Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

[Tweaked]

Cebu Sun Owners:

What I like about my setup, is I get the morning pop of LEDS before work, than the t5s fire, than the radiums and are all off by 5 in the evening returning to the blue led pop from my ReefBrite LEDs. I have a ReefBrite Halide/LED hybrid that is so awesome, I decided to copy the look and add these amazing strips to my Cebu Sun. Best part - no drilling! The fixture has 4 screws at the perfect location for the ReefBrite XHO led strips, and the black housing looks stunning.

My ReefBrite hybrid that I copied



My Cebu Sun with the Strip

 

[muttley101]

Nice led supps... May do that if my wife allows lol!

 

[Steveb]

I have seen some recommendations to mix 14k phoenix and radium bulbs. Is this purely an aesthetic thing or ??? If one were to run 4 x 250w and decided to mix what would be the best way?

RxPxRxP or RxPxPxR or PxRxRxP

Just curious... It would be on an 8' tank.

 

[Scsmith2002]

Hey guys new to RC and the hobby only a year in... I am currently doing a new build and have a few odds and ends laying around.... Does anyone know of the harm of running a 150w MH fixture off a 400w ballast... not sure if the ballast will push more wattage and cause the bulb to blow or if it will only pull what the load of the bulb is.... any ideas?
and do you think I can just put in a 400w bulb and be ok?
Thanks

 

[jda]

The ballast will push all that it can push. At a minimum, it is physically dangerous and spectrum might shift. At maximum, it could do some harm with a small electrical fire.

I don't want to over sensationalize anything, but it could be really bad.

150W and 400W HQI do not use the same sockets. Just get an appropriate 400W SE setup and run it. ... or an appropriate M81 ballast for the 150W.

 

[ptreef]

I have seen some recommendations to mix 14k phoenix and radium bulbs. Is this purely an aesthetic thing or ??? If one were to run 4 x 250w and decided to mix what would be the best way?

RxPxRxP or RxPxPxR or PxRxRxP

Just curious... It would be on an 8' tank.

Just pick one bulb and then fine tune with the t-5's....

 

[DavidinGA]

If I go with 3 250w mh on my 210gal (6ftx2ftx30) would two T5 80w bulbs be enough light for tank viewing when the mh lights are off?

 

[zoomonster]

If I go with 3 250w mh on my 210gal (6ftx2ftx30) would two T5 80w bulbs be enough light for tank viewing when the mh lights are off?

Personally I would do 4x80w. I generally have my MH on at noon-7 and use 2 T5 for sunrise (actually starts earlier with some filtered natural light) at 9am followed by two more on and then the reverse at night. At least for me 4 T5's are good viewing and allow you to limit how much you have MH on when heat or usage is an issue. Just my two cents but just two T5's is pretty lacking for a six foot tank. Had a ballast out for a while so been there done that.

 

[ptreef]

What about GROWTH differences between the two setups though?

I probably see a bit better growth from the Halides....

However at the point I am at, growth is not much of a concern! :dance:

I do seem to have less coraline on the glass with LED's which is good. Probably due to narrower spread and less wasted light

 

[ptreef]

If I go with 3 250w mh on my 210gal (6ftx2ftx30) would two T5 80w bulbs be enough light for tank viewing when the mh lights are off?

Yes if you use blue+ or coral+

I have a 66 x 36 footprint and 2 are enuf to see plenty well for dusk to dawn.. I have 4 though which are pretty bright actually, but 4 cam with the unit

However like zoo monster said 4 can can help limit MH time...

But since you have 3 you can also stagger how thse come on. I have 2 and the left comes on 15 mins prior to the right and goes off 15 mins earlier. Gives me an extra 30 mins of viewing pleasure. With 3 you could stagger like 20 mins and get a lot of extra time!

 

[DavidinGA]

If I go with MH as the primary lighting, would there be any issues running old school T8 bulbs for tank viewing when the MH are off?

I see you can still buy reef specific T8 bulbs (coral life 50/50 bulbs maybe?) and I could use those with a cheapo home depot 4ft shop light. I'm not looking for growth so I would think using a reef specific bulb with a shop light would get the job done and be super cheap; right? I don't know that I see the point of spending several hundred more dollars for a 2-4 bulb T5 setup when I'm not looking for growth from it anyways...

