I've got a new halide topic for ya!!!

[duke4130]

So I was a long time user of the Ecotech Radion. I had the G1 when they first came out and upgraded through the generations as time went on. A little while back I decided to turn my system into an SPS dominant system and decided to go with a Giesemann Infinity fixture with a 250w DE Halide and 4 t5's. At first I burned a couple of corals and lost some other which is expected when changing lights but then after some fine tuning everything was looking good. There were a few things that were driving me nuts that I couldn't figure out

#1. Color was ok but I know it could have been better
#2. Growth wasn't there----- This was a biggie!!!
#3. Algae outbreak including bubble algae and cyano


I am running a XM 20k bulb. After speaking with a good friend that studied marine biology I ended up with the following ATI bulbs for supplementation to the halide

1 True Actinic
2 Blue Plus
1 Coral Plus

Color temperature is great and I couldn't be more pleased with the overall look of the system, but I need to figure out 3 problems stated above.

Last night I was talking to a good buddy of mine that has been in the reefing game for 15+ years and i was talking to him about these issues. He said with the way my system is set up and the parameters i keep that everything should be rocking. The understanding is that Halides are supposed to the best for growth for SPS until he asked me what bulb I am running. I told him the 20k XM Radium, he quickly replied that XM makes a radion not a radium.... He said Radium doesn't make a 250w DE 20k bulb. After some quick research he was right!!!! He explained to me that the XM bulbs are actually more for warehouse lighting than reef lighting..... Well that seems to be where all my problems are coming from is from a darn bulb..... I have always known that the Phoenix 14k is the choice for SPS guys so I asked for one. Well turns out they stopped making the 250w DE version of the phoenix hex arc bulbs..... I looked everywhere and couldn't find it... So I ended coming across the Giesemann Megachrome Coral 14.5k bulb and I bought it. It was the most expensive bulb i have seen to date but hopefully it works out well.

So I have a couple of questions for my fellow reefers

#1. Has anyone ever experienced the issues i stated above due to a new light
#2. What halide bulb are you running and how do you like it.
#3. Do you have experience with the Giesemann Halide bulb


Thanks
Kevin

 

[gablett]

I used to run metal halide, switched to led, had poor success and have now gone back to halides. I run 250 radium 20k moguls on luxcore 250-400 adjustable ballasts on the hqi setting. I had insane growth and color with halides and I'm hoping to get that back. Tank already looks much better. So my only experience with halide have been positive, no negative.

 

[diablomaster9045]

The Megachrome coral 14.5k is a par monster but its fairly white. You will want a lot of blue supplement to get it to the 20k color spectrum you like the look of. The XM 20k is a nice blue but the par output is sub-par compared to the phoenix or megachrome. I strongly recommend picking up a reef brite or 2 to mount on your fixture to get closer to that 20k color temp.

P.S. phoenix's should be coming back in June according to their rep on the phone. There was a huge uproar about them discontinuing the 250w DE bulb.

 

[duke4130]

The Megachrome coral 14.5k is a par monster but its fairly white. You will want a lot of blue supplement to get it to the 20k color spectrum you like the look of. The XM 20k is a nice blue but the par output is sub-par compared to the phoenix or megachrome. I strongly recommend picking up a reef brite or 2 to mount on your fixture to get closer to that 20k color temp.

P.S. phoenix's should be coming back in June according to their rep on the phone. There was a huge uproar about them discontinuing the 250w DE bulb.

Well i just a call from CoralVue that they don't actually have the any of the 250w DE bulbs in stock.... So it is back to drawing board.... I was planning on getting a couple of reefbrites for tank just haven't got around to doing it yet.... That is good news that they will be bringing back the phoenix

 

[diablomaster9045]

Well i just a call from CoralVue that they don't actually have the any of the 250w DE bulbs in stock.... So it is back to drawing board.... I was planning on getting a couple of reefbrites for tank just haven't got around to doing it yet.... That is good news that they will be bringing back the phoenix

Found some: 14.5 K MEGACHROME coral 250 Watt - DE | Premium Aquatics

 

[duke4130]

Found some: 14.5 K MEGACHROME coral 250 Watt - DE | Premium Aquatics

I saw that.... I am going to look around town at a couple LFS to see if they have them first..... Are you suggesting using another one or two actinic t5 for supplementation?

 

[diablomaster9045]

I saw that.... I am going to look around town at a couple LFS to see if they have them first..... Are you suggesting using another one or two actinic t5 for supplementation?

I would swap the coral plus over to a true actinic since you will be relying on the halides for growth. Once the phoenix's come back swap the actinic back to the coral plus since the phoenix are already fairly blue.

 

[duke4130]

Cool... Thanks for the advice... It is much appreciated!!!

 

[Pete polyp]

With your t5 choices the coral+ will wash out the blue and actinic pretty bad. With having halide and not starving for light (once you get the right bulbs) I would suggest ditching the coral plus for another blue+.

 

[duke4130]

With your t5 choices the coral+ will wash out the blue and actinic pretty bad. With having halide and not starving for light (once you get the right bulbs) I would suggest ditching the coral plus for another blue+.

So you are saying run another blue+ instead of another actinic? I just lucked out, my LFS had the last Phoenix 14k 250w DE bulb left on the planet!!! LOL.... With that being said you do you think is the best option for T5 bulbs then?

 

[Pete polyp]

What I'm meaning to say is the coral plus will wash out most of the blue and have somewhat of a white appearance.
Personally I would go for 3 blue plus and one actinic for supplementing the halide. The blue will wash out most of the actinic, but the actinic will still bring some color out. When the blue plus (20k) mixes with the halide (14k) you will get something in between those around 16k overall.

 

[camelcruiser]

That megachrome bulbs is alli used when I ran my halides and I tell you what they are expensive but you will not be disappointed. Those are by far my bulb of choice for any coral. Also Diablo has you on the right path they are pretty white so supplementing them is defiantly a must if you like a bluer look. I used ati blue plus I believe just for the hours I usually sat in the living room to supplement the mega chromed and loved the color and growth.

 

[puffer420]

I run 1 400 watt 20k radium, 2 250watt 14k hexarcs and supplement with 2 t5 giessman actinic plus. And love the color but still wish the corals popped more I'm sure if i run more t5 that might do it but don't want to waste the money would like to try a diy led actinic setup