Metal Halides are the bomb

[Turd Ferguson]

Love my Spectra! It has a very nice coverage and looks great!!! Best solution if the system fits it well. You are on the right path! Enjoy the ride!

Can you still buy Spectras ? i tried to find a fixture but came up empty...in Canada

kick myself for not buying the last 24” fixture BRS had, last year

 

[xtian]

Can you still buy Spectras ? i tried to find a fixture but came up empty...in Canada

kick myself for not buying the last 24” fixture BRS had, last year

I think you have to contact Giesemann for it.

 

[onegreenray]

You’re not wrong. The best colors I’ve seen are typically in led tanks. I know that other mh purists won’t agree. Just what my eyes judge. I just can’t get behind the cost of entry on quality led units. I won’t buy a used one because the condition cannot be verified. The whole “but they’ll pay themselves off” bit does nothing for me. I pay $100 a year in bulbs and the difference in electricity would be about $10 a month doing the math. It would take close to a decade to pay for itself if I switched. Just not in the kind of tax bracket I can drop $2500 for a mostly lateral move.

I have reef keeping since 2002. Have tried 250 ushio over 90 with vho. I could grow anyhting from sps to clams etc. Down sized when moved to pa. Running t5 over 40b tank. Could grow anything. Last few years tried sone lower end leds. Was not impressed enought to dropp 2300.00 on a fixture. The cost savings is not really there.

New is not always better. Its just new.

 

[A. grandis]

Can you still buy Spectras ? i tried to find a fixture but came up empty...in Canada

kick myself for not buying the last 24” fixture BRS had, last year

Yeah, they aren't available in US either, but I think part of the problem is related to COVID. Other people have imported the Spectra to US.
Try to contact J&L. They might be able to help you.
https://www.jlaquatics.com/

J&L AQUATICS​

3430 Brighton Avenue Suite 205A Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A-3H4 Toll Free: (888) 840-1146

You still can order from Germany though.
Other option:
https://www.jlaquatics.com/dry-good...ghting-metal-halide/mh-t5-light-fixtures.html

 

[TerraFerma]

I don't know if it's been discontinued but stock is low:

https://www.sewatec.com/cat/lighting/giesemann/spectra/

 

[A. grandis]

I don't know if it's been discontinued but stock is low:

https://www.sewatec.com/cat/lighting/giesemann/spectra/

That's probably because they are also going back to halides in EU.

 

[TerraFerma]

That's probably because they are also going back to halides in EU.

Could be. Been a long strange trip lighting wise.

OF NOTE: the big font prices there are inclusive of EU 19% VAT. Enter your US address in the checkout and that 19% VAT disappears.

 

[infinite0180]

Well thanks to a generous member of this forum i have a 24” Infiniti on the way to me! It has a Phoenix bulb included. Im planning to run B+ T5 bulbs, or a B+ and C+ combo. This is going over my Lagoon 50 thats 30x24x16. Right now i have a 6 bulb ATI hanging over it. I was thinking of picking up the Icecap selectable 250w e ballast for it. Would the SuperLumens mode drive the bulb at roughly the correct wattage? Also, how high should i hang this thing to start? I dont want to bleach my frags! Currently my ATI runs 2 bulbs for an hour, then all 6 for 8 hours, then back down to 2 bulbs for an hour before shutting down. How do i transition to the MH?

 

[X-37B]

I ran my 8 bulb ati at 8hrs on my 120 4b+ 4c+.
They were 4" off the surface.
When I hung the 2 250 watt 14k phoenix ober my tank I just ran them the same 8hrs.
Fixture is 12" off the surface and 14" from bulb to surface.

If the bulb is double ended you need the m80 hqi ballast from hamilton to drive the bulb to max.

 

[infinite0180]

I ran my 8 bulb ati at 8hrs on my 120 4b+ 4c+.
They were 4" off the surface.
When I hung the 2 250 watt 14k phoenix ober my tank I just ran them the same 8hrs.
Fixture is 12" off the surface and 14" from bulb to surface.

If the bulb is double ended you need the m80 hqi ballast from hamilton to drive the bulb to max.

I thought the e ballasts do a pretty good job with hqi on a overdrive setting?

 

[A. grandis]

Well thanks to a generous member of this forum i have a 24” Infiniti on the way to me! It has a Phoenix bulb included. Im planning to run B+ T5 bulbs, or a B+ and C+ combo. This is going over my Lagoon 50 thats 30x24x16. Right now i have a 6 bulb ATI hanging over it. I was thinking of picking up the Icecap selectable 250w e ballast for it. Would the SuperLumens mode drive the bulb at roughly the correct wattage? Also, how high should i hang this thing to start? I dont want to bleach my frags! Currently my ATI runs 2 bulbs for an hour, then all 6 for 8 hours, then back down to 2 bulbs for an hour before shutting down. How do i transition to the MH?

