Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

No you wouldn't.
The spead on the Illumina is amazing. The higher you hang it the farther it spreads, and they are powerful enough to hang as high as needed.
 
Jack,
Reefbreeders! I have owned metal halides for years. A reef breeders with 120 optics! I own a par meter and have done the testing. And I dont care for "Puck" style led units. Just for that reason.
However, I think the GHL Mitras looks to be a good "Puck" unit as it has six arranged in a rectangular fashion.
There is ALWAYS a hot spot with metal halide. It's one large bulb. And there is no way around that. Sure, you can bounce the light around with a reflector.......STILL a hot spot!!
Your talking one point light source compared to a reefbreeders 100 or so on a 32" unit. Are you saying you get better spread then T5's???? Because a reefbreeders spread is right on par with a t5 unit.........
 
Uncle Salty 05 said:
No you wouldn't.
The spead on the Illumina is amazing. The higher you hang it the farther it spreads, and they are powerful enough to hang as high as needed.
Click to expand...

It still has to fit into the decor of the family room. The higher you hang it, the more light spill there is and the greater likelihood you will be blinded by the LED's. Why would I want to do that when I can keep my floating canopy and do this? The spread on this reflector is second to none, and for the area I have to cover it made perfect sense, it only cost me $60 delivered. My tank is shallow, only 17" tall. A big thanks to Sanjay for doing what he does.
figure10_lumen_max_large_top_zpsefc4c413.jpg


I did consider the Mitra, (I also looked at AI's, Radion's, ReefTech and ReefBreeders) but the price makes it objectionable when I already have the ability adequately cover the tank, the only "real" expense is a bulb every 14-16 months. For me, there is nothing on the market that makes it a wise decision to replace what I already have. My whole tank runs on $25 a month in electricity, that's all of the equipment, so how many bulbs can I buy before I break even on a $1000 dollar light? Will the light be an advantage over what I currently have? I have no questions if the Radium is capable of giving the color and growth I want, my lighting is not a variable, I have no need to "experiment" with variables.

I fully support other people and their LED choice, but to date there is zero reason for me to change from what works, is inexpensive to run, to something that may or may not be equivalent.
 
d2mini said:
Yup, i'm speaking to the common off the shelf units like AI, Ecotech, Kessil, etc.
Where you may need 4-5 of these units to light a tank, you would only need 3 MH.

My tank is 72" long and having just 4 Radion Pros is pushing it, but fine.
3 MH would be plenty.
Click to expand...

That may be true but the six AIs over a tank use far less energy the 3 MHs do and light it more evenly in most cases. How many lights it takes to cover a tank is a meaningless statistic by itself.

In addition, If you have corals that have no tissue growth on their underside the light source is not the issue. Most corals will keep tissue near their bases no matter what light source you use. A few wont have tissue coverage on the underside and lose more as they grow. If none of them do you probably have an alk problem.

Since I put the one MH over the center of the tank 5 or so weeks ago it has become evident that the difference in overall coral health and color between MH and LED lit coral is nearly non existant. There is no difference in tissue coverage, no difference in growth rates. The only slight difference so far has been color. Some look better under LEd and some pop more under MH.

It leads me too believe water chemistry and stability are probably bigger players in overall coral health and color then a DIALED IN LED system or any other light source.
 
power boat jim said:
That may be true but the six AIs over a tank use far less energy the 3 MHs do and light it more evenly in most cases. How many lights it takes to cover a tank is a meaningless statistic by itself.

In addition, If you have corals that have no tissue growth on their underside the light source is not the issue. Most corals will keep tissue near their bases no matter what light source you use. A few wont have tissue coverage on the underside and lose more as they grow. If none of them do you probably have an alk problem.

Since I put the one MH over the center of the tank 5 or so weeks ago it has become evident that the difference in overall coral health and color between MH and LED lit coral is nearly non existant. There is no difference in tissue coverage, no difference in growth rates. The only slight difference so far has been color. Some look better under LEd and some pop more under MH.

It leads me too believe water chemistry and stability are probably bigger players in overall coral health and color then a DIALED IN LED system or any other light source.
Click to expand...

