Halide Q & A

Between two MH fixtures for new tank

Between two MH fixtures for new tank

I'm building a 90g room divider reef in my basement and have pretty much decided to go MH. I've found two pretty affordable fixtures on eBay (around $300), but am still skeptical. One is 2 x 250w 14k MH with 4 T5 Actinics and the other is 2 x 250w MH with 4 PCs. Is there a big difference? Are there any MH fixture brands to avoid? Any advice would be appreciated! Oh yeah- plan on keeping soft corals, LPS and clams....maybe SPS in the future...want to keep my options open.
 
pjsonnentag said:
I'm building a 90g room divider reef in my basement and have pretty much decided to go MH. I've found two pretty affordable fixtures on eBay (around $300), but am still skeptical. One is 2 x 250w 14k MH with 4 T5 Actinics and the other is 2 x 250w MH with 4 PCs. Is there a big difference? Are there any MH fixture brands to avoid? Any advice would be appreciated! Oh yeah- plan on keeping soft corals, LPS and clams....maybe SPS in the future...want to keep my options open.
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the biggest thing on the MH are the ballast and buld, most fixtures are going to have crap bulbs as they are the cheapest as for the ballast thats hard to say with out knowing the name on it.
as for t5 vs pc the pc are more $ to repalce and are on the way out due to t5s. but some ppl think that you get more reaction off antic pc than t5s how ever with th t5 you can mix antics to give you the color you want your tank to be.

hope this helps
 
big cats said:
I need some help deciding on a light for my new tank..its a 24x24x20 cube, and I plan on mainly an LPS and softie tank..with maybe a few SPS in there..would a MH and T5 combo be overkill for that tank? Or would it be alright? I really want to try a MH out, just because I've never used one before and would like to. What do you guys think?
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on a tank that size for what you want i would stick with your leds how ever if you want to try MH for what you want to grow try a 150 or 175 MH with t-5 antics but your going to have more heat to deal with and its going to run more $ in power

just my $.02
 
Question about lighting a 54 corner tank.

Question about lighting a 54 corner tank.

I am starting a 54 gallon mixed reef tank and want to be able to keep any coral. Not sure what light I should have.
 
cas1069 said:
on a tank that size for what you want i would stick with your leds how ever if you want to try MH for what you want to grow try a 150 or 175 MH with t-5 antics but your going to have more heat to deal with and its going to run more $ in power

just my $.02
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I'm not too concerned with heating issues, I can deal with those as they arise. and as far as $ in power goes; this is an expensive hobby as it is, a little extra $ for the lights isn't really my main concern at this point. The tank will most likely end up in a store for display purposes.

So for the K rating on the MH, would 20K be really brlue? or just slightly blue? Because I really don't like the look of white on corals. And on my T5's I was thinking of using ATI blue+ and ATI purple+ for some pop for the different colors of corals.

Does that sound good?
 
big cats said:
I'm not too concerned with heating issues, I can deal with those as they arise. and as far as $ in power goes; this is an expensive hobby as it is, a little extra $ for the lights isn't really my main concern at this point. The tank will most likely end up in a store for display purposes.

So for the K rating on the MH, would 20K be really brlue? or just slightly blue? Because I really don't like the look of white on corals. And on my T5's I was thinking of using ATI blue+ and ATI purple+ for some pop for the different colors of corals.

Does that sound good?
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20k is "blue" but i don't think its something that you see over anitcs but i like blue tanks and hate the yellow tea look of 10k
 
cas1069 said:
20k is "blue" but i don't think its something that you see over anitcs but i like blue tanks and hate the yellow tea look of 10k
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I'm with you there! So would a 14k be right in the middle of those two as far as color goes? A mix of blue and white? I will just have to go somewhere to check them out in person to see what I like I suppose.
 
big cats said:
I'm with you there! So would a 14k be right in the middle of those two as far as color goes? A mix of blue and white? I will just have to go somewhere to check them out in person to see what I like I suppose.
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i now use 14k and am getting good growth and nice colors. that being said i don't get as much growth as i would with a 10k and the color is not as good as they would be with a 20k but with the 14k its a nice mix of the two
 
Big cats, you won't go wrong with 14k 150watts. I like using Phoenix 14k de bulbs. I get good growth and great color.
 
Found some Current USA Metal halides. I love them. 2 - 3' (2) 250W bulbs 9 blue LEDs and 9 white LEDs for night lighting. They work great other than the water temp tries to get up over 82. I'm looking at chillers now.
 
sirreal63 said:
82 is nothing to worry about, keep it under 85 and you won't have issues.
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Cool. It got up to 84 the first day I had them but I got a couple of two liters and filled them with water to freeze and I just throw them in the sump every 4 hours or so. I have a chiller coming next week though so it won't be an issue for the summer.
 
will have halides over t5s anyday it is also the most penetrating of lights its expensive to change bulbs every 6 to 8 months but worth it
 
Unless you are over driving your bulbs, there is no reason to change them so soon. You can easily go beyond a year with a properly driven bulb. I usually go 14-16 months on a bulb. Over driving a bulb is different, but if you are not doing that, you are throwing money away.
 
sirreal63 said:
Unless you are over driving your bulbs, there is no reason to change them so soon. You can easily go beyond a year with a properly driven bulb. I usually go 14-16 months on a bulb. Over driving a bulb is different, but if you are not doing that, you are throwing money away.
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My understanding is that the bulb's color temperature changes and goes more towards yellow, which is why replacement in 9-12 months is recommended.

Have you found that this is not the case?
 
Yes but the shift is not as noticeable as you may think, and the shift does not stop growth. I would not take what MD says as gospel, they sell bulbs, the last thing they would do is tell you not to change them, they have a monetary stake in the advice they give, that rarely equates to solid advice. A stand up company they are, but there is no testing that I have seen that requires a change in MH bulbs so soon, unless they are being over driven.

One study by someone NOT selling bulbs indicates the opposite of the mythinformation that has been passed down over time.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/ac/index.php

As always look to your corals for the health of the tank, IME there is little reason to change a bulb driven correctly at anything less than a year. If the color shift is noticed, and it bothers you, then by all means change it but I have never noticed a major color shift and I have never had my corals respond poorly to a 14 month old bulb. You will notice a change in PAR and color initially when you change bulbs, as they do lose intensity but if you read the study above, this happens very early in the bulbs life and remains fairly constant after that.

I have doing the extended change routine since that article came out in 2007 and have not had any issues from doing so. Bad information morphs from good information, and probably this came from people who were running 400 watt Radiums on HQI spec ballasts, which severely over drives them, as the 400 watt Radium is actually designed to be run at 360 watts. For those people a change at the 6-9 month mark is warranted and recommended, and it is possible from that came the notion that all MH bulbs needed to be changed at no more than a year. I don't really know, but I do know that I have never had an issue with running my bulbs at the 14-16 month mark. Honestly they could probably go longer but I like to mess with my equipment. :-)
 
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