lancesmith1
Member
ok. Back to the more serious discussion... the V4 ORPHEK is the best single lighting system i have tried hands downs. Just trying to help...
Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
- Thread starter Goldcoastreefs
- Start date
dz6t
New member
Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides
Many new hobbyists do not even know what metal halide is.
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Many new hobbyists do not even know what metal halide is.
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Bpb
New member
lancesmith1
Member
i am dumping LED and going to quartz.
dz6t
New member
dz6t
New member
Good move.
One guy once told me that he wanted to mount a plasma TV on top of his reef tank, facing down. He might have a point there.
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oreo57
Well-known member
shaginwagon13
Chartered Accountant
+1
I have two 400 watt halides over my tank and am adding a third. I am going to ramp down my LED'd and use them here and there and for moon lighting
Nothing makes the tank or corals look as good as halides.
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ReefCowboy
New member
Bought a few sps recently from a member running radion G4’s. This member is extremelly experienced with top notch sps. The corals in his frag tanks looked exactly like mine when I ran G4’s, healthy but a 7 out of 10.
I placed the new pieces in my tank where I run 2x 250w radiums. Needless to say I see a big change in how they look now a few days later. Its like they started getting back something they were starving for, almost like a rescue. I hate the damn heat from the mh’s but it is such a small price to pay considering what I lose going to led. Im adding blue leds for pop/dusk and dawn which is all I miss from that system.
Ive ran orphek, hydras, g4’s...all great, but not MH great.
I placed the new pieces in my tank where I run 2x 250w radiums. Needless to say I see a big change in how they look now a few days later. Its like they started getting back something they were starving for, almost like a rescue. I hate the damn heat from the mh’s but it is such a small price to pay considering what I lose going to led. Im adding blue leds for pop/dusk and dawn which is all I miss from that system.
Ive ran orphek, hydras, g4’s...all great, but not MH great.
Last edited:
shaginwagon13
Chartered Accountant
Same with me. Now we have REALLY expensive units for moon lighting lol
Ok let's mix things up a bit, I'm currently a few months in on my Plasma LEP drivin cube tank. Some say LEP is just a halide bulb that lasts 10 years, they may be right, but it sure has spectrum and it sure has punch!
Over the last decade I've run halide, T5, DIY led and off the shelf led, so plasma had to be tested
Here's a few shots from my crappy iPad.
My light sits a good 18 inches above the water, my tank is 500mm deep and 1000mm square. The Gavita is good for a meter square for growing hydro, so I've based it on those stats, I'd love to get a PAR under it. LEDs are for evening viewing and adding blue when the plasma is on, gives an 8-10k appearance with plasma.
I've run 400watt 10k halide before and this looks similar, just without the heat!
One thing I have learnt with LEP is don't go by judge intensity by looks, it's way more intense, my corals initially couldn't take 4 hours a day, even with the light so high, I had to drop to 3 hours a day and the two little Ai lights for the rest, gradually I've taken it up to 4.5 hours. Also LEP is like a big LED, the bulb is the size of a tic tac, so it's very directional, even with the reflector, as such I've had to put some T5 at the back of the tank to help a little.
Next issue, algae This is the bloom version bulb, so less red, but it still likes to grow the green stuff so to compensate I run a 130w CFL grow light in the sump over cheato and caulerpa , it's worked a treat so far.
Anyway thought I'd chuck in Plasma as a topic twist, some may just say it's halide, either way I'll be testing for the next year to see how she goes.
Forgot to mention , my goniporas LOVE the plasma, don't know why but they expand out way more than under my other lights, even the 400w halide.
And a few tank shots with just the led on at night.
Over the last decade I've run halide, T5, DIY led and off the shelf led, so plasma had to be tested
Here's a few shots from my crappy iPad.
My light sits a good 18 inches above the water, my tank is 500mm deep and 1000mm square. The Gavita is good for a meter square for growing hydro, so I've based it on those stats, I'd love to get a PAR under it. LEDs are for evening viewing and adding blue when the plasma is on, gives an 8-10k appearance with plasma.
I've run 400watt 10k halide before and this looks similar, just without the heat!
One thing I have learnt with LEP is don't go by judge intensity by looks, it's way more intense, my corals initially couldn't take 4 hours a day, even with the light so high, I had to drop to 3 hours a day and the two little Ai lights for the rest, gradually I've taken it up to 4.5 hours. Also LEP is like a big LED, the bulb is the size of a tic tac, so it's very directional, even with the reflector, as such I've had to put some T5 at the back of the tank to help a little.
Next issue, algae
This is the bloom version bulb, so less red, but it still likes to grow the green stuff so to compensate I run a 130w CFL grow light in the sump over cheato and caulerpa , it's worked a treat so far. Anyway thought I'd chuck in Plasma as a topic twist, some may just say it's halide, either way I'll be testing for the next year to see how she goes.
Forgot to mention , my goniporas LOVE the plasma, don't know why but they expand out way more than under my other lights, even the 400w halide.
And a few tank shots with just the led on at night.
I don't think it will go anywhere, they weigh a tonne ! They are expensive and colour control is limited, limited install options due to their size. Only thing going for them is that awesome smooth spectrum and bulb life. They entered the market too late, they lined up with Led, bad timing, 10 years earlier and they would have had a chance until led.
shred5
Premium Member
Yea..
From the picture the color of the light coming out is pretty white and pleasing to the eye.
Would be curious on spectrum and par..
