Am I really considering this? Leaving LED!!

[reefingaz]

Ok so I need some suggestions here before I dive into making changes. I have a Oceanic 144 half circle tank that is about 30” deep. I have at the moment 1- AP700 Kessil, 1- Aquatic Life 36” t5 running all 4 bulbs blue plus. Also have 2 kessil 160’s for the back corners of the curved glass for spread. Things look good and corals are happy. Been this way for about 6 years. No need to change right??
OK so dilemma time I wanted to add more pop and spread so I added a 36” Reefbrite XHO that I got a deal on a used one so I added that to the aquatic life. My tank is now loaded with led lights.
So fast forward to this week. While looking for my other tank for a couple 15” reefbrites to add to my smaller 25gal lagoon with a Kessil 360x light, I found the deal of a lifetime from a local guy not far from my house. Well last night I picked up the following
4- Reefbrites 250w MH with new 20k bulbs and each fixture has 2- 15” Reefbrites XHO on the pendant. So I got 4- MH and qty 8- 15” Reefbrites (was only looking for 2) and it Also included 4 ballast for the MH. This total package was SWEET and I was not even looking for MH and have never run MH. Everything is LIKE NEW and works amazing.
So my question is this, do I dare take down my ap700 and t5 hybrid and change my tank to the following:
2- 250w MH with 20k bulbs
1- 36” Reefbrites XHO I already had
4- 15” Reefbrites that would be mounted in the 2 MH pendants.
(would still have 2 additional leftover MH not being used)
I live in Phx so summer heat but I do keep my house pretty chilly all year and i do run a chiller as well. I keep the tank at 78 all year. What do you guys think? Why fix what is not broken with the Kessil or am I missing out on MH? My corals are all happy so why disturb or will this take my tank to a new level? I have good growth (no sps) and colors so I’m not sure what to do!
My other option is keep the large tank as is and on my 25g 24”x24” lagoon I take off the 360x and replace with 1- MH pendant and 2-15” reefbrites and run this baby with massive amount of lights?? Here are pics of my current tank with all led and pic of the amazing deal (almost free) I got.
Or so I leave all my tanks led and just use the 15” Reefbrites for additional spread and get rid of the MH pendants? Thanks In advance for suggestions.
Oh not that is matters but if you wonder Why did he buy everything when He was not looking for Mh??
I paid less for this package than the 2-15” reefbrites would have cost me new. It was too good of a deal to pass up.

 

[Koh23]

Well, judging by the picture, tank look great. I like this deep, vibrant colors, wish that my light is able to produce anything near this....

Corals seems happy, no advice or wise words for you, but, if my tank look like this, i would not touch my lights....

 

[reefingaz]

Well, judging by the picture, tank look great. I like this deep, vibrant colors, wish that my light is able to produce anything near this....

Corals seems happy, no advice or wise words for you, but, if my tank look like this, i would not touch my lights....

Thanks for the advice. I might just use one pendant on a smaller tank as a “test subject” of sorts to compare growth and colors to my large tank and leave the large tank as is.

 

[Octocat]

Lol, I almost bought that setup-- seemed like a really good deal. But, I have too much extra gear from my own tank and no place to store it. I ran halides over my tank for the first year and did need a chiller. I did use a fan too, but every situation is different. When I moved onto leds (then t5s!) I removed the chiller.

 

[reefingaz]

Lol, I almost bought that setup-- seemed like a really good deal. But, I have too much extra gear from my own tank and no place to store it. I ran halides over my tank for the first year and did need a chiller. I did use a fan too, but every situation is different. When I moved onto leds (then t5s!) I removed the chiller.

LOL small world, it really was an amazing deal. Super nice guy the seller, with an amazing tank. I just don’t know if I stick with LED and save the Mh for future use or test this baby out and see what it’s all about!

 

[Octocat]

I think most people running halides these days are keeping light loving species like acros. For a LPS dominant tank I'd probably stick with the leds unless you're trying to maximize growth. I found that a lot of LPS just didn't look as good under halides. But shouldn't be hard to place one over your tank to see how it looks.

Your tank looks great, BTW. I wouldn't change anything on that system! Maybe start an acro dominant tank instead

 

[reefingaz]

I think most people running halides these days are keeping light loving species like acros. For a LPS dominant tank I'd probably stick with the leds unless you're trying to maximize growth. I found that a lot of LPS just didn't look as good under halides. But shouldn't be hard to place one over your tank to see how it looks.

Your tank looks great, BTW. I wouldn't change anything on that system! Maybe start an acro dominant tank instead

I will tell my wife you guided me to add yet ANOTHER tank “i don’t need” Lol
Actually that might be the answer you suggested. I could set up an SPS dominant tank and use two of these pendants. I did rig one on top of my large tank last night to test and my wife said WOW I love the bright color you can Actually see your corals, I hate all the blue on LED”
She loved the whiteness of 20k

 

[reefingaz]

I saw a thread online a guy set up a clam tank with only Mh and it’s thriving.
Maybe that’s the tank to do and keep a couple of these MH pendants with the reefbrites and load up clams???

 

[RedoubtReef]

I ditched my Radion's after more than a decade and I'm going back to halide/T-5 combo. My vote would be skip the LED's all together.