Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

[SPotter]

72 x 24 x 24 - standard 180.



I was keeping a couple of SPS but most have died off. Lost my Hammer and torch.....



SO I'm sticking with LPS and soft corals for now on. I have lots of zoas, mushrooms, couple big frogspawns, green star polyps , a clam. Want to get back in with some Lobos, Torch, hammers, again think I'm going to say away from SPS.



With a business to run and three kids, I need a little more easy going set up

I'm no expert but I would think that you're going with a 14k bulb you could use a 175w bulb. If you get a switchable ballast you could always upgrade to a 250w bulb down the road if you decide to go with Sps.

 

[d2mini]

Agreed. I've seen substantial electrical savings since installing my Cebu sun.

Not me! haha
My electric bill shot up from the chiller use after switching to my cebu sun.
But in all fairness, I've got as much water volume in a non-airconditioned garage in south texas as I do in my display inside the house. So that's not exactly helping.
I'll be making some changes soon to help mitigate that.

 

[SPotter]

Not me! haha
My electric bill shot up from the chiller use after switching to my cebu sun.
But in all fairness, I've got as much water volume in a non-airconditioned garage in south texas as I do in my display inside the house. So that's not exactly helping.
I'll be making some changes soon to help mitigate that.

I will be interested to see what happens when you close off that area. Are you planning on cooling/heating the room? I had been asking your a lot of questions about your fish room about a year ago when I started planning my new system and I ultimately decided to build a fish room because the heat index in SC during the summer hits 115. I have been running a portable air conditioner but its not the most effecient when it comes to power consumption so I am getting more estimates on putting in a mini split system.

 

[JPMagyar]

Joe, Have you taken par readings now that you are back with MH's? We have a few things in common...both used to own Pac Sun fixtures and both now own MH's with radium bulbs. I have my bulb about 15" awl and i am getting 150-170 on the bottom of my tank so a total of about 38" from the bulb. Im also using a fairly wide reflector with the Hamilton Cozumel pendant.

One other thing we have in common.....Köszönöm.

Szervusz! Ha hah another fellow Hunky :beer:

That's too funny about the experience. Sadly we did it together and both wasted a ton of money . . . ah well C'est la vie says Pierre :artist:

My bulbs are 250s and I have them 8 inchs awl. I get 1200 to 1400 at the surface and nothing less than 250 on the bottom with most areas showing 300 on the bottom. The thing is the fixtures I'm using don't spread the light as well as my old PFO hoods. With the PFO hoods the area in between the fixtures had higher readings than the area directly under the hoods and same for the region between the two bulbs, but not so with the Giesemann. The reflectors do too good a job of directing the light. It's not really a problem as I still have plenty of light for everyone to be happy, but if I had known this in March when I bought my Giesemann fixtures I would have gone with Cebu Sun fixtures from Hamilton instead. Like I said . . . C'est la vie

 

[SPotter]

Szervusz! Ha hah another fellow Hunky :beer:

That's too funny about the experience. Sadly we did it together and both wasted a ton of money . . . ah well C'est la vie says Pierre :artist:

My bulbs are 250s and I have them 8 inchs awl. I get 1200 to 1400 at the surface and nothing less than 250 on the bottom with most areas showing 300 on the bottom. The thing is the fixtures I'm using don't spread the light as well as my old PFO hoods. With the PFO hoods the area in between the fixtures had higher readings than the area directly under the hoods and same for the region between the two bulbs, but not so with the Giesemann. The reflectors do too good a job of directing the light. It's not really a problem as I still have plenty of light for everyone to be happy, but if I had known this in March when I bought my Giesemann fixtures I would have purchase 2 new Cebu Sun fixtures from Hamilton instead. Like I said . . . C'est la vie

Funny you talk about spread....when I measured directly under the bulb on the bottom of the tank i got 150 but as soon as I moved to the front or to the back the par levels go up. I love my reflector as I get incredible coverage across my entire tank with just 3 of them. I have left my lights high just because I have been moving rocks around in the tank and since the fixtures are so big I need the extra room to get my arm in the tank. Once things are settled I will lower about 5-6 inches.

