Are MH lights going extinct?

[DSC reef]

The tank in person is much brighter than the pic. I really like the look of all blue +

 

[reefwiser]

20k 400 watt and Reefbrites

 

[DSC reef]

That's a gigantic Duncan! Beautiful tank.

 

[greg1786]

Awesome photos everyone keep em,coming! DSC I love the bare bottom! The monti entrusting the glass bottom is so awesome. I wanted to run BB in my 125 this time around but my wife really wanted white sand so I obliged her. I had black sand previously and I swore I'd go BB in my next tank but my wife enjoys the tank too so I let her chose.

@jkapit - that trachy is beautiful bud nice work!! I love brain corals mine weren't quite as lovely as yours but had a few in my old setup.

 

[greg1786]

Oh! I almost forgot....I added my first corals the new set up yesterday!! A ponape birdsnest...and my absolute all time fav coral, the Oregon Tort! IMHO theres no match for that deep rich blue color and blue polyps under some MH!!!! The tank has been up and running for about 75 days now. I wasnt planning to add coral quite yet my only livestock is snails, some brittle stars, a MASSIVE pod population, and 2 peppermint shrimp I got to take care of a few aiptasia that hitchiked on some LR I bought to seed the tank. After the shrimp knocked out the aiptasia I moved them to the sump. Anyhow I came across a legit Oregon Tort which many of you know is not the easiest thing to do and I couldnt pass it up. I had one in my old set up I remember driving 2.5 hours to a fellow reefers house in another state to get it I was so excited I had been searching for one for a LONG time. Anyhow here are the new additions!

 

[greg1786]

This may need to be a topic for a seperate thread but first I'm gonna post it here. I figured with all the MH users here maybe one or more of you could offer some insight for me. I want to retrofit some t5ho bulbs and a few 80mm computer fans into my halide fixture. I already know what I plan to do for the t5s as I've done this before, so my questions are about the fans. I've never retrofit one into a fixture before. I plan to put 2 fans on the right end blowing across the inside of the fixture and 2 more on the left side facing outward to pull the air being blown across out the other side. What I'm unsure of is how I am going to wire them. Ideally I'd like them to be hardwired into the fixture. I've seen many fans already equipped with a power cord and I've seen people wire a cell phone charger onto the fan and simply plug it into an outlet but I already have enough cords and do not want more if at all possible. So, if I can hardwire them into the fixture how do I do it? Can I wire them directly to a ballast so that when the lights power on so do the fans? Or do I need to tie them into the power cord for the MH or the T5s instead? Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide

 

[DSC reef]

Thanks for the compliment @greg1786. When we move again I'm gonna paint the underside of the tank white to get the sand look and reflection. Next build I'm going starboard. Corals look great and I agree about the deep blue on the tort. That birds nest is gonna be a looker, I kinda wish I didn't get rid our ponape colony. Should've listened to the wife

 

[greg1786]

@ DSC reef - painting the glass is a great idea ive never seen that before but love the idea. Ive never been a big fan of birdsnests but for some reason that yellow with pink tips has always attracted me so I decided this go round id get one. As far as "should've listened to the wife" goes....truest words ever spoken my friend!! When your young you always think you know best but in my experience once you get older and get married you realize really quick...99% of the time, the wife knows best

 

[jkapit]

This may need to be a topic for a seperate thread but first I'm gonna post it here. I figured with all the MH users here maybe one or more of you could offer some insight for me. I want to retrofit some t5ho bulbs and a few 80mm computer fans into my halide fixture. I already know what I plan to do for the t5s as I've done this before, so my questions are about the fans. I've never retrofit one into a fixture before. I plan to put 2 fans on the right end blowing across the inside of the fixture and 2 more on the left side facing outward to pull the air being blown across out the other side. What I'm unsure of is how I am going to wire them. Ideally I'd like them to be hardwired into the fixture. I've seen many fans already equipped with a power cord and I've seen people wire a cell phone charger onto the fan and simply plug it into an outlet but I already have enough cords and do not want more if at all possible. So, if I can hardwire them into the fixture how do I do it? Can I wire them directly to a ballast so that when the lights power on so do the fans? Or do I need to tie them into the power cord for the MH or the T5s instead? Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide

You certainly can add computer fans to a fixture. I replaced my noisey AC fans with next to silent DC fans, like you want one pushes air In And One pulls air out. Here are some pics...

