Metal Halides are the bomb

[Bpb]

Every system is different.
The balance of nutrients/ presence of herbivores is the key in most cases.
Also changes in spectrum/PAR from one light to the other.

Very true. I had a very dense coral load with urchin, tangs, and rabbit fish

 

[djf91]

Thought you all might appreciate this. New rack mounted over my 500 gallon reef

 

[Kfactor]

Last night I turned in my MHs for about a hour or so just to see how it looked since My tank just got setup and don’t want them on right now but it’s just simply amazing how it looks . I like led but from my last experience with them am glad on my new build I went with mh the look and shimmer is simply Beautiful . The light shinning through the water looks like sun lines going though it I hope metal halides stay around for a long time . Mh can’t be beat

 

[zalick]

Last night I turned in my MHs for about a hour or so just to see how it looked since My tank just got setup and don’t want them on right now but it’s just simply amazing how it looks . I like led but from my last experience with them am glad on my new build I went with mh the look and shimmer is simply Beautiful . The light shinning through the water looks like sun lines going though it I hope metal halides stay around for a long time . Mh can’t be beat

My wife had only seen our tank with LEDs for the past 7 years. She never saw my prior MH tanks. Once I put halides back on a couple months ago, she commented on how much better the tanked looked to her eyes for the same reasons you mentioned. Much more natural looking. We are avid divers. I have about 1000 logged dives and she has 500. She said the halides look much more like what we’d see on a dive. :)

and she actually prefers the 10k bulb over the 14k.

my 6 kessil a360 and 4 mitras LX7 worked well but I’m very happy I made the switch back! I still use 3 LX7s for morning and evening when the halides are off.

 

[rtparty]

When you know, you know

When I went back to halides I didn't tell my wife I was. She came down and saw them and immediately said, "I'm so glad you went back to halides. The LEDs were terrible to look at."

My 50g ran a Radium halide for years before I switched back to LEDs yet again. I'm done with the LED game for quite a while.

 

[zalick]

When you know, you know

When I went back to halides I didn't tell my wife I was. She came down and saw them and immediately said, "I'm so glad you went back to halides. The LEDs were terrible to look at."

My 50g ran a Radium halide for years before I switched back to LEDs yet again. I'm done with the LED game for quite a while.

My wife confided that she hated the LEDs too after the switch back.

I have a giant hood so they are hidden and the heat means my heaters run much less often. Extra benefit. I imagine my furnace in the winter will also run slightly less often for another savings offset.

 

[A. grandis]

Thought you all might appreciate this. New rack mounted over my 500 gallon reef

HAAAAARGHH!!!!!!! Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing the pics!!
Lovely!!!
Halide POWER!

 

[djf91]

HAAAAARGHH!!!!!!! Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing the pics!!
Lovely!!!
Halide POWER!

Thanks! I’m sure you can guess the bulb ;)
I grew up going to the lfs in the early 2000’s and seeing all of their large coral displays lit with 14k metal halides and dreamed one day of owning a large tank with a bunch of metal halide. I’ve run everything from 70 watters on a 12 gallon biocube to 250 watt Phoenix. Thought I’d go big with this one though. I’ve seen some great LED tanks and then some totally flat/dull LED and then your typical windex/ disco ball nano. It’d be nice to see reef tanks get back to trying to achieve the most natural coral reef landscape instead of an artificial bare bottom bonsai look, but that’s just my opinion, to each their own. My inspiration has always been Steve Weast’s tank (Oregon Reef).

The aliens have arrived.

 

[A. grandis]

Radium!
Oh man! We are starting to have the real deals back on stage!!!!!
I'm so happy for you!!!
This thread is indeed bright!
They look brand new too!
Dr. Sanjay will be very jealous! LOL!!!!
Love the pic above!
Thank you very much for sharing this!

 

[djf91]

The hobbyist I got them from had them over his 475g for 10+ years but honestly you wouldn’t think they are more than a few years old. They’re immaculate. Yep 400 watt Radium 20k. Would have loved to try some XM bulbs for a bit but I guess those are a thing of the past now. At some point I might add 2x250 watt 10k down the middle but we’ll see.

 

[Midrats]

My wife had only seen our tank with LEDs for the past 7 years. She never saw my prior MH tanks. Once I put halides back on a couple months ago, she commented on how much better the tanked looked to her eyes for the same reasons you mentioned. Much more natural looking. We are avid divers. I have about 1000 logged dives and she has 500. She said the halides look much more like what we’d see on a dive. :)

and she actually prefers the 10k bulb over the 14k.

my 6 kessil a360 and 4 mitras LX7 worked well but I’m very happy I made the switch back! I still use 3 LX7s for morning and evening when the halides are off.

I'd be renewing my vows with that one, you've got a winner there brother!

 

[rtparty]

I hope anyone following this thread saw ReefBum's live with Tullio, Ben, and Rich. It should honestly be required material to keep an aquarium...

 

[A. grandis]

 

[oreo54]

Someone could do a psychological study on what people "hear" from that video..

