Metal Halide and T5 Grow Corals Better Than LED and Cost Less

[A. grandis]

Aquarium Frontiers was a hard copy only as far as I know. Does anyone know if those issues are available online? As for this data, it has never been published.

Hard copies aren't available online as far as I know.
The best magazine ever! We were living during the golden times of reef keeping back then!

 

[oreo54]

I have tons of UV data, gathered with a UVP radiometer and sensors for UV-A (peak 365nm), UV-B (peak 320nm) and UV-C (254nm.) In fact the very first article I had published in Aquarium Frontiers back in the 90's was about UV.

UV-B non-existant past 16" from the bulb..
UV-A 200/1000000 =.0002W/M squared..at 17" from the bulb..

 

[A. grandis]

As for me, I've made as many contributions as I can on the metal halide/LED question. I'll probably start a thread on UV.

I really appreciate your posts here! Thanks again, Dana! Looking forward to the UV thread with the halide UV charts.

 

[A. grandis]

I asked Hamilton this directly
But I figured this is a metal halide related question on a metal halide thread so I’m comfortable with the derail.

I see Hamilton sells 175 watt mogul bulbs. The electronic ballast has 125 and 190 watt settings. Is it safe to use these bulbs on the electronic ballast given that they’ll either be over or under driven?

What is that electronic ballast?

 

[Dana Riddle]

Apogee Instruments has a new PAR meter that measures radiation at 340 - 1040nm. Pricey. I'll have to save my allowance for a while.

 

[Bpb]

What is that electronic ballast?

Hamilton 250 Watt Assembled Electronic Ballast - Dimmable (OPEN BOX ITEM)

 

[TerraFerma]

For what it's worth - the actinic T5 bulbs (ATI at least) provide a very nice "pop" on corals with a light that to me at least looks way better than blue LED's. . But you need a lot of them because they are relatively dim compared to blue leds. I had an 8 bulb ATI I played around with for a while. Running 4x actinic, 2x BP and 2xCP made everything pop in a way comparable to blue LED's. That said I get that not everyone has 8 bulbs to play with, bulbs cost money, and the T5 actinics appear dim and not useful to our eyes.

I now run 4 T5's on an Icecap and have a blue led bar for when I "need" pop. I don't like the color when the LED bar is on - doesn't look like the ocean to me - but I have it there for people that want to see what things they want to get look like under LED's. LED's basically being the term for "I only run a lot of blue light" nowadays.

With all that said I'm running one actinic on my 4 bulb setup and the difference is noticeable versus say running a blue plus in it's place.

 

[A. grandis]

Hamilton 250 Watt Assembled Electronic Ballast - Dimmable (OPEN BOX ITEM)

Oh, ok.. Well, I'm sure Hamilton said it is safe.

Edit:
Probably safer to use with Hamilton bulbs.

Edit:
Maybe one could use the 275W setting for Radium, if needed.

 

[Dana Riddle]

For what it's worth - the actinic T5 bulbs (ATI at least) provide a very nice "pop" on corals with a light that to me at least looks way better than blue LED's. . But you need a lot of them because they are relatively dim compared to blue leds. I had an 8 bulb ATI I played around with for a while. Running 4x actinic, 2x BP and 2xCP made everything pop in a way comparable to blue LED's. That said I get that not everyone has 8 bulbs to play with, bulbs cost money, and the T5 actinics appear dim and not useful to our eyes.

I now run 4 T5's on an Icecap and have a blue led bar for when I "need" pop. I don't like the color when the LED bar is on - doesn't look like the ocean to me - but I have it there for people that want to see what things they want to get look like under LED's. LED's basically being the term for "I only run a lot of blue light" nowadays.

With all that said I'm running one actinic on my 4 bulb setup and the difference is noticeable versus say running a blue plus in it's place.

Here's spectral data on URI Super Actinic and Actinic White fluorescent lamps, typical of many other brands. LEDs can produce many of the wavelengths seen in the chart. Depends upon the combination of LEDs, me thinks.

 

[A. grandis]

For what it's worth - the actinic T5 bulbs (ATI at least) provide a very nice "pop" on corals with a light that to me at least looks way better than blue LED's. . But you need a lot of them because they are relatively dim compared to blue leds. I had an 8 bulb ATI I played around with for a while. Running 4x actinic, 2x BP and 2xCP made everything pop in a way comparable to blue LED's. That said I get that not everyone has 8 bulbs to play with, bulbs cost money, and the T5 actinics appear dim and not useful to our eyes.

I now run 4 T5's on an Icecap and have a blue led bar for when I "need" pop. I don't like the color when the LED bar is on - doesn't look like the ocean to me - but I have it there for people that want to see what things they want to get look like under LED's. LED's basically being the term for "I only run a lot of blue light" nowadays.

With all that said I'm running one actinic on my 4 bulb setup and the difference is noticeable versus say running a blue plus in it's place.

The combination of ATI Blue Plus and ATI True Actinic in the combo will give a great spectrum contribution to any T5 mix.

 

[naterealbig]

Hello all! As some of you know - a MH fanboy here....

Starting a new build with 72"x48"x20" Glass Cages display.... My 48" Giesemann Spectra is not going to cut it.... Feel there is simply no MH equivalent for LED currently, perhaps with a single exception....

I'm in discussion stages with James @Orphek on the "new" Amazonas 960. Will need 2 fixtures to cover my SPS dominated display... fully controllable, fully customizable, single-point light source, UV-ish offering, with less heat added directly to the tank. Will cost about the same price as the 4x250w Halide retrofit Hamilton system + 6xOR120 bars i was planning initially.....

Would love to get everyone's thoughts on this option.....

.... or do i go with the Hamilton setup? I am building the system with sharp focus on reliability, and minimal maintenance...

For your reading pleasure....

