Metal Halides are the bomb

Backreefing · Feb 13, 2020

I’m a new metal halide user and it’s only been 2 weeks with them . But man these things rock . Every coral in the aquarium is likening these new lights. Mostly SPS.
A few weeks ago I was useing a BB/t5 combo. It was ok . The T5s were carrying all the weight IMO. And lately a acropora was receding at the base . the water parameters were good . I found the BB was turned down to 50-60% so I turned it up to 100% things tank wide improved a little. Then I lowered the BB and all 3 t5s things improved a tiny bit . Then I was literally hanging a 4th T5 on the front glass ( blue plus ) then things got good. The recession of that acropora stopped.
then I did a tank upgrade 37-90gallons and it went very well. Didn’t lose or stress anything . Cool!!
Then I hooked up the halides 4 hours a day to start . And from the first day with halides the corals have all responded very well. I cool the aquarium with fans . And it’s been 7-9 days at 4 hours a day and growth is becoming obvious . Like my spongodes monti is growing 1/16-1/8” every day. Pink birdsnest is covered in new growth tips . Everything! also the light is so strong (250watt DE) they can heat up your fries LOL . Happy camper here .

Katrina71 · Feb 13, 2020

Pics or it didn't happen.

sfin52 · Feb 13, 2020

Katrina71 said:
Pics or it didn't happen.

Yep pics or it never happened.

Backreefing · Feb 13, 2020

Katrina71 said:
Pics or it didn't happen.

1/24/2020 then yesterday

Katrina71 · Feb 13, 2020

Impressive!

Backreefing · Feb 13, 2020

Here is a California tort new years to yesterday they grow slow but check out the color differences in so short of time. Can’t wait to run the metal halides for 7-9 hours a day. Then things should take off

Bpb · Feb 13, 2020

Yes to all of the above.

A. grandis · Feb 14, 2020

Viking_Reefing · Feb 14, 2020

Indeed that are, kicks the butt of leds in my opinion. I’ve never had such good growth as when I was running 2x250w halides supplemented with a couple of T5’s back in the day.
Unfortunately the heat generation is just to much for my current setup.

Did you keep your T5s over the tank? If not it's a match made in heaven

MabuyaQ · Feb 14, 2020

Yep, halides make corals grow like weeds like no other lights can. The colors will be different, but not less attractive in most cases. Some will even look much better under halides.

Redleg · Feb 14, 2020

what bulb color are you running? I really like the look.

Backreefing · Feb 14, 2020

2 250 watt DE Halides in 2 cayman fixtures with new 14000k usio bulbs , and 2 t5s with blue plus bulbs . I would have put moret5 lights but it’s all I can fit over the aquarium.

sfin52 · Feb 14, 2020

Backreefing said:
2 250 watt DE Halides in 2 cayman fixtures with new 14000k usio bulbs , and 2 t5s with blue plus bulbs . I would have put moret5 lights but it’s all I can fit over the aquarium.

Underachiever. I think you can fit more. Amazing difference

acropora4u · Feb 14, 2020

Backreefing said:
2 250 watt DE Halides in 2 cayman fixtures with new 14000k usio bulbs , and 2 t5s with blue plus bulbs . I would have put moret5 lights but it’s all I can fit over the aquarium.

I am halide fan as well- halide LED combo

jda · Feb 14, 2020

Didn't you hear? All light sources grow coral "just fine." It is fun to see what happens when you are better than "just fine" though, right?

You can probably turn the T5s off when the Halides are running and save them for dusk/dawn. I do this to save electricity, if I run them at all.

MabuyaQ · Feb 14, 2020

The really great thing about halides is that you only need them for 5-7 hours a day to get great growth even from 'demanding' acros. The rest of the time you can use supplemental lighting to still stimulate the pigments that tend to develop more under blue T5/LED light.

reeffreak911 · Feb 15, 2020

Backreefing said:
I’m a new metal halide user and it’s only been 2 weeks with them . But man these things rock . Every coral in the aquarium is likening these new lights. Mostly SPS.
A few weeks ago I was useing a BB/t5 combo. It was ok . The T5s were carrying all the weight IMO. And lately a acropora was receding at the base . the water parameters were good . I found the BB was turned down to 50-60% so I turned it up to 100% things tank wide improved a little. Then I lowered the BB and all 3 t5s things improved a tiny bit . Then I was literally hanging a 4th T5 on the front glass ( blue plus ) then things got good. The recession of that acropora stopped.
then I did a tank upgrade 37-90gallons and it went very well. Didn’t lose or stress anything . Cool!!
Then I hooked up the halides 4 hours a day to start . And from the first day with halides the corals have all responded very well. I cool the aquarium with fans . And it’s been 7-9 days at 4 hours a day and growth is becoming obvious . Like my spongodes monti is growing 1/16-1/8” every day. Pink birdsnest is covered in new growth tips . Everything! also the light is so strong (250watt DE) they can heat up your fries LOL . Happy camper here .

I've always used halides tried leds but they sucked for me went back to halides people wonder how I get my torches so long and stringy all I can say is halides and colors definitely change under halides

Bpb · Feb 15, 2020

It’s been 2.5 months now since I switched to 20,000k bulbs from 14,000k bulbs. Growth has actually improved a bit. Par has dropped about 20-30% putting me in the 200-500 range all around the tank now. I think I had a little photo inhibition going on before, as I had some pieces sitting in as much as 800 par for 7 hours a day. So I’m not surprised growth took off when the par dropped a bit which is nice.

The downside though is I’ve lost most of my vibrant colors. Acros that showed 3-4 colors are now monochromal. Some had deep blue/purple tips and have now faded to green. My WD is now basically solid green. Shame. Yeah...green fluorescence is more vibrant. But I’ve lost all blues, pinks, purples, and yellows. Even my kung pao montipora which was ripe banana yellow before is morphing green. I don’t want to constantly swap bulbs every couple months as that will cause more stress than I want...but it is clear I favor lower kelvin

RCS82 · Feb 15, 2020

Bpb said:
It’s been 2.5 months now since I switched to 20,000k bulbs from 14,000k bulbs. Growth has actually improved a bit. Par has dropped about 20-30% putting me in the 200-500 range all around the tank now. I think I had a little photo inhibition going on before, as I had some pieces sitting in as much as 800 par for 7 hours a day. So I’m not surprised growth took off when the par dropped a bit which is nice.

The downside though is I’ve lost most of my vibrant colors. Acros that showed 3-4 colors are now monochromal. Some had deep blue/purple tips and have now faded to green. My WD is now basically solid green. Shame. Yeah...green fluorescence is more vibrant. But I’ve lost all blues, pinks, purples, and yellows. Even my kung pao montipora which was ripe banana yellow before is morphing green. I don’t want to constantly swap bulbs every couple months as that will cause more stress than I want...but it is clear I favor lower kelvin

That's some great feedback, thanks for sharing. I'm constantly thinking about trying new bulbs or switching to maybe a 20k bulb but never do, and no reason to I guess.

Bpb · Feb 15, 2020

RCS82 said:
That's some great feedback, thanks for sharing. I'm constantly thinking about trying new bulbs or switching to maybe a 20k bulb but never do, and no reason to I guess.

I think some people just really like the blue ambience more and think that a whiter cast off the sand and surrounding walls is unappealing. But literally every coral in the tank looked better under 14k with no supplements than they do under 20k with blue led supplements (leds to boost the par a bit)