 

[ptreef]

gonna be limited and possibly phase out the t-8??

 

[Big E]

If I go with MH as the primary lighting, would there be any issues running old school T8 bulbs for tank viewing when the MH are off?

I see you can still buy reef specific T8 bulbs (coral life 50/50 bulbs maybe?) and I could use those with a cheapo home depot 4ft shop light. I'm not looking for growth so I would think using a reef specific bulb with a shop light would get the job done and be super cheap; right? I don't know that I see the point of spending several hundred more dollars for a 2-4 bulb T5 setup when I'm not looking for growth from it anyways...

I mentioned this in your other thread to supplement LEDs.............cutting corners to save a few bucks is going to end in disappointment. A cheap shop light will rust and you also won't have water proof end caps.

If you go with the 250w halides you can run the 4x80 T5s 8 hours and the halides only 2-4 hours a day. Your colors should be fine and you'll still get growth. With most acros slow growth = weak coloring.

It can be difficult to find find T8 bulbs now.......especially actinics.

If you do want to go with the two bulb T5 route you can get away with it but you'll have to run the halides longer. You may also be able to find a 250w bulb to your liking that you don't need or want any T5's. A lot will also depend on the type of reflectors you have. A top flight reflector like the Lumenarc 3 can be like night and day in performance of a halide bulb.

 

[DavidinGA]

I mentioned this in your other thread to supplement LEDs.............cutting corners to save a few bucks is going to end in disappointment. A cheap shop light will rust and you also won't have water proof end caps.

If you go with the 250w halides you can run the 4x80 T5s 8 hours and the halides only 2-4 hours a day. Your colors should be fine and you'll still get growth. With most acros slow growth = weak coloring.

It can be difficult to find find T8 bulbs now.......especially actinics.

If you do want to go with the two bulb T5 route you can get away with it but you'll have to run the halides longer. You may also be able to find a 250w bulb to your liking that you don't need or want any T5's. A lot will also depend on the type of reflectors you have. A top flight reflector like the Lumenarc 3 can be like night and day in performance of a halide bulb.

K.


I picked up a used set of MH for $190:

2x lumen bright mini reflectors
1x lumen max reflector

2x coralvue ballasts
1x galaxy ballast

3x radium bulbs


With this setup would it be better running T5's or some leds for tank viewing when the mh are off?

My plan is to run the mh 6-7 hours and supplement with led or t5 for 3-4 hours.

Thanks

 

[ReeferSteve78]

K.


I picked up a used set of MH for $190:

2x lumen bright mini reflectors
1x lumen max reflector

2x coralvue ballasts
1x galaxy ballast

3x radium bulbs


With this setup would it be better running T5's or some leds for tank viewing when the mh are off?

My plan is to run the mh 6-7 hours and supplement with led or t5 for 3-4 hours.

Thanks

I run both t5 and reef brites too make my corals pop more

 

[DavidinGA]

It would probably take a crap ton of leds to be enough light to show up under the mh's if I wanted to supplement some color though right?

 

[Wrench]

It would probably take a crap ton of leds to be enough light to show up under the mh's if I wanted to supplement some color though right?

You'd be surprised at how few it takes to impact the color. Before I went full LED I supplemented XM 10K's with Reefbrite actinic strips which made the tank look like it was lit by Radiums.

 

[DavidinGA]

You'd be surprised at how few it takes to impact the color. Before I went full LED I supplemented XM 10K's with Reefbrite actinic strips which made the tank look like it was lit by Radiums.

Give me some more details if you would. Like how big your setup was, number of MH, number of leds, etc.


Thanks

 

[power boat jim]

Buildmyled can make a supplemental led to your specification or you can buy a stock one. They will help bring some more pop to the tank. they also look good as evening lights after the halides shut off.

 

[Wrench]

Give me some more details if you would. Like how big your setup was, number of MH, number of leds, etc.


Thanks

240g, 60x36x25". Was lit by three 250w XM 10k's in Lumenarc reflectors. I supplemented them with two 48" reefbrite blue strips. I believe they were 1w CREE diodes at the time. I had a smaller tank right next to the big one lit by a Radium and I couldn't tell the difference. I've since gone full LED (AI Sol blue's) and I'm getting better growth and color than with the halides. I'll never go back.