Amazonas 320 Aquarium LED Lighting • Orphek

Orphek Amazonas 320 LED Light Fixtures are developed specifically for public aquariums and other venues displaying reef or freshwater aquariums.

orphek.com

 

[A. grandis]

Hello all! As some of you know - a MH fanboy here....

Starting a new build with 72"x48"x20" Glass Cages display.... My 48" Giesemann Spectra is not going to cut it.... Feel there is simply no MH equivalent for LED currently, perhaps with a single exception....

I'm in discussion stages with James @Orphek on the "new" Amazonas 960. Will need 2 fixtures to cover my SPS dominated display... fully controllable, fully customizable, single-point light source, UV-ish offering, with less heat added directly to the tank. Will cost about the same price as the 4x250w Halide retrofit Hamilton system + 6xOR120 bars i was planning initially.....

Would love to get everyone's thoughts on this option.....

.... or do i go with the Hamilton setup? I am building the system with sharp focus on reliability, and minimal maintenance...

For your reading pleasure....

Amazonas 320 Aquarium LED Lighting • Orphek

Orphek Amazonas 320 LED Light Fixtures are developed specifically for public aquariums and other venues displaying reef or freshwater aquariums.

orphek.com

Your best bet would be to open your own thread, so everyone would see and help you out.

 

[naterealbig]

Your best bet would be to open your own thread, so everyone would see and help you out.

I don't think so. I have the best audience here - hardcore MH fans (like me), and others that feel LED can fit the bill. I feel like the product may be a compromise between MH/LED actually, and is the only LED i have considered in years....

would love to hear your thoughts on the product @A. grandis

 

[Bpb]

Oh, ok.. Well, I'm sure Hamilton said it is safe.

Edit:
Probably safer to use with Hamilton bulbs.

Edit:
Maybe one could use the 275W setting for Radium, if needed.

Hamilton hasn’t replied yet to me. Just curious if anyone had any experience with this. I love the 10k look and in the future am considering an array of 3 pendants. 250 watt 20k on the outside, and 175 watt 10k on the middle bulb but was unsure if I could even do that on these ballasts.

Hamilton makes the 175 watt 10k bulbs and the ballast is obviously Hamilton also.

 

[A. grandis]

I don't think so. I have the best audience here - hardcore MH fans (like me), and others that feel LED can fit the bill. I feel like the product may be a compromise between MH/LED actually, and is the only LED i have considered in years....

would love to hear your thoughts on the product @A. grandis

Nate, Orphek is one of the best LEDs available in US today. Many halide lovers have said it would be the only LED they would try/change. You need to decide what you want. As we have been pointing out here both sides of the coin have different results. The UV from LEDs aren't as much as from halides. Halide lighting has it's own spectrum composition and properties, and could even be compared to other incandencent sources in other industries as "better" in many ways. Again, UV isn't everything to consider. Some halide lovers also love T5 and LEDs as we've seen, so...
Matter of preference? Matter of results? Cost?
You will see the results in your system only after you buy them and use yourself. That is the bottom line. And you may like it. And that is ok.
This is what I think.

 

[A. grandis]

Hamilton hasn’t replied yet to me. Just curious if anyone had any experience with this. I love the 10k look and in the future am considering an array of 3 pendants. 250 watt 20k on the outside, and 175 watt 10k on the middle bulb but was unsure if I could even do that on these ballasts.

Hamilton makes the 175 watt 10k bulbs and the ballast is obviously Hamilton also.

I didn't have experiences with dimmable halides yet. I did have with T5s.
Let's wait for Dave to reply. Keep us posted.

 

[oreo54]

Aquarium Frontiers was a hard copy only as far as I know. Does anyone know if those issues are available online? As for this data, it has never been published.

Err.. no was "on line" for awhile..

Did you miss an issue of Aquarium Frontiers On-line? Do you need to review any of the departments or features in a past issue? This Aquarium Frontiers Archive section contains past issues of our on-line magazine, beginning with the first issue, July 1997.

Need to use the wayback machine..
you can get bits and pieces of the on line version. Hardcopy no..

http://animalnetwork.com/fish/aqfm/archive/default.asp

Mag started 1993-1996?

Aquarium Frontiers

Interesting article..

Interview: Terry Siegel

[In honor of Terry Siegel's recent Aquarist of the Year award from the Marine Aquarium Societies of North America, we are re-running this interview, originally

reefs.com

And so he became somewhat interested. He asked me to send him a drawing of what I was talking about, which I did, and about a month later, believe it or not, the first American produced aquarium reflector with 175 Watt MH lights in it – I think they were about 37k (note: hope that's K not $'s.) – got delivered to my house, and that began the business we know today as Coralife.


In fact, I believe you still have that reflector in your basement and it still works!


RM: Amazingly it does. How did you decide to start Aquarium Frontiers?

 

[oreo54]

I find it funny how folks complain about the rapid changes in LED technology, yet that was exactly how metal halide was in the late 1980’s. Reef purposed bulbs had yet to appear, so we were stuck with using things like the Osram PowerStar. Wavemakers were non existent, so prehistoric switching devices were used. Both revelation and revolution, the calcium reactor appeared in the mid-1990’s. Could not say who first invented then for reef tanks, though my MTC ProCal unit bought in 1997 remains in service on my tank today.

Historical Reefing

Recently there was a thread about what has changed in reefing in the past 10 years. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-has-changed-in-the-last-decade.527148/ I'm interested to hear from those who had a reef tank 20+ years ago. For an article, if you had a SW tank more than 20 years ago...

www.reef2reef.com

Osram Metal Halide Powerstar HQI-T 400W/DH

 

[BurgerFish]

Two small led will cover a 72x48 tank? I don't think so.

 

[Bpb]

I bet that bulb was a beauty...not