48" Metal Halide From eBay

[manuel732]

What do you guys think about this lighting fixture and what type of corals can I keep with it. Pls help since I have 3 kids my budget is very tight..

 

[DereksReef77]

You can grow everything with metal halides. But the problem I had with them is the heat they put off plus the monthly bill you will be paying to burn them. I personally am a t5 guy so maybe some others will chime in who use metal halides still.

 

[brownsalt92]

I have the halide t5 combo from ebay grows sps amazingly no complaints now

Picture is only t5 running

 

[Meccaman96]

I have this exact one. Works fine. And yes puts off lots of heat. Just keep a log of how many months they are used and change bulbs accordingly.

 

[manuel732]

@Meccaman69

How often do you change your bulbs? And how many hours do you leave your light on everyday

 

[manuel732]

@brownsalt92 what kind of t5 do you have, can you recommend one that's not to expensive

 

[Elegance Coral]

What size tank is this going on?

 

[manuel732]

75 gallon tank @Elegance Coral

 

[Rick.45cal]

Folks back in the day would change bulbs yearly, I dunno if that is still pertinant these days with MH or not.

 

[Nicolas_Brown]

I run metal halides, my last set of bulbs I ran 3 years. No color shift or spectrum shift. I still grew sps so I think mostly there is a misconceptions about how long they last.

 

[Elegance Coral]

Two 150W bulbs would light a 75. Some areas may not be bright enough for some of the high light demanding corals, like many SPS. Should be fine for most LPS and softies.