The old fan..


New fan pulls air in..


Reversing it pulls air out..


The whole fixture...


I found the following fan to moves enough air to cool three 250W MH and 2 180 Watt VHO. These are also extremely quiet. You just need a 12volt power supply and wire them up. Since my fixture came wired with two noisey AC fans I just used the wires in place and made an adapter for the three prong plug to connect to a 12 volt power supply. I’ve been running these DC fans for many years with no issues. What is not shown is the glass lid which creates the tunnel effect to keep the air moving through the fixture. Lastly, I hav spring dust covers on the fan drawing air into the fixture which needs to be cleaned every few weeks. Since these fans move a lot of air the dust will quickly pile up In Your fixture.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

 

[ClintL]

I wanted to post this earlier but the thread was starting to take a negative turn. Since its back on track, id like to share my fixture. I have 3 Radions and 2 Hamilton 250s. Im really liking the combined effect.

 

[Breadman03]

Sweet rig! I've got a Hamilton 400 flanked by Radions. I've got a 150DD, so I had to angle the Radions inward to avoid light spill. Don’t mind the empty clam shell. It just didn’t acclimate, then my blenny moved in.

 

[Ztrain]

Just a fun fact. When I setup my first tank using metal halides in 2003 I actually had the DEA show up at my house asking to see them. I guess they are used to grow other things too, ha!

That's why halides won't disappear for a looooong time. There's many legal activities outside of reefing that use them. Now I could see maybe 20k and 14k bulbs going away but who knows. Only the manufactures can tell you that. From what's been said they don't seem too worried.

 

[Breadman03]

That's why halides won't disappear for a looooong time. There's many legal activities outside of reefing that use them. Now I could see maybe 20k and 14k bulbs going away but who knows. Only the manufactures can tell you that. From what's been said they don't seem too worried.

I stopped in a hydroponics warehouse when I went through Colorado Springs and there weren't any halide systems for sale. They were pushing LED as hard as the reefing scene.

 

[greg1786]

@ clintL and breadman03- Nice setups guys! Thats the first time I've seen radions combined with MH lights. Great idea! ClintL that lighting setup you have is a monster man how long have you been runing that mix? Id love to see a FTS and or some coral pictures. What spectrum do you run the radions and what spectrum are your Hamilton's?

@ Jkapit- thank you for the pictures and info on the fans. I'm gonna work on installing a couple this weekend if I can find some locally. Ill post some pics whenever I get around to the retrofitting of the bulbs and fans

 

[ClintL]

@ clintL and breadman03- Nice setups guys! Thats the first time I've seen radions combined with MH lights. Great idea! ClintL that lighting setup you have is a monster man how long have you been runing that mix? Id love to see a FTS and or some coral pictures. What spectrum do you run the radions and what spectrum are your Hamilton's?

@ Jkapit- thank you for the pictures and info on the fans. I'm gonna work on installing a couple this weekend if I can find some locally. Ill post some pics whenever I get around to the retrofitting of the bulbs and fans

Thanks, Ive had this tank setup using this light combo for a year and a half or so. The Radions start out pretty white early on and transition to a heavy blue by the end of the day, the halides have 20k bulbs but only come on for the peak of the day.

I need to take some newer pictures, these are a few weeks old and the halides were already off.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Love those islands of corals. Really nice tank.

 

[greg1786]

@ ClintL- tank looks great! You did a really nice job with the rockwork! Also, I love the mosaic tile backsplash you did behind the tank and light fixture that's a great idea I've never seen someone do that. I actually do residential remodeling for a living and I recently put a backsplash in a kitchen that looked very similar lol. I have two big windows behind my tank but after seeing your set up I wish I had a plain wall that I could install a tile backsplash on haha.