T5/LED vs T5/Metal Hallide

[Bpb]

Well I bought the Giesemann Infiniti on BRS 50%. I am waiting on my 2nd ballast to come in since I only ordered 1, hopefully have it up next week. Will post current pictures and 1 month post halide pictures.

Are the two halide pendants in that fixture positionally adjustable? They appear in a different spot in every picture I see of this fixture. I’ve been considering springing for one

 

[leepink23]

Are the two halide pendants in that fixture positionally adjustable? They appear in a different spot in every picture I see of this fixture. I’ve been considering springing for one

Yes they are positionally adjustable, I have mine in the standard from factory position.

 

[leepink23]

Not use to this much white, running for the halides for 3 hours. Running the T5 to fill in the time. So far I like the setup. Temp did rise day 1, today was fine, it was a cooler day and I added a fan. Colors popped more under the radions, also I think the shimmer with radions with diffuser is equal or better to halide. I think the spread is much better with the halides.

 

[ocboat]

What bulbs are you running, both halide and T5? Sorry if you already listed it but I didn't see it. I'm really looking forward to the one month mark to see how things color up under this light.

 

[leepink23]

What bulbs are you running, both halide and T5? Sorry if you already listed it but I didn't see it. I'm really looking forward to the one month mark to see how things color up under this light.

Running Giesemann MEGACHROME 17500k 250 watt, ati actinic x4, although I have blue + I can switch if I want, right now sticking with actinic. I put the halides on reefbrite ballast, mainly because M80 ballast were to big to fit behind my stand.

 

[ocboat]

It looks really white in the picture but I find almost anything looks white after running the ab+ program on the Radions. It looks like it is very bright with great coverage.

 

[leepink23]

It looks really white in the picture but I find almost anything looks white after running the ab+ program on the Radions. It looks like it is very bright with great coverage.

It looks very white in person too, coming from ab+ it’s different, but I am open to this change for growth and coral health. I may eventually add reefbrite to get that pop at night that I am use to, but not making any changes for now. It’s definitely bright with nice coverage

 

[wrestle1952]

I didn't know it got posted twice.

 

[wrestle1952]

I have a Red Sea Max 260E. It doesn't have the in cabinet sump. I started my aquarium Christmas 2016. I bought BRS Reef Saver rock, then seeded it with bacteria. It began to get coralline growth on the back of the tank wall and all over the rock within 8 months. I started buying sps frags put them in various places. They all bleached from the bottom up and die. This went on for quite some time. Thank God for cheap frags. I started doing some research and found an interview with Mike Palleta and Sanjay. They started tanks in the same manner and had the same type of experience. I learned in their experience it would take 18 months before caps started to show growth and acros would take two years. Those using a combo of MH and T5 matured their tanks in half the time. I love the coloration and pop the stock AI Hydra 26 bring to corals. Growth for monti caps was visible not great and the Acros stayed the same size but with great polyp extension. Being impatient my wife bought a metal halide with T5 fixture as a Christmas present. In a month's time it seems like my sps corals were on steroids. I can see growth tips on all of my Acros. This was not possible under the Hydra's, they looked great but are the same size they were the two months previous. I have frags of idaho grape, orange and green monti starting to form a hybrid. The one drawback is polyp extension has diminished on the acros, but I'll trade that for now watching the white growth tips and encrusting the areas around their base. My Idaho Grape monti cap looked brown or grey under LED. They are coloring up to my favorite coral with it's brilliant purple NOT visible with LED's. I do plan to go back to the AI's during the summer months, when we get those toasty days. Like I said if you want pop stay with LED's.

 

[leepink23]

