I’m a old metal halide guy. Kessel 500x ?

[Harold999]

I have to ask…. are those gimmicks important for the reef or the reefer?

You mean sunrise/sunset? I think your fish appreciate it, just like us. Better for the eyes to adjust to complete darkness and bright light.

 

[Water Dog]

You mean sunrise/sunset? I think your fish appreciate it, just like us. Better for the eyes to adjust to complete darkness and bright light.

Exactly my point, sunrise/sunset, thunderstorms, etc…. it’s more for us (the reefer), not necessarily for our corals (the reef)...and we’re certainly not buying our lights to keep fish.

 

[MartinM]

Giesemann halide fixtures if you want MH

 

[rtparty]

You mean sunrise/sunset? I think your fish appreciate it, just like us. Better for the eyes to adjust to complete darkness and bright light.

Sure, if your tank is in a completely dark room with no other ambient light.

My room has a window in it and the natural ambient light alone avoids your situation. I actually love letting the sun hit my tank for as long as it can.

But again, an LED bar negates the whole argument.

 

[jda]

Has anybody who talks about this ever used a MH? Mine take like 3-5 minutes to fully illuminate. They start from nothing.

I have fish older than some of my kids who are in college - none of them ever complained in over eighteen years.

I though that the whole debate about "better for the corals and fish to ramp up" was long gone like electrical savings and buying fixtures for a lifetime. This is purely for the reefer, which is very important to some and should be considered if it is important to you.

 

[Freenow54]

Has anybody who talks about this ever used a MH? Mine take like 3-5 minutes to fully illuminate. They start from nothing.

I have fish older than some of my kids who are in college - none of them ever complained in over eighteen years.

I though that the whole debate about "better for the corals and fish to ramp up" was long gone like electrical savings and buying fixtures for a lifetime. This is purely for the reefer, which is very important to some and should be considered if it is important to you.

We used to use coleman lights in our camp up north sure was before MH. I loved them as you can turn off the fuel and it glows still, giving you enough time to get into your sack. If your children are in collage no wonder you cant afford LED lol

 

[jda]

Multiples in college. Make no mistake about it, if LED were better for the corals, better on my wallet or better running, I would change. I would need 24 Radion XR30s to replace my 10x MH with the same coverage and intensity - with a few for backups. Running costs would be a wash, if not slightly more with the LEDs. Bulb costs are still cheaper than replacing 24-26 panels every 5 years (reasonable). I can easily manage the heat with fans if necessary, but I mostly love it - I live in Colorado where not only is is cold sometimes, the super low humidity makes for a lot of evaporative cooling. My heater bill is about 3x my lighting bill. I would spend that $20,000 on those panels if it was worth it, but it is not. I might be starting a FW planted tank soon and might use some LEDs on that since it make sense.

For me, nothing beats reflectors and MH for larger tanks. If I had a nano, probably a panel of some sort. In the middle, maybe a 6 or 8 bulb T5.

 

[i_am_mclovin]

If you like MH don’t get Kessil. I speak from experience.

 

[Jekyl]

The usual metal halide lover comments who forget to mention that they don't have sunrise/sunset and can't change spectrum during the day and still claim it's the best.

This is for your benefit, not the coral.

 

[Harold999]

This is for your benefit, not the coral.

There are other inhabitants in the tank who prefer a smooth day/night transition.
Sure you can add led for that, but i thought metal halide lovers hate led.

 

[Jekyl]

There are other inhabitants in the tank who prefer a smooth day/night transition.

Proof?

 

[Kfactor]

both i run mh and kessil a 360x's and love it . i use the kessils for sunrise and sunset and the mh for the 4 hour peak i run 9 hour cycle

 

[Harold999]

Proof?

I think that fish feel less stress if they know darkness is coming instead of hop, dark.
But i can't ask them so i'm not sure, just imagination.

Personally i also prefer to wake up slowly and not under bright sunlight.

 

[Jekyl]

I think that fish feel less stress if they know darkness is coming instead of hop, dark.
But i can't ask them so i'm not sure, just imagination.

