin when I accidentally bump my light

Reefing is not for the faint.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Kessils produce a really good shimmer.
Red Sea Reefled's put out a fair shimmer.
I was contemplating going back to halides, but the lack of quality bulbs nixed that.
I am going to give plasma a try very soon. I'm a fan of a more full spectrum/natural sunlight look and my anemones prefer that spectrum too.

Kessil does have a nice shimmer as long as there is water movement at the surface. Nonetheless, it’s not as nice as a MH shimmer. There is just something special about MH. But it’s also like cars. It’s special like cars used to be but nonetheless, we will all eventually end up with bland electric cars.

 

[VintageReefer]

Reefing is not for the faint.

Battle scars

 

[bswicicki]

I miss the look of metal halide. Anyone revert back to them after LEDs? If so, what do you think or why not?

I don’t miss having a chiller

 

[jackson6745]

I don’t miss it because I still have it. I run 3x400w + t5 and blue led strips over my 200g. Why? Because I got my hands on a brand new stored giesmann spectra fixture and I just love the visual brightness to a tank with it. It’s also nostalgic for me, bringing me back in to the late 90s + early 2000s with my first attempt at acros. I have never needed a chiller with halide, ever. I always account for heat and setup proper exhaust/venting. To have this even high par I need a lot of led, a lot. Since I only run the halides for 5 hours, the increase in electric if any is negligible.

I have other tanks that i mess with radions and other LEDs. I like led for color rendition of anything besides blue and purple corals which get muted. I like led for lower energy mixed reefs or easier sps type reefs as well, especially nanos. I think LEDs, especially blue spectrum and very high par are king at bringing out the red hues on tenuis and any other corals that exhibit that red/orange sunburn look. I find led necessary for many tenuis, latistella, and some others that peak colors are based off of blue led/orange filter pics. I would go as far as saying that the majority of popular acros will have better color rendering under led, making it the most practical choice.

For my main display I choose to stick with halides and choose the corals that look the best under this spectrum. It just looks more
Natural to me and I get a wider contrast of bright colors, not a digital glow ball lol. Anyway, reef-on!

 

[X-37B]

First pic is my 150 how I run it with whites at 30%.
I just turned the whites to 100% and BOOM halide like, lol.

 

[bobnicaragua]

Here are some shots of the same acros under T5/LED and Halide/T5/LED.

Colors get richer/deeper under halides.

Heartbreaker T5/LED

Heartbreaker Halide/T5/LED

Rainbow Loom T5/LED

Rainbow Loom Halides/T5/LED

FTS

 

[Seancj]

But it’s also like cars. It’s special like cars used to be but nonetheless, we will all eventually end up with bland electric cars.

Sorry, but they will have to pry my Internal Combustion V8's out of my cold dead hands!

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

I don't miss them as I went back to them on the latest build...no led fixture I tried could give me the "radium smile"...

12 months of metal halide always has given me 1-inch frags to colonies...

And to be honest...my metal halides are probably why I just took first place in a Battlecorals Grow Out Competition...bring me the heat anyday...running a small clip on fan don't offend me much.

 

[braaap]

Yes and no. If I could find a nice self contained pendant like the old school Coralife I would probably have one or two over my tank. But I can’t so I have a 8 bulb ATI dimmable over it.

 

[braaap]

I don't miss them as I went back to them on the latest build...no led fixture I tried could give me the "radium smile"...

12 months of metal halide always has given me 1-inch frags to colonies...

And to be honest...my metal halides are probably why I just took first place in a Battlecorals Grow Out Competition...bring me the heat anyday...running a small clip on fan don't offend me much.

Stunning what fixture is that?

 

[X-37B]

I don't miss them as I went back to them on the latest build...no led fixture I tried could give me the "radium smile"...

12 months of metal halide always has given me 1-inch frags to colonies...

And to be honest...my metal halides are probably why I just took first place in a Battlecorals Grow Out Competition...bring me the heat anyday...running a small clip on fan don't offend me much.

Nice. I was in 2 BC growout contest but had to take my system down and move. It was a 120 with 2 250watt de halides. Loved those things.
I now am 100% Leds and love them.
I can't wait for the next BC growout to see what I can do.

 

[*GAREEF*]

I did but I don’t anymore.

 

[DIYreefer]

I started my 125 with just LEDs. Then I added T5s and then, inevitably added a couple of halides. Sure, they are not the most efficient and they do generate a lot of heat, but IMHO there still isn’t a light source that gives the aesthetic of halides and acros definitely love them!

 

[UMALUM]

Never cheated on her...



I guess when I run outta bulbs in 10 years I'll have to redefine our relationship?
Don't be shy to ask John for bulk discounts.

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

Stunning what fixture is that?

Thanks! It’s a Giesemann Spectra...same fixture as what @jackson6745 runs…this is my second one…I ran one back in 2010 and regretted ever selling it. They still can be found used if your patient….i think you can still I purchase outside the US as well - https://www.giesemann.de/en/light/hqi/spectra

 

[braaap]

Thanks! It’s a Giesemann Spectra...same fixture as what @jackson6745 runs…this is my second one…I ran one back in 2010 and regretted ever selling it. They still can be found used if your patient….i think you can still I purchase outside the US as well - https://www.giesemann.de/en/light/hqi/spectra

Oh ok. I missed that haha.

They will ship to the US. I have asked them before.