Metal Halides and LEDs together

[aharrow]

Hello guys,
I am retrofitting a sfiligoi T-5 fixture that I picked up from a buddy that had some ballast issues. It is the stealth 12 bulb fixture and measure 47.1" x 20" x 3.75" tall approx. A couple of the t-5 ballast weren't working and I'm not a t-5 guy anyway but wanted the fixture to retrofit.

So my plan is to incorporate two 250 metal halide 20k radiums in the center of the fixture and then incorporate two rows of LED's. I do NOT plan to run the LED's and the MH together at the same time. My lighting preference is simple, I like the look of royal blue LED's as a stand alone when my Metal Halides aren't running. Then the LED's turn off and the MH turn on.

So my question is will the heat from the Metal Halides damage the LED's? The fixture has excellent ventilation and four-five fans I believe to cool. If the LED's are at the outside edge of the fixture and the MH in the center any heating issues? Thanks

 

[wld1783]

aharrow

Heat does damage the LEDs and shortens their life span.

The simple answer is if its too hot to hold its too hot.

Most go LED Primary and in some cases T5 secondary as I have.

Bill

 

[BHAMR6]

I have the same set up your wanting I have 2 x 250wattt radium mh then I added a reefbrite all blue led fixture just for before and after my MH.. I was worried about heat but spoke with reefbrite and they said it shouldnt be a issue. I have all of this in a canopy with 1 fan blowing on them and there hasn't been a time you couldnt reach in and touch the led fixture. The led is about a inch away from the reflectors...

 

[Reefer831]

I will be building a 4 t5's, 2 250 MH's, and 2 blue reef bright bars, for my next tank.....I currently have been ruining 5 bars of reef brights since they first came out.

 

[raymond]

I can see using t5 with led to get the fiji purple or what ever color shade you want, but if your using led with mh isnt that kind of defeating why you got the led in the first place????

 

[aharrow]

Thanks guys for the input, as a test I will put the u-channel aluminum next to the MH and run it to see if it heats up to the touch before I mount the LED's on u channel bar. That way I won't waste my time or money installing the LED's if it gets to hot.


To answer your post Raymond, I am not using the LED's for their cost savings, I am using them for the color and shimmer affect. You don't get the shimmer from T-5's. Currently I have a 20" reef brite strip all blue over my frag tank and love the shimmer it produces and actually makes corals have different colors than under the MH. So for some of my corals it is like having two sets of corals under each lighting.

I'm not a guy that wants to produce sunrise, sunset simulations, I don't really care about the cost that I might save from running all LED's or T-5's I just want to get the lighting effect that makes me the happiest We already spend a ton of money on the hobby so a few dollars in savings on the electric bill isn't going to cause me to sacrifice the look I'm going for.

I can see using t5 with led to get the fiji purple or what ever color shade you want, but if your using led with mh isnt that kind of defeating why you got the led in the first place????

Here is a pic so far of my experiment. I left two T-5's on either end with the blue only bulbs. I was planning on putting a strip in the third slot on either end with 12 LED's on each strip. Then the MH in the center. In this picture I used my spider reflector and bent it to fit. However I am not happy with the footprint of the reflector and was worried that I would lose light reflection in the center area so I ordered a 36" long continuous reflector from Marine Depot. I'll get some new pics once that comes and I install it and the other MH socket.

I had to modify the metal that hold the sockets because they were 4" tall and I only have 3.5" in the fixture. If the LED gets too hot right next to the MH then I will move the very end T-5 bulb over one slot and put the LED's on the very last slot furthest away from the MH. I also considered buying the reef brite fixture 36" but two of those cost a lot more than the DIY LED kits.

 

[aharrow]

One thing I forgot to add, I plan to use a bracket that swivels, to mount the LED strip so I can angle it inward. If I put it on the outside slot on either side I want the ability to angle the LED toward the center otherwise all the light would light up the outside area of the tank and not the center which would defeat the purpose. The fixture has built in fans so it will be interesting to see the heat dispersion once I mount both Halides. The fixture has a glass covering that slides in so that will obviously contain the heat and not allow it to escape but the fans should do the job pulling air down the fixture.

 

[m and m]

IO would think its going to get way to hot for LED, they run cool and need to be run cool or there shrinks will melt. Also is that a sfiglio stealth fixture you riped appart?

 

[aharrow]

Yes it is a Sfiligoi Stealth. I bought it from a buddy of mine and it had ballast issues not running so a portion of the lights didn't work. And I delicately disassembled it, not ripped it apart

IO would think its going to get way to hot for LED, they run cool and need to be run cool or there shrinks will melt. Also is that a sfiglio stealth fixture you riped appart?

 

[MimicOcto8]

aharrow- Great idea. wasnt sure what you were trying to do till I saw the picture. keep us update on how this turns out.

wild1783-Great info. I didnt know that and always wondered. I always wanted to use my LED bars with my MH when I was using MH but never new what would happen to the LEDs. thanks

 

[aharrow]

I will post some pics once I get the new reflector installed and both MH running. I will then run it for 8 hours and see how hot it gets to determine placement of the LED's. I think my most likely option will be to move the outside T-5 to the third row and then the order would be LED strip on outside row, next two rows would be T-5 blue and then the center MH. I will then put the glass panels in place and do a test run with a long strip of metal where the LED's would be and see how hot it gets.

Thanks guys, I will keep it updated next week

 

[m and m]

Yes it is a Sfiligoi Stealth. I bought it from a buddy of mine and it had ballast issues not running so a portion of the lights didn't work. And I delicately disassembled it, not ripped it apart

Was his a new or older modal? I love them use to have one but sold it when i upgraded. Did you ever think about getting a replacment ballest for it?

 

[aharrow]

I don't know how old the model was. I had been looking for a broken fixture so I could do this retrofit and looked for Geismann, Sfilifoi, ATI, anything with a nice low profile clean look and preferablly broken so I wouldn't have to disassemble a perfectly good fixture.

I am not a T-5 guy, just never have liked the color, so I didn't explore fixing the ballasts. I always ran Radiums, then got cheap for a few years and ran other bulbs, and hated the color and swore I would never cheat again and went back to radiums. I will always run them because that is my personal taste.

Was his a new or older modal? I love them use to have one but sold it when i upgraded. Did you ever think about getting a replacment ballest for it?

 

[m and m]

Yea, the radiums are top notch bulb if i used Mh i would go with them and a pair of t5s or four just like you.

 

[aalvarado87]

i have seen quite a bit of guys using leds with their mh's as supplement lighting. especially those reefbrite leds or diy kits that are similar. I think that the leds are pretty powerful and will give you that balance of blue you want. I have not heard anythign from them getting to hot and i know a couple of them have them in canopies