Had someone send me a PM, asking how I liked my Aquaticlife Halo, after having had it for a while. Thought I'd share the response with the whole class...
Yes, I have one running, for what, 7 months? Something like that.
I like the look, love the mount, the built in timers do what I need them to do, it's nearly silent, doesn't produce a lot of heat, is easily adjustable in intensity and color... As far as form, quality, and features, it's wonderful.
Corals: I have several SPS frags, a couple LPS frags, and a derasa clam. All seem to be thriving. Color is excellent... I have a small ORA red planet, known for fading out, it's bright and happy. A $5 brown acro frag I bought as a test to see how SPS was going to do has turned bright green under this light. Lepto frags have spread about 3x their original size in 6 months or so.
I am _not_ experiencing phenomenal growth rates. Corals are happy, well colored, and growing, but not the kind of explosive growth I used to get under halides many years ago.
I'm happy with it, but I could be happier. I've given some thought to replacing it with a 250w DE HQI Halide pendant. If it wasn't for the heat issue, and the form factor, I'd probably have done it by now.
It's a good light, but I'm starting to believe the folks saying that LED's just are not going to give you the kind of growth rates you can get with metal halides, no matter how much you spend. Is it worth the trade off? Slower growth rates, good color, more flexibility, less heat, a variety of form factors? That's a judgement call we're each going to have to make.
I'm going to post this elsewhere, since I took the time to write it
Greybeard
reef3r said:
Hey, I saw that you have had AquaticLife Halo fixtures on your tank for a few months, I was just wondering if you still like them, and if you would recommend them?
Thanks