FOX-FACE fanboy….
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Why a Hydra 32?
Can I get some advice on lighting?
- Thread starter FOX-FACE fanboy….
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monkeysee1
Member
.....because, a 16 would be too week for a mixed reef in a cube your size. If you want SPS corals down the line you will need the 32 lights will that pierce all the way to the the bottom of the cube and/or your eventual breeder.......
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FOX-FACE fanboy….
New member
Why LEDs at all when I can get a halide fixture for less than $180 and 20 buck 250w 20k bulbs
I’m not saying don’t go halide, but a lot of people choose LED for heat reasons
FOX-FACE fanboy….
New member
How hard is it to manage the heat? I’m assuming You can just get away with a fan.
Depends on individual circumstance. For me a fan works fine, but I also keep my house at 73 with the AC and I peak about 81.4 or so recently. Some hotter climates, likely would get hotter, necessitating a chiller.
I live in the midwest and our summers get pretty hot and humid. That said, we keep the house between 68 (at night) and 72 (daytime) during the summer. That combined with my tank being in the basement, I don't even need to use a fan with my MH/LED (actinic) combination to keep temp levels stable. 40 breeder with (1) 175 watt 10K MH and (1) 36" actinic LED strip light.
alton
Well-known member
300DD with 3x250 MH, 2 x 100 BML LED, 1 - 160w Actinic VHO
180 with only 4 x 100 watt BML LEDS and added heater for winter.
During the winter MH's ran 8 hours, summer only 3
When I switched I waited for the great electrical bill savings, it never came. It seems my wife's cooking, clothes dryer and water heater draw much more power. With LEDS I still have heat issues in the summer July and August, plus have to now run a heater in the winter.
The pendants did a great job of keeping most of the heat out of the tank. The only difference was the clean look with LED's
180 with only 4 x 100 watt BML LEDS and added heater for winter.
During the winter MH's ran 8 hours, summer only 3
When I switched I waited for the great electrical bill savings, it never came. It seems my wife's cooking, clothes dryer and water heater draw much more power. With LEDS I still have heat issues in the summer July and August, plus have to now run a heater in the winter.
The pendants did a great job of keeping most of the heat out of the tank. The only difference was the clean look with LED's
FOX-FACE fanboy….
New member
Any VHO information
FOX-FACE fanboy….
New member
What is the par per bulb?
Old Newbie
New member
I love the look of the MH. I am looking to get back into the obsession after 9 years. I would gladly go with MH but I am surmising they dont make them any longer? Is there a problem getting the bulbs? When I had my 180 up I was running two 400w XM 20k bulbs. I love the color and shimmer. and my mixed reef corals grew well. What LED system would be closest to the XM 20k light?
Metal halide is still around just harder to find. The only new reflectors still in the game currently that I can think of are Geissman (a custom order direct from them (shipping is a killer I hear) but a fantastic looking and high quality light) and ReefBrite (more traditional looking but the fixture is designed to not get as “hot” to the touch). Otherwise you’re looking at used fixtures (not necessarily bad but may require cleaning, new bulbs, etc).
Bulbs are also still around. I believe the XM has been discontinued. However some vendors, such as Aquarium Specialty still carry Radium and other brands. A newer start up company, AquaBright Solutions - AQUA BRIGHT SOLUTIONS if I recall correctly is ran by Dave (and another person) from Hamilton and their bulbs should be the same as the former Hamilton bulbs.
As I mentioned in your other thread, I'm still running MH. For a while it was getting dicey to find bulbs and many of us (like me) hoarded them. I have enough to last me about 8 years. But, as Shane mentioned, you can still get bulbs from Aqua Bright and Aquarium Specialty.
If you decide to go MH, this thread should help. We've compiled a list of companies that supply them. Granted, the thread is several months old so, some of those companies may no longer have any stock.
This is my main complaint about LED, and also the answer to as why I'm using LED's, LOL.
the DT has 2 x Redsea 50w which seems perfect. I have a bit of a financial investment in that setup now so I'm hesitant to relearn MH and make a change. My smaller tanks have simple 30w amazon lights which I found to be too bright so I had to turn them down a bit, which left the overall lighting really lacking. My Redseas I think are $250ea new + the mounting arm ($50ea). I did get one second hand for $175 complete though.
I prefer LED for simplicity but it seems like MH is probably the "better" solution.
Unless you’re really blasting it, halides in my opinion don’t require much of an acclimation for corals (some probably disagree). However an important note is that many of “todays” corals only show their colors under the blue lighting of LED and are typically very drab under metal halide.
with your halides, are you able to simulate sunset/sunrise? with the app, mine will simulate cloudy days, solstice, etc (none of which I think is important) but I have to admit because the DT is in our living room I really do enjoy the sunset because in the evening it's sorta nice to chill and watch the tank put itself to bed.
No, you can't stimulate sunrise/sunset with halides.
Years ago (in the 1990s on my 200) I ran (3) 250 watt Iwasaki 6500K, (2) 400 watt Radium 20K and 2 VHO Actinics. At first, I had the actinics come on, then the Radium and finally the Iwasakis. They would go off in the opposite order. This *kinda* ramped up the sunrise sunset affect but not perfectly.
Then, I discovered a controller by the now defunct Digital Oceans company called the Light-Wave. It had outlets for lights, powerheads and an incandescent moonlight. I used it, in conjunction with an IceCast dimmer for the VHOs. So, the actinics would slowly increase in intensity and, once they were fully on, the Radiums would come on and after a while the Iwasakis. Back then this was the closest we could get to simulating sunrise/sunset with MH and VHO.
Another cool thing about the Light-Wave was that it was automatically programmed to simulate the lunar cycle using an incandescent bulb (I used regular blue party bulbs). They would increase/decrease in intensity throughout the month.
Lastly, the Light-Wave would simulate storms by turning off certain bulbs to simulate cloud cover and also increase frequency of the powerheads switching on/off.
Years ago (in the 1990s on my 200) I ran (3) 250 watt Iwasaki 6500K, (2) 400 watt Radium 20K and 2 VHO Actinics. At first, I had the actinics come on, then the Radium and finally the Iwasakis. They would go off in the opposite order. This *kinda* ramped up the sunrise sunset affect but not perfectly.
Then, I discovered a controller by the now defunct Digital Oceans company called the Light-Wave. It had outlets for lights, powerheads and an incandescent moonlight. I used it, in conjunction with an IceCast dimmer for the VHOs. So, the actinics would slowly increase in intensity and, once they were fully on, the Radiums would come on and after a while the Iwasakis. Back then this was the closest we could get to simulating sunrise/sunset with MH and VHO.
Another cool thing about the Light-Wave was that it was automatically programmed to simulate the lunar cycle using an incandescent bulb (I used regular blue party bulbs). They would increase/decrease in intensity throughout the month.
Lastly, the Light-Wave would simulate storms by turning off certain bulbs to simulate cloud cover and also increase frequency of the powerheads switching on/off.
oh now that's cool! my current powerhead is just static "on" but this would be a neat setup!
next step, use an app to tie it into your real local weather! although in my case here in the PNW it means my corals won't see sun from about right now until next 4th of july