You're not going to be able to run the T5s separately (2 now and then 2 later). All 4 T5s came ON and OFF at the same time, unless the fixture was properly modified.
I'm assuming you will run a 250W Phoenix bulb. Yes, you can run it on "Super Lumens", which should be the same as "HQI" for the electronic ballasts. If you can buy the HQI ballast (M80 for the 250W) it will drive the bulb to the recommended wattage - better.
12" is a good safe distance to start IMO.
You can run all T5s for 8 hours since the beginning and the halides for 2-3 hours, and increase the halides' time slowly, like an hour every week or so. The longer the photoperiod for the halides the more time you will need to wait to increase the hours per day. Just watch your corals while increasing the MHs' time. I would think 5-6 hours a day max should be fine in many cases, but people can run them for 8 - 10 hours. Find the perfect total photoperiod (T5s/MH) that your system can deal with in regards to nutrients. It's a slow process if you want to maintain the stability for your corals, specially if your corals were used to the T5s for a long time. watch your system! Take your time and enjoy the ride. I'm happy for you!!!! Waiting for some nice pictures!

 

[Mark75g]

I have a 175 gallon Bow front that I have a MH/T5 combo light system that sits about 6 inches off the water due to canopy. I have 3 - 250w 14kphenix bulbs and 4 t5 39 watt bulbs. I run 2 ATI Blue Plus and 2 Coral plus. I run the t5 for an hour then I run everything for 6hrs then run the t5 by themselves for last hour. Have had this fixture for at least 8 years and the corals (mainly sps) are doing great.

 

[A. grandis]

I have a 175 gallon Bow front that I have a MH/T5 combo light system that sits about 6 inches off the water due to canopy. I have 3 - 250w 14kphenix bulbs and 4 t5 39 watt bulbs. I run 2 ATI Blue Plus and 2 Coral plus. I run the t5 for an hour then I run everything for 6hrs then run the t5 by themselves for last hour. Have had this fixture for at least 8 years and the corals (mainly sps) are doing great.

Please post pictures!! What fixture do you have. Thanks!

 

[Backreefing]

Has any body tried Phoenix bulbs 250w vs ushio 250w both 14K ? What was your results? I have both of them and can’t make up my mind . I think ( think not know) the ushio bulbs are just more powerful. But more yellow the light . Honestly they remind me of 6500K bulbs. The Phoenix makes everything look better. But looking at their spectrum graph they look less powerful. ?? Has anyone noticed this ? 3 days ago I popped out the Phoenix bulbs for my ushio’s but as expected everything is browned and uglier. I will say that if I put my hand under them it’s like wow ! They got as much projection as a French fry light !
I might just pop the Phoenix bulbs back in ?????

 

[A. grandis]

They can both be called "14K" bulbs, but in reality they have completely different spectral qualities. "14K" is more of a nickname for any brand bulb. The "K" numbers are just to identify the colors of the bulbs for each brand, as the manufacturer wish.

Phoenix 250W 14K on M80:

Ushio 250W 14K on M80:

Above you will notice that the Phoenix is a bluer bulb and the Ushio represents more of a full spectrum.

Choose the color you like the most. They both will give you amazing results. Normally the "whiter" the light, the faster is the growth for most coral species and the more favorable it is to algae growth too, so you need to pay a bit more attention to nutrients, normally. Once the system is established it shows the power of a natural growth with it's amazing colors!
If you choose to keep the Ushio 14K just adapt the system slowly (less hours per day) to make sure the corals will be able to follow the change.
Ushio bulbs are a little stronger by nature, yes. Even between the Ushio 14K and the Hamilton 14K (very similar to the Ushio 14K in appearance), using the same ballast, you can notice the difference. This is just one more thing to consider when choosing the right equipment to reproduce the results and to keep what you choose. They are both great bulbs!
You will need some time to notice the final changes in colors coming from a 20K to 14K like that in most cases. After the first 3 months, having the system properly adapted to the new spectrum, you will start to see the changes, which in reality are part of the adaptation. Real pigments need some time to be produced.

Gotta love all halides!!

 

[Backreefing]

Tonight I switched the Phoenix bulbs back in . They are just more beautiful. The yellow of the ushio bulbs gets me down. The corals are not going to like switching around, but they will get over it . Thx for the reply.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Impressive!

What’s impressive? Lol
I’ve had much better growth with kessils. Not dissin anybodys coral growth at all but I don’t see anything substantial here to say halides grow better than any other form of lighting. Lighting is important but some people have all the “best” equipment and I’ve still seen people with the bare minimum grow faster and better looking corals. Proof is in the pudding. And sometimes I feel like we’re just looking at jell-o

 

[ReefHomieJon]

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

LEDs don’t suck. They’re great if you program them right.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

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

You gotta hit us with the same angels man you keep switching em up

 

[A. grandis]

Tonight I switched the Phoenix bulbs back in . They are just more beautiful. The yellow of the ushio bulbs gets me down. The corals are not going to like switching around, but they will get over it . Thx for the reply.

No problem. We have to choose what we like the most. I'm using the Hamilton 14K right now, coming from the Ushio 14K. Very little difference betwen the 2. Before the Ushio 14K I used the Hamilton 20K, and prior to that I had the Radium. I love all of them!! LOL!
Those changes above were done in a year or so intervals between each change, when was time to change bulbs.