Someone already posted in here saying they have fish older than their kids without any type of ramping. Also know that the person with the oldest tank here and fish over 20 years old doesn't use any ramping feature. It's not needed.

 

[Reefing102]

I see a lot of interesting claims. I run metal halide with pop bloom LED bars. I agree it seem some comment have never run halide before. Now I can’t comment on a lot of the LED claims, but halide does have a short ramping period as it warms

 

[biecacka]

plus "i think" is NOT proof.....
and as stated, the halides go from off to on but take a few minutes to get to full strength so there is your "sun up" that is so important.
why there is no doubt it is more beneficial for us, without getting verification from the fish then it is only a matter of your opinion. However, if you can get your fish to talk to you about there likes......you are on a gold mine buddy!!!! And could you ask mine a few questions for me?

corey

 

[flyfisher2]

What are the dimensions? I’m running the 360x, and I’m to a Metal Halide fan, and believe that kessils is as close to MH as you can get in the shimmer effect you get from MH, and intensity also. You may need two 500x
Or go all in on a AP9X

Agree that the Kessil give a more MH look. I run Ecotech Gen5 and Kessil Ap9X side by side.
Like them both for different reasons.
The Ecotech lights are softer, relaxing, blue, pastel type in my opinion.
The Kessils and their shimmer are alive and bright. The white light is very Sun like if that makes sense. If you’ve snorkeled in the Caribbean I think you’ll relate to what I’m saying.
I

 

[minus9]

If you want all LED or mostly LED, then you'll need double, if not triple the lights to equal the same output from MH, period. @jda is right, it simply doesn't add up savings-wise. I love Kessil's because they remind me of MH, but no current LED can replace MH at this time. My current tank (which I'm resetting) is powered by 6 360x's and 3 Orphek OR2 blue plus bars and I still get shading on my sps. All of these lights are over a 36x36x16 footprint. 9 fixtures over a 90g tank and I still have shading. I hate the flat look of just T5's or LED panel style fixtures, as I love contrast (like a natural reef), so a hybrid setup is necessary. I'm going back to halides and I'll be using a hybrid setup of 2 Reef Brite pendants (250w/14k) and 4 360x's in the corners pointed towards the center. If the Kessil's don't give me the coverage I need, then I'll flip them out for some LED bars, either Orphek or the AliE custom bars? The great thing about doing a hybrid setup is the ability to have dusk/dawn (which is completely unnecessary) with the Kessil's and only run the halides for 4 to 6hrs a day. And, I'll still use less energy with the halide/hybrid setup than the all LED setup.
I will always use Kessil's over my tanks, I love the spectrum (I run them on the whiter side), I actually love the shimmer and the fact that I can add a lens and change their mounting height, etc... But, the con is shading. I hate the blue look that a lot of reefers use, but I do enjoy the dawn/dusk ramp time which highlights a lot of colors. I only need an hour or so of that time for viewing.
To the OP, I think 2 500x's mounted high with the 55 degree lenses with a few LED bars mounted at the same height would take you a long way with coverage and power. But don't rule out MH, because there are options out there that will give you want you need. Halides at the right power only need to be on for 4 to 6hrs and the rest of the time you can use whatever lights you want.

 

[Bpb]

It’s been mentioned before, but some of you talk of the importance of ramping to not shock the fish? Metal halide bulbs naturally ramp. They fire up and are about as bright as most nice leds fire up on 1-2% power. And it takes at least a full minute or two to gently reach full strength. It’s not pitch black then blinding in an instant

 

[Ben Pedersen]

In my oppinion... MH are the best.. Best light quality, most efficent, etc.. However, LEDs are more convenent. . I use LEDs becuase I don't want to change the MH bulbs every 9 - 12 months and I personally like to control the spectrum during the light cycle. I also like ramping up and down for sunrise and sunset (not required for coral or fish to be happy).

You can grow all types of coral successfully with either. So it comes down to a personal choice.