Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides

[adamyaws]

I like this idea a lot.

The plan:

14K MH (250W) with a 48" T5HO Actinic.

Run the actinic as sunrise/sunset, then fire up the MH for 9-10 hours.

On order:
Lumatek 400/250 e-ballasts. (Got the 400W ones so I can upgrade if necessary)
Lumatek Lamp Cords
Coralvue spider reflectors
14K 250w Hamilton MH Bulbs
1/4hp AquaLogic DeltaStar chiller

To order:
T5HO Actinic bulb 48"
T5HO Ballast
T5HO Fixture
Some sort of LED fixtures for night.

All run and controlled by the good old APEX! I normally run the tank with the current LEDs at 78F. The plan is to keep it 'round there but will set up the Apex to shut off the halides should the temp exceed 82F and set an alarm/email/text.

Anyone want a pair of AI Hydras with a director??? I know where you can get a good deal on a pair in a few weeks!

 

[calistyle]

I've considered going from LED/T5 to MH/T5, but have one MAJOR concern. Heat.

My stand is fully enclosed (see pic), aside from 2 holes I use for power cords and one where i was planning on putting a CPU fan. Inside I run another fan that sits on my ATO container to move air out through the one hole. We keep our house @ 72 degrees this time of year and 77/78 through the summer months.

Note: Iv'e never used MH before, only T5 , LED, LED/T5.

My desire is Hamilton Cebu unit. Can I get away with x2 250w radiums?

Also, I like a blue tint to my tank and love shimmer of LEDs.

That said, what would be best MH bulb configuration to get the look I'm looking for while staying within heat limit to not need a chiller?

Any tips are appreciated.

 

[clockman]

If you build your own LED system and screw the individual drivers into the heat sink, you can swap out different colors to find the best mix for your system (individually they are cheap). You can even add additional LED drivers if you have room.

I suspect many of the complaints come from prebuilt systems that don't have the right mix of LED's or the right intensity. I found more cool white than the royal blue 5 watt Crees (48 all together) works for me and keeps my carpet anemone happy. If you have deeper water animals you might find more blues work for you. LED's are customizable that way. Much less heat, less electricity, really cool automatic dimming options to simulate clouds and you can have the same or better intensity than metal halides. Just make sure you do it right.

 

[Kenmx10]

Ok I have made my choice between two different setups. The first one is the Hamilton Belize sun and the other is the Hamilton Cebu sun. Both are a T5 combo. But the Belize is HQI and the Cebu is mogul. What one would you think would be better for covering my tank that is 60"x27"x27"? Also should I go 250 or 400? Also what ballast should I run on each of them so I can get the most out of it? I plan on ordering one or the other the first part of this week so I can dump my worthless LEDs. It has been years since I have ran MH and on that tank I used a cheap Fleabay HQI setup that worked great for years.

If you get Mogul you can run Radium bulbs.

 

[Ztrain]

Lol..

The question was, if two light sources have identical spectral output, aside from par/lux/(intensities), how is a metal halide bulb, a different light source from a led setup?

There's actually somewhat of a valid answer here that is manipulative via led's... heh (just realized that)

The answer to your question is yes. If an LED provided "identical spectral output" it would be the same. When that happens I'm sure people will swap over from their MH and T5s. However this is not the case and probably will not be for a long time.

I'm 100% behind LED and it is the only type of light I'll use. Not interested in T5 or MH. However LEDs do not provide the same spectrum that is undeniable. Is it a problem? I personally doubt it seeing so many awesome tanks lit 100% by LED. That will vary though on the species or the specimen. To each their own and do whatever you think it best tbh.

 

[overexposed]

I've considered going from LED/T5 to MH/T5, but have one MAJOR concern. Heat.

My stand is fully enclosed (see pic), aside from 2 holes I use for power cords and one where i was planning on putting a CPU fan. Inside I run another fan that sits on my ATO container to move air out through the one hole. We keep our house @ 72 degrees this time of year and 77/78 through the summer months.

Note: Iv'e never used MH before, only T5 , LED, LED/T5.

My desire is Hamilton Cebu unit. Can I get away with x2 250w radiums?

Also, I like a blue tint to my tank and love shimmer of LEDs.

That said, what would be best MH bulb configuration to get the look I'm looking for while staying within heat limit to not need a chiller?

Any tips are appreciated.

Seeing as your top is fully open suspect you won't have much of a heat issue. Those who use MH with a fully enclosed canopy are much more likely to have heat issues that require a chiller to correct.

 

[d2mini]

Going back to halides, to halides, to halides.
Going back to halides... hmm, ya I think so.

I'm going back to halides, shakin 'em, bakin 'em
Takin 'em to spots they never before hung.

 

[thebanker]

:lol:

Giesemann got a big old bulb

 

[1fishkeeper]

Well I pull the trigger and ordered Cebu. It should be here on Friday. Right now I'm going to run 14K on it because I enjoy it a little on the whiter side. But I can change it down the if I get a whim. Right now I'm going to run the new lumatak ballest on it.

 

[Aquatron]

Congrads on your new Cebu Sun fixture they are really nice quality and heavy...lol The 5 cord's are a bummer to some but I like the control

 

[JB NY]

I've considered going from LED/T5 to MH/T5, but have one MAJOR concern. Heat.