 

[JPMagyar]

Not me! haha
My electric bill shot up from the chiller use after switching to my cebu sun.
But in all fairness, I've got as much water volume in a non-airconditioned garage in south texas as I do in my display inside the house. So that's not exactly helping.
I'll be making some changes soon to help mitigate that.

Dennis I found a simple fan set on top of my tank and blowing under the fixture kept me from needing a chiller. I had a problem with the tank hitting 82 degrees but only in late August when temps here hit the 90s with high humidity. In any case the fan on the display fixed the problem.

 

[SPotter]

Joe....what t5's are you using with the radiums and what ballasts are you using to run the radiums?

 

[GroktheCube]

Not me! haha
My electric bill shot up from the chiller use after switching to my cebu sun.
But in all fairness, I've got as much water volume in a non-airconditioned garage in south texas as I do in my display inside the house. So that's not exactly helping.
I'll be making some changes soon to help mitigate that.

That definitely doesn't help things! Even here in NJ, any uninsulated room gets blistering hot during the summer. I'm pretty sure I'd need a HEFTY chiller if any part of my system were in that kind of heat.

Dennis I found a simple fan set on top of my tank and blowing under the fixture kept me from needing a chiller. I had a problem with the tank hitting 82 degrees but only in late August when temps here hit the 90s with high humidity. In any case the fan on the display fixed the problem.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about 82. 84-85 makes me a bit nervous, but 82 is on the cool side for most wild reefs in the summer. I let my tank bounce between 77 at night and 81 during the day.

Even small fans seem to be a big help for people.

 

[d2mini]

Dennis I found a simple fan set on top of my tank and blowing under the fixture kept me from needing a chiller. I had a problem with the tank hitting 82 degrees but only in late August when temps here hit the 90s with high humidity. In any case the fan on the display fixed the problem.

Ya, a fan would do it for in the house, but with all the water i have in a 100 degree garage, it takes a little more cooling.

 

[JPMagyar]

Joe....what t5's are you using with the radiums and what ballasts are you using to run the radiums?

I'm using the Giesemann ballasts that came with the fixture. They don't overdrive the bulbs but they seem to work fine so I'm ok with them for now. As for the T5s I have tried 3 different groups since March when I first hung the Spectras up. First I tried Giesemann Pure Actinic and ATI Coral +. Then in mid-July I switched to ATI Blue + and ATI Coral +, and just yesterday I switched to ATI Aquablue Special and Giesemann Pure Actinic. The reason I have been switching around is to try and optimize my pinks and reds. I have pink stylo, pink seriatopora, pink pocillipora, Red Dragon, and Red Planet. They all look ok, but none have that really "hot" pink and "fire engine" red that I know is possible BUT this latest iteration of T5s seems to enhance the "look" of the pinks the most of all the combos so far. Whether or not it will really intensify the pink/red zoox only time will tell. I really love the Giesemann Pure Actinic bulbs for dawn/dusk though. They really make my corals glow much much more so than the ATI Actinic or the Giesemann (plain) Actinic which were both more blue than UVish

 

[SPotter]

I'm using the Giesemann ballasts that came with the fixture. They don't overdrive the bulbs but they seem to work fine so I'm ok with them for now. As for the T5s I have tried 3 different groups since March when I first hung the Spectras up. First I tried Giesemann Pure Actinic and ATI Coral +. Then in mid-July I switched to ATI Blue + and ATI Coral +, and just yesterday I switched to ATI Aquablue Special and Giesemann Pure Actinic. The reason I have been switching around is to try and optimize my pinks and reds. I have pink stylo, pink seriatopora, pink pocillipora, Red Dragon, and Red Planet. They all look ok, but none have that really "hot" pink and "fire engine" red that I know is possible BUT this latest iteration of T5s seems to enhance the "look" of the pinks the most of all the combos so far. Whether or not it will really intensify the pink/red zoox only time will tell. I really love the Giesemann Pure Actinic bulbs for dawn/dusk though. They really make my corals glow

keep us posted on the latest combination. I am using blue + with the geisemann pure actinic and not sure how i like it yet. i dont have any corals in the tank yet since I just got this one running a couple of weeks ago.