1) I've done the math. To switch from 4 Radion Pros to 3 MH and 4 80w T5 would save me $100/year in energy costs (for lighting). Peanuts.

2) I can tell you from first hand experience that a mh/t5 setup will in fact give better growth and color on the undersides of coral compared to LEDs that I have used.

3) 5 weeks is not enough time to draw any meaningful conclusion.

4) Yes, water chemistry and stability and overall husbandry all make or break your tank, but lighting does play a large part if/when all the rest is taken care of. Different lighting systems will all make a difference. I saw a pretty noticeable difference just switching from Gen 1 Radions to Pros.
 
My kessil 350 is over my mixed reef 57 gallon illuminata and it lights the whole tank. The key is to use the non wide version and raise it 16" . Spread is great and par is good..Most people put their kessils 6"-8" over the water
 
MondoBongo said:
actually vertex is made in Germany, and yes we are in debt to them

56B as of July 2013.

http://money.cnn.com/infographic/news/economy/who-we-owe/
Click to expand...

No, Vertex is made in Austria.
My point is cheap Chinese versions of AMERICAN designs flooding the market are what is ruining our economy.
Everybody gave Bob Dylan a hard time for "selling out" and doing a commercial for Chrysler during the Super Bowl.
Personally I applaud him for telling people to buy American.
 
Uncle Salty 05 said:
No, Vertex is made in Austria.
My point is cheap Chinese versions of AMERICAN designs flooding the market are what is ruining our economy.
Everybody gave Bob Dylan a hard time for "selling out" and doing a commercial for Chrysler during the Super Bowl.
Personally I applaud him for telling people to buy American.
Click to expand...

nope. germany.

https://www.facebook.com/VertexAquaristikGmbH

https://www.facebook.com/VertexAquaristikGmbH/info

Max-Planck-Str. 19a; Halle 1
50585 Cologne, Germany

Closed until Monday 9:30 am - 5:00 pm

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vertex-alpha-200-protein-skimmer.html
Made in Germany
Click to expand...

thanks for playing though.
 
Uncle Salty 05 said:
Everybody gave Bob Dylan a hard time for "selling out" and doing a commercial for Chrysler during the Super Bowl.
Personally I applaud him for telling people to buy American.
Click to expand...

in point of fact, while Chrysler is technically made in America, they're actually owned by Fiat.

so... not really an American company either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Italian multinational automaker Fiat S.p.A
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat

anyways. back to your regularly scheduled nonsense. :bounce3:
 
This is from the wholesaler I bought my Illumina from:

Hi Mike,

Our company is German-based, but these lights are manufactured in our facility and really fantastic team in Austria. It literally says right on the box "˜Made in Austria'!

Illumilux AND Illumina are made at our Austrian facility.

Best regards,
www.prolineaquatics.com
A Division of Vertex Industries Worldwide
Toll free (877) 682-FISH (3474) (Ext 4179)
Fax (855) 204-1474


Thanks for losing.
 
still a german company, and we're still in debt to germany last time i checked.

so by your reasoning, you're still hurting america, and that makes america sad.
 
I went back to metal halides on my 75 and now going back to a 150 mh on my 28.When they can make a led light work like a mh bulb with a reflector then I might consider going back.All my corals were growing under leds but underneath they are all white.The mh seem to spread the light more evenly than leds.
 
MondoBongo said:
still a german company, and we're still in debt to germany last time i checked.

so by your reasoning, you're still hurting america, and that makes america sad.
Click to expand...

Do you have a contribution that is relevant to this thread or are you here looking to cause problems? Aren't there enough problems already? This is supposed to be a discussion concerning LED's and traditional lights, not company ownership. Can we keep it pointing in the right direction? :beer:
 
MondoBongo said:
still a german company, and we're still in debt to germany last time i checked.

so by your reasoning, you're still hurting america, and that makes america sad.
Click to expand...

I'm not buying cheap Chinese crap.
I avoid chinese goods whenever I can.
For example try to find a good pair of scissors at a retail store.
All you can find are cheap chinese pieces of crap that are dull in two weeks.

That is my reasoning.
Buying quality goods from abroad is very different from buying Chinese crap.
If you are big fan of chinese goods, I'm sorry if I offended you.
 
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