I went back to Metal Halide

[snake1]

I went with Leds years ago and never looked back I recently got the nerve to throw a metal halide on my tank and I'm glad I did so now I'm running
1) 250 watt Phoenix 14k
2) diy led blues and uv's panels I built (20) royal blue 3watts chips , (18) uv 3 watts chips ,(2) pink 3watt chips
2) 48" ati blue plus t5s
2) 48" ati pure actinic
I'm hoping for better growth and better color ..
I used to run
Two reef breeders knock off led setups I built myself by using their color layouts and a mix of my own...whites...blues...uv...limes...pinks...greens...reds...
2) 48" ati blue plus
1) 48" ati purple plus
1) 48" ati coral plus
..I had great growth with the old setup but you can't beat the shimmer of the metal halide and proven growth and now the color of the tank is the best I have ever seen it ...only time will tell to see what happens.
Thanks Roger for the halide bulb and your help with bulb layout.

 

[laserjim]

Looks good, Good luck buddy.

 

[snake1]

Looks good, Good luck buddy.

Thanks Jim .
...the only thing that's gonna hurt is maybe the power bill...Will see

 

[bmullikin1]

Now thats a all around hybrid, let us know how it works out for you, whats your lighting schedule.

 

[snake1]

Now thats a all around hybrid, let us know how it works out for you, whats your lighting schedule.

Thanks Sam ...
I'm starting out only 4 hours a day with the metal halide and the same with the t5s but the Leds are on most of the day like they were before ....led blues on at 10 am off at 10 pm
UV Leds on at 11am off at 9 pm ...and the t5s and metal halide on at 2pm off at 6pm ...I will increase this just watching tank temp and any kind of bloom or algae increase taking it slow at first....I also have the moon light controller that's spot on with the lunar cycle that's pretty cool and four white Leds

 

[Webmanny]

Hey Snake,

Nice looking tank. How about temp? My only concern is that right now we are starting winter here in FL and it is fairly easy and cheap to keep the house at 70 F, but what about summer time?

Have you noticed any swings in temp so far?

 

[snake1]

Hey Snake,

Nice looking tank. How about temp? My only concern is that right now we are starting winter here in FL and it is fairly easy and cheap to keep the house at 70 F, but what about summer time?

Have you noticed any swings in temp so far?

It has only been one day of 4 hrs with the halide on and the temp was not to bad my fan was able to pick up the load and the fixture is at least 10" above the water and plenty of fans in the fixture to keep the air circulating so far so good ..but that's not a full day yet I'm thinking around 6 hrs of run time in the end for the halide ....

 

[janes_mw]

pretty much hard to beat Halides! If not for the heat an power, there would be no question on my tanks. You have an awesome combo for sure!!

 

[Nwest]

man looks killer!!!! Need to come see it in person again

 

[snake1]

pretty much hard to beat Halides! If not for the heat an power, there would be no question on my tanks. You have an awesome combo for sure!!

Thanks Mike

man looks killer!!!! Need to come see it in person again

Thanks Nate

 

[rogergolf66]

I wouldn't add any more time to the halide. 4hrs is plenty. I would slowly increase the time on the t5 instead. max I normally run halides is 6hrs but you have a lot of other light there I would say 4 is good. I would max out the t5 at 6 hrs jmo good luck.

 

[snake1]

I wouldn't add any more time to the halide. 4hrs is plenty. I would slowly increase the time on the t5 instead. max I normally run halides is 6hrs but you have a lot of other light there I would say 4 is good. I would max out the t5 at 6 hrs jmo good luck.

Ok thanks for the info and help again ....it's probably better that way at 4hrs, less heat, less on the power bill, longer bulb life ...Thanks again Roger

 

[snake1]

In just the few days I have noticed the corals are fatter more filled out and a good 30 to 40% of them are kinda changing color in a good way ..like a tanish stag turning green and some green acro I had green forever is kinda multi color now ...incredible hulk is more florescent ...and all polyp extension is very good....so far I'm liking going back to metal halide

 

[asbauto]

Hey Snake I have also went back with a halide to supplement my leds. I have notice over the past few months my anemones and some corals have not been their normal self . I was thinking of changing around and playing with the optics but instead I added a 250 radium to the mix and within a few days everything was going back to normal. Now I'm thinking of going back completely to halide and T5

 

[snake1]

Hey Snake I have also went back with a halide to supplement my leds. I have notice over the past few months my anemones and some corals have not been their normal self . I was thinking of changing around and playing with the optics but instead I added a 250 radium to the mix and within a few days everything was going back to normal. Now I'm thinking of going back completely to halide and T5

I'm still a fan of the blue led pop for sure and I'm going to keep them and the uv but it's crazy how the white Leds would fully light my tank and then the metal halide gets light to the bottom to, but it kinda cones outward because of a single bulb but everything in the tank is puffing up even my war coral on the sand bed is full and fatter then when I had just white Leds

 

[asbauto]

I think the complete spectrum from the halide is something that leds have came close to replicating but are lacking some part. maybe if I would have spent the 3k on high end leds it maybe different but I also see some of those people starting to supplement with T5. Also at 700 a piece for radion pro x 4 units = a bunch of bulbs and electricity for halides

 

[snake1]

I think the complete spectrum from the halide is something that leds have came close to replicating but are lacking some part. maybe if I would have spent the 3k on high end leds it maybe different but I also see some of those people starting to supplement with T5. Also at 700 a piece for radion pro x 4 units = a bunch of bulbs and electricity for halides

I agree ...the only thing I'm concerned with is the future of metal halide I'm an electrician and everyday it's less and less incandescent bulbs and metal halide and more led ...even the compact florescent cfl/pigtail bulbs and standard florescent will be gone soon to ,to much mercury is the word on the street..haha..T12s are gone now only t8 and t5.....I know they claim the mercury factor and high wattage use is mainly why it's a dying breed...so I wonder how long the metal halide bulb companies will keep supplying bulbs ,I hope for awhile .

 

[bwhit1406]

I just switched back to using Halides, at least partially on my new tank. Excited to see what kind of growth i get.

 

[snake1]

I just switched back to using Halides, at least partially on my new tank. Excited to see what kind of growth i get.

So far I'm very happy with the corals ,some of them have changed color to a different tint which is pretty cool ...I'm on board so far with metal halide.... your new tank looks good BTW I was just reading your thread

 

[bwhit1406]

Thanks! You will have to post some progress pictures