 

[d2mini]

I have the G pure actinic with blue+ and kz superblue.
I agree that the actinics really make things pop at dusk dawn, especially the greens.

 

[SPotter]

I need to go back and re-wire my t5-retros so I can have more control over the bulbs. I didnt plan it out well when I was laying them out....right now I have it so I can control the right and left sides.

 

[JPMagyar]

I really like this post. Been struggling with LED for a year now and my tank has gone in the dumper. NEVER had these kinds of issues with MH . Thing of pulling the trigger on

Hamilton Cebu Sun Lighting System - 72 Inch 3 x 250 Watt 14,000K Metal Halide and 4 x 80 Watt T5 HO Actinics

BUT cannot decide to go 175 or 250.

I would recommend 250. Your selection of potential bulbs is greater including the Radium metal halide 20000k bulb. I believe it is hands down the best bulb for growing colorful SPS on the market today. If you go 175 then that bulb won't be an option. Plus 175 gets the job done, but it really is lacking in that extra punch you need for the seriously high light loving corals like Red Planet or Oregon Tort. Anyways just one guys 2 cents on the internet . . . did I mention I'm a French model in my spare time "Bonjour".

 

[SPotter]

I would recommend 250. Your selection of potential bulbs is greater including the Radium metal halide 20000k bulb. I believe it is hands down the best bulb for growing colorful SPS on the market today. If you go 175 then that bulb won't be an option. Plus 175 gets the job done, but it really is lacking in that extra punch you need for the seriously high light loving corals like Red Planet or Oregon Tort. Anyways just one guys 2 cents on the internet . . . did I mention I'm a French model in my spare time "Bonjour".

Excellent point about available bulb options by going with the 250! I totally didn't even think of that.

 

[rgulrich]

Just placed my order with Hamilton this afternoon - looking forward to outfitting this rig with some halides. Keeping the A350W/A360WEs for supplements.

 

[DavidinGA]

I'm thinking about MH....


...but I know nothing about them lol. I've been with Reefbreeders since day one of my 1.5yr old 210gal mixed reef (becoming more of a true sps tank these days though) setup now. I have growth with all my sps but they seem super slow. I can't speak much for color as I've been with led and don't know if I'm missing out on color with MH or not.

Right now I have two Reefbreeder Photon 32's over my tank.

I assume *if I went old school I'd need at least 3 250w'ers, right? I have a standard 210gal that's 6ft long and has the dual braces at the top (so three separate area's to illuminate).

What's the going price and what would I want to look for in a MH setup?

 

[d2mini]

Yes, 3 would be ideal.
That 72" Cebu Sun several of us have would be an easy way to jump in and its a great unit with a great company standing behind it. 4 T5's also included.
If you go for Radiums, upgrade to the M80 Magnetic ballasts. You can PM Hamilton (they are a sponsor) and talk to Dave. He'll get you squared away.

 

[DavidinGA]

Yes, 3 would be ideal.
That 72" Cebu Sun several of us have would be an easy way to jump in and its a great unit with a great company standing behind it. 4 T5's also included.
If you go for Radiums, upgrade to the M80 Magnetic ballasts. You can PM Hamilton (they are a sponsor) and talk to Dave. He'll get you squared away.

How does that compare to independent reflectors for the mh?

 

[d2mini]

How does that compare to independent reflectors for the mh?

I'm actually not sure and even posed this question to Hamilton but they didn't know. I have actually played with making my own light rack and installing 3 Cabo Sun reflectors along with a 4-bulb T5 Retrofit kit. My problem though is trying to squeeze all that in to an odd shaped canopy so I had issues trying to fit in the reflectors for the T5. And just as I was getting it installed in my canopy my tank had unrelated issues so I put the Cebu Sun back up just so I knew the change in lighting wasn't effecting anything. I may actually rework the light rack a bit in the future. For now the Cebu Sun works perfectly. Just a bit cumbersome in my canopy.