I have a Red Sea Max 260E. It doesn't have the in cabinet sump. I started my aquarium Christmas 2016. I bought BRS Reef Saver rock, then seeded it with bacteria. It began to get coralline growth on the back of the tank wall and all over the rock within 8 months. I started buying sps frags put them in various places. They all bleached from the bottom up and die. This went on for quite some time. Thank God for cheap frags. I started doing some research and found an interview with Mike Palleta and Sanjay. They started tanks in the same manner and had the same type of experience. I learned in their experience it would take 18 months before caps started to show growth and acros would take two years. Those using a combo of MH and T5 matured their tanks in half the time. I love the coloration and pop the stock AI Hydra 26 bring to corals. Growth for monti caps was visible not great and the Acros stayed the same size but with great polyp extension. Being impatient my wife bought a metal halide with T5 fixture as a Christmas present. In a month's time it seems like my sps corals were on steroids. I can see growth tips on all of my Acros. This was not possible under the Hydra's, they looked great but are the same size they were the two months previous. I have frags of idaho grape, orange and green monti starting to form a hybrid. The one drawback is polyp extension has diminished on the acros, but I'll trade that for now watching the white growth tips and encrusting the areas around their base. My Idaho Grape monti cap looked brown or grey under LED. They are coloring up to my favorite coral with it's brilliant purple NOT visible with LED's. I do plan to go back to the AI's during the summer months, when we get those toasty days. Like I said if you want pop stay with LED's.

I plan on eventually adding reefbrite for the pop if I see great results with halide. I am keeping my radion/t5 for a few months just in-case

 

[rockskimmerflow]

It looks very white in person too, coming from ab+ it’s different, but I am open to this change for growth and coral health. I may eventually add reefbrite to get that pop at night that I am use to, but not making any changes for now. It’s definitely bright with nice coverage

Yeah people tell me all the time that their new Radium blue or phoenix 14k halides looks yellow or white compared to their prior LEDs. Your eye will adjust and so will the corals. I've found that halides especially 'expose' the weakness of the pigments in corals that look otherwise great under pure LEDs since they are 'popping' in the blue dominant light. Once they adjust to the halides and generate a little more pigment you'll find that if you throw a royal blue bar on after the halides are off things will look unreal.... I think you'll like the health and vigor once things adapt. Best of luck!

 

[leepink23]

Yeah people tell me all the time that their new Radium blue or phoenix 14k halides looks yellow or white compared to their prior LEDs. Your eye will adjust and so will the corals. I've found that halides especially 'expose' the weakness of the pigments in corals that look otherwise great under pure LEDs since they are 'popping' in the blue dominant light. Once they adjust to the halides and generate a little more pigment you'll find that if you throw a royal blue bar on after the halides are off things will look unreal.... I think you'll like the health and vigor once things adapt. Best of luck!

Thanks! That’s what I am hoping for, if the coral like the the halidesI will add a sb reef bar for the pop!

 

[ReefyB]

Meh, I think it’s just a matter of personal preference. I used to run halide pendants, then tried out radions for the first time last year and was blown away.. To me, the halides just don’t compare visually. Growth is insanely faster to, but that’s probably less to do with the difference in lighting and more to do with some changes in feeding schedule and dosing. I added T5’s to help with the shadowing created by the LEDs though and this combo seems to be the best of both worlds in my experience. Halides still work great, but ‘new tech’ works just as good, maybe even better depending on how their used.

 

[ReefyB]

I think it’s just a matter of personal preference. I used to run halide pendants, then tried out radions for the first time last year and was blown away.. To me, the halides just don’t compare visually. Growth is insanely faster to, but that’s probably less to do with the difference in lighting and more to do with some changes in feeding schedule and dosing. I added T5’s to help with the shadowing created by the LEDs though and this combo seems to be the best of both worlds in my experience. Halides still work great, but ‘new tech’ works just as good, maybe even better depending on how their used.

 

[Bpb]

I think it’s just a matter of personal preference. I used to run halide pendants, then tried out radions for the first time last year and was blown away.. To me, the halides just don’t compare visually. Growth is insanely faster to, but that’s probably less to do with the difference in lighting and more to do with some changes in feeding schedule and dosing. I added T5’s to help with the shadowing created by the LEDs though and this combo seems to be the best of both worlds in my experience. Halides still work great, but ‘new tech’ works just as good, maybe even better depending on how their used.

Interesting. Comments like these aren’t necessarily unheard of, but they are definitely in the extreme minority among people who post on forums. I’d say 3/4 roughly people say their LEDs are an adequate replacement with some minor setbacks and some benefits, and 1/4 say they are unhappy and either would switch back if they felt it economical, or actually do switch back. Your experience would fall in about a literal handful of people that report their LEDs to greatly out perform their metal halides in every way. Not saying I don’t believe you just that it’s a rarity. Of all people I know personally, the most dramatic growth I’ve seen has been under halide/t5ho combo units, with the most vibrant color coming from pure t5ho tanks