 

[phillybean]

Changed out my bulbs today, was able to find markings on the old ones, Coralife 20k's.

Went with Radiums, when I changed my ballast to 275, I realized that one (which I can't really see the dial for) was only running at 190 watt, not 250. Also changed out all the T5's, running 4 Blue Plus in each Hamilton fixture and running 4 Coral Plus & 4 Blue Plus in the T5 only fixture. The last Blue Plus hangs over the back of the tank so I don't think it's doing much, left it as one of the old bulbs.

Really happy with the color so far, but what is throwing me off the most is the brightness, wasn't expecting as drastic of a change. I was running the MH from 1pm - 7pm, cut it back to run from 1pm - 5pm for now. I'll give it a couple weeks and then start increasing weekly by 30 minute intervals to get back to 1-7.

 

[A. grandis]

Changed out my bulbs today, was able to find markings on the old ones, Coralife 20k's.

Went with Radiums, when I changed my ballast to 275, I realized that one (which I can't really see the dial for) was only running at 190 watt, not 250. Also changed out all the T5's, running 4 Blue Plus in each Hamilton fixture and running 4 Coral Plus & 4 Blue Plus in the T5 only fixture. The last Blue Plus hangs over the back of the tank so I don't think it's doing much, left it as one of the old bulbs.

Really happy with the color so far, but what is throwing me off the most is the brightness, wasn't expecting as drastic of a change. I was running the MH from 1pm - 7pm, cut it back to run from 1pm - 5pm for now. I'll give it a couple weeks and then start increasing weekly by 30 minute intervals to get back to 1-7.

190W instead 250W? It's normally 150W, 175W and 250W on selectable ballasts.
My recommendation is to change first the halides and wait for the adaptation (less hours a day, increasing slowly as you've said. Then you change the T5s 2 at a time per week or so. Changing the wattage of the halide alone is huge! Specially from Coralife to Radium. Go slow!!!!

 

[TaylorPilot]

I agree that LED tanks just don't look as good as MH tanks, and just a based on how the light it made, I don't know if they ever will. My question is about availability moving forward. BRS got rid of their entire line and I only see very few models being made now. What are the odds of being able to get MH reflectors, bulbs and ballast in 10 or even 20 years. It feels like they are on borrowed time. It is pretty frustrating actually.

 

[Kfactor]

I agree that LED tanks just don't look as good as MH tanks, and just a based on how the light it made, I don't know if they ever will. My question is about availability moving forward. BRS got rid of their entire line and I only see very few models being made now. What are the odds of being able to get MH reflectors, bulbs and ballast in 10 or even 20 years. It feels like they are on borrowed time. It is pretty frustrating actually.

I just think the reason for them and other ppl not selling is there not a “big selling item “ for them when everyone thinks leds are the best so they stock what sells a lot . Am going to run mh for as long as I can I had leds for along time and was never happy with them

 

[rtparty]

I agree that LED tanks just don't look as good as MH tanks, and just a based on how the light it made, I don't know if they ever will. My question is about availability moving forward. BRS got rid of their entire line and I only see very few models being made now. What are the odds of being able to get MH reflectors, bulbs and ballast in 10 or even 20 years. It feels like they are on borrowed time. It is pretty frustrating actually.

They will eventually go away. I bet we have at least 5 years though and we can always buy up the bulbs and just hang onto them. Ballasts and reflectors will be available from the horticulture industry for a lot longer. I have talked to many cannabis growers and all said they only like LED when young. They get much better yields out of halide. However, I don't know nearly enough on that topic to talk about it. I can only share what the growers told me.

Tullio says that many public aquariums are swithcing back to halides after they noticed a very large delcine in health of their habitats under LEDs. It is in the above video.

I also spoke with BRS about the possibility of drop shipments through Reef Brite and it was very well received. Let's hope that happens soon enough.

 

[A. grandis]

I agree that LED tanks just don't look as good as MH tanks, and just a based on how the light it made, I don't know if they ever will. My question is about availability moving forward. BRS got rid of their entire line and I only see very few models being made now. What are the odds of being able to get MH reflectors, bulbs and ballast in 10 or even 20 years. It feels like they are on borrowed time. It is pretty frustrating actually.

They are saying that same chant for at least 15+ years...
How many times do I have to say this? LOL!
THE MANUFACTURES OF METAL HALIDES AND T5S WILL BE PRODUCING THEM NORMALLY AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PLANS TO STOPPING PRODUCTION.
Those are just rumors started by LED manufacturers and stores and the consumers are spreading those rumors as they were the truth.
BRS said they don't want to keep them on the shelves because they don't sell. All I know is that they have plenty shelves, or they could send them directly from manufacturers, as I proposed when I called them!!!! I also told BRS people are importing Giesemann halides (bulbs and fixtures) because they have removed from their website! And the numbers of halide sold are growing every day by Hamilton and ReefBrite. That is what we should understand!
Radium, Hamilton, ReefBrite and Giesemann already confirmed they won't stop halide and T5 production!
Don't be frustrated!