My stand is fully enclosed (see pic), aside from 2 holes I use for power cords and one where i was planning on putting a CPU fan. Inside I run another fan that sits on my ATO container to move air out through the one hole. We keep our house @ 72 degrees this time of year and 77/78 through the summer months.

Note: Iv'e never used MH before, only T5 , LED, LED/T5.

My desire is Hamilton Cebu unit. Can I get away with x2 250w radiums?

Also, I like a blue tint to my tank and love shimmer of LEDs.

That said, what would be best MH bulb configuration to get the look I'm looking for while staying within heat limit to not need a chiller?

Any tips are appreciated.

You should not have any real heat issues with an open top. My tank is open at the top and my chiller only goes on once in a while when I let the house heat up to the mid 80's the summer. When I had my older tank with an enclosed top the chiller would go on all the time.

As for MH bulbs, radiums will give you a nice white with a good amount of blue, Ushio 14K will be still white with a lot less blue. IME

 

[calistyle]

Thanks Joe!

I'm going to give this lights another month (going way up in power) and once at 75-80%, I'll add an acro frag and see how it does.

I say this now, but if the wife gives approval now, I'll have Cebu hung in a week.

 

[b7fig]

Torn on what to do. I have a 180 g 72"x24x24 tank with 3 Radion Gen 3 LED lights on a SPS tank. I absolutely love the looks, no heat, controllablity and actually the colors. However, I really don't feel I'm getting the growth out of the corals like I used to. Also as the corals grow, I really feel I'm going to have to add another light to help with shadowing.

What do people think about removing my center Radion LED and replace it with a 250w 20k Radium bulb and keeping the LED's on the sides? Give me some good light in the middle and spread a little to the sides and give me prized corals in the center an extra boost. Would it work okay and look good together? I run at 15k to 20k with my LED's currently.

 

[Wazzel]

Torn on what to do. I have a 180 g 72"x24x24 tank with 3 Radion Gen 3 LED lights on a SPS tank. I absolutely love the looks, no heat, controllablity and actually the colors. However, I really don't feel I'm getting the growth out of the corals like I used to. Also as the corals grow, I really feel I'm going to have to add another light to help with shadowing.

What do people think about removing my center Radion LED and replace it with a 250w 20k Radium bulb and keeping the LED's on the sides? Give me some good light in the middle and spread a little to the sides and give me prized corals in the center an extra boost. Would it work okay and look good together? I run at 15k to 20k with my LED's currently.

How are you running them power wise? I suspect they are like the AI hydra52's in that if you are not running them at near full power on all channels they will not hold up to 250W Mh.

 

[power boat jim]

Torn on what to do. I have a 180 g 72"x24x24 tank with 3 Radion Gen 3 LED lights on a SPS tank. I absolutely love the looks, no heat, controllablity and actually the colors. However, I really don't feel I'm getting the growth out of the corals like I used to. Also as the corals grow, I really feel I'm going to have to add another light to help with shadowing.

What do people think about removing my center Radion LED and replace it with a 250w 20k Radium bulb and keeping the LED's on the sides? Give me some good light in the middle and spread a little to the sides and give me prized corals in the center an extra boost. Would it work okay and look good together? I run at 15k to 20k with my LED's currently.

I have the same tank with the same lights.I run 3 radions and put a MH light over the rear center of the tank. I run it a few hours a day. I also use the 120 deg lenses. The tank is doing very well with this set up. I will probably get a 4th radion to replace the MH in the summer when it gets hot out.

 

[b7fig]

Power

Power

How are you running them power wise? I suspect they are like the AI hydra52's in that if you are not running them at near full power on all channels they will not hold up to 250W Mh.

I'm run the fixture itself at 80% total, but the whites are only at 50% and the greens and reds at 20%. The blues and UV's are at 100% of the 80% total.

 

[b7fig]

Replacing LED

Replacing LED

I have the same tank with the same lights.I run 3 radions and put a MH light over the rear center of the tank. I run it a few hours a day. I also use the 120 deg lenses. The tank is doing very well with this set up. I will probably get a 4th radion to replace the MH in the summer when it gets hot out.

Interesting, so you left the three and added the MH behind the center one? How do you think it would look if i just replaced the middle one with a MH? (I was hoping to sell the Radion to pay for the MH to keep the wife off my ***! I promised her I would stop spending money on the tank :worried

 

[calistyle]

If I had a Radion setup, I'd put 2 T5s in front of them and 2 in the back.

That would be a great setup, not an issue with heat, and greatly help with shadowing.

 

[Wazzel]

I'm run the fixture itself at 80% total, but the whites are only at 50% and the greens and reds at 20%. The blues and UV's are at 100% of the 80% total.

The regular G3 or pro? If it is the regular G3 you are getting about 60% of the total power of the fixture, not 80%. I think you need to turn things up, slowly.

 

[b7fig]

T5

T5

If I had a Radion setup, I'd put 2 T5s in front of them and 2 in the back.

That would be a great setup, not an issue with heat, and greatly help with shadowing.

Hmm, never really thought about going that route. That also may be a good option. Any body sale a Nice looking T5 fixture that is 6' long that is only two bulbs wide? The three radion pendants look nice and want to keep a clean look (no canopy)