Anyone gone back to halides?

28 years reefing...and I'm all LED now. I can grow whatever I want.

I have 2 mH/t5 Current Marine combo's sitting out in the garage because I can't even sell them locally. I was asking $75 each. They are considered power-hungry heat generators in this area.
 
rtparty said:
The Phoenix 14k bulb is regarded as one of the best bulbs ever created. The 150w version was absolutely amazing when I ran it and it's much closer to 20k than 14k IMO
Click to expand...

Thanks. I appreciate the recommendation. Good to know there is at least one good option - most 14k bulbs are not what I would want to look at, at least not without a lot of supplementation.
 
ComforablyNumb said:
28 years reefing...and I'm all LED now. I can grow whatever I want.

I have 2 mH/t5 Current Marine combo's sitting out in the garage because I can't even sell them locally. I was asking $75 each. They are considered power-hungry heat generators in this area.
Click to expand...



It's the same in California, no one wants MH because of the electricity costs. Reefers end up giving away their MH reflectors and ballasts. I still have mine in the garage just in case I go back...not worth giving away at this point.
 
rtparty said:
The Phoenix 14k bulb is regarded as one of the best bulbs ever created. The 150w version was absolutely amazing when I ran it and it's much closer to 20k than 14k IMO
Click to expand...

Agree with this bulb. Problem is I don't think they even make them anymore. That was the info I was told when I got them last time for a pendant, which was years ago. I would run MH in a heartbeat if heat and electricity cost wasn't the issue. Been super happy with ATI T5 but do miss the shimmers.
 
vuqchu said:
Agree with this bulb. Problem is I don't think they even make them anymore. That was the info I was told when I got them last time for a pendant, which was years ago. I would run MH in a heartbeat if heat and electricity cost wasn't the issue. Been super happy with ATI T5 but do miss the shimmers.
Click to expand...
The bulb is still produced. They stopped but had such a demand and public out cry that they started producing them again
 
Cully,

Not sure if you still run the Radions but, the new 'diffusers' for the xr30s are now out. For those of us who cannot practically run them high above the tank, the diffusers may be just the ticket to blend and even out the lighting in our tanks. They aren't cheap but, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will make it significantly easier to provide balanced lighting without hot spots.

Matt
 
I'm interested in this as well, as I'm trying to decide on a light for my SPS focused Midi.

I successfully ran LEDs for a few years on my LPS and softy dominant tank, and have used MH and T5 previously on other setups. An LFS near me used to have LEDs on their display and their SPS sale tanks, but switched back to T5s.
 
I have. I was using a Pacific Sun t5/led fixture and changed to Reefbrite mh/led fixtures, using 250 watt twin acrs and their ballasts. I could not be happier... My alk consumption doubled in less than a month.
 
I have, was using 4 radions on my 220. they switched to a T5/LED combo. now MHs with 2 radions for moon lights, dawn and dusk on my 450. The Geismann 17500 is a really nice light. I would run MHs alone with this bulb but I like the moon lights and have the radions laying around.
 
Yeah going back to MH.
Not that LED aren't growing things. It's growing pretty well and I'm happy with the way it looks. It's just no realiable as MH. I went through 3 Radions XR15w in the past 3 years. The last one a few days ago. And no, I will not buy that crap anymore. I have a XR30 still working well.
Maybe I'm just not lucky with it. MH was easy plug and play stuff and the growth was there too. I've tried it but will go back the old way. It will also be a lot less expensive to light my new 140g 60'' with MH than Radions. It's been fun but it's over!
 
I'm back to tried and true Giesemnn Spectra, 400w radium. Actually I've been messing around with some other bulbs and discovered that my 400w reeflux 10k will fire on all the 250w + 400w settings on my Lumatek ballast. It looks much more blue but still bright on 250SL. That will likely be my setting to save a little heat for the summer months. Strange thing is that I bought a 250w 10k Ushio to run less wattage and the bulb threads didn't fit into the Spectra Mogul socket.

Does anyone have a link to Sanjy's halide data? I can't seem to find it.
 
Here ya go----

https://reefs.com/lighting/

The spetral plots may not be working, but the rest of the info is there. Just walk your way down the tree for each till you get to unshielded/sheilded

If you need more specific info you can also just do a browser search on the specific bulb/ballast from the original Advanced Aquarist articles
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Returning to the hobby
Replies
13
Views
254
griss
griss
M
'05 24g JBJ Nanocube Resurrection (I'm Back!)
2 3 4
Replies
75
Views
2K
Dustin07
D
W
Seabae Anenome upside down 3 days after feeding
Replies
1
Views
313
griss
griss
Dogs442
NEED HELP WITH RO/DI SYSTEM
2
Replies
34
Views
834
griss
griss
R
Reseeding beneficial bacteria to sterilized tank - best approach?
Replies
6
Views
541
rallibon
R
Back
Top