ADVICE on Metal Halide, Thinking of switching from LED's

[fishmommy]

Sorry if the K question was stupid....I thought I had seen 14000k Radium bulbs. I did just talk to Hamilton and they answered all my questions. Cebu Sun here I come!

 

[seargentslice]

Sorry if the K question was stupid....I thought I had seen 14000k Radium bulbs. I did just talk to Hamilton and they answered all my questions. Cebu Sun here I come!

Gratz :whoo:

 

[seargentslice]

ok lot of good info, thanks guys. I think right now I'm running my whites at 20% only. From a lot of reading I'm not sure my photoperiod + intensity is optimal. So right now my plan is to raise that intensity and see how the corals respond. My friend had best results when his LED's were at 80%. Here is my tank today and the plan is to raise my LED's 1% a week to around 50% then see how everything responds.

Please le me know if you cant see the video!

http://vid921.photobucket.com/album...3-4092-437D-BE1C-9CE4810FA263_zpsok9yf4f5.mp4

I was able to view via taptalk your nems are awesome!!!

 

[Alabamareef]

Rich is this your tank. If so WOW looks amazing. Love the ORA shortcake, looks much better than mine.

400w radiums in diamond style reflectors, running on lumatek adjustable electronic ballasts (gives option of using 250's as well)

You can see what this looks like here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/110930925@N05/

 

[Alabamareef]

thanks for the stats but I'm new to MH and don't know what they mean. Do you think the vertex 400w is a good choice with a radiums is a good choice?

Here are the stats

Product Review: New Electronic Ballasts - Lumatek, Galaxy and Vertex ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[Alabamareef]

Thanks, thats everyones response. I'd rather have GREAT SPS color, crayon color to be exact...lol

I was able to view via taptalk your nems are awesome!!!

 

[jdl513]

In my opinion 400w halides would be overkill for a 180 gallon display.
I would suggest looking into three good pendants with 250 watt bulbs.

As for spectrum it depends on your personal preference.
You will find that K values vary considerably based on the manufacturer.
Radium 20K's are not the same as Hamilton 20k's.

 

[Alabamareef]

Ok. I can get 175 or 400w ballast but for someone reason not 250w. Seems like everyone goes with the 250w and thats what I'll do... Thanks

In my opinion 400w halides would be overkill for a 180 gallon display.
I would suggest looking into three good pendants with 250 watt bulbs.

As for spectrum it depends on your personal preference.
You will find that K values vary considerably based on the manufacturer.
Radium 20K's are not the same as Hamilton 20k's.

 

[woochi]

T-off return , didn't notice any drop in flow, working great

 

[woochi]

Whoops , I thought I was posting to a gfo topic anyone know how to move my post?

 

[Alabamareef]

That's a huge reactor!

Whoops , I thought I was posting to a gfo topic anyone know how to move my post?

 

[jackson6745]

Rich is this your tank. If so WOW looks amazing. Love the ORA shortcake, looks much better than mine.

Yes it's my tank, thanks . My shortcake is wild, not ORA lineage.

 

[Alabamareef]

Ok so after reading this is what I'm thinking about going with, provided after turning up my LED's I don't get desired results.
So this will be a 3 MH fixture with T5 and LED's.
Lumen Bright Reflectors, SE Large Pendant.
lumatek 400w dimmable ballast
20k Radium, Mogol bulbs
Tunze Aquawind Fans
Hamilton Aruba T5 Retrofit with LED's
New Canopy. I plan to have the canopy at 20 inches high and cut holes for the reflectors so they are outside the canopy. I've seen some others done like this and done right it really looks good and it will give the light about 18 inchec to the water surface.
It's something I'll have to buy a piece at a time but I'm hoping this time next year I've got it together and ready to use. Maybe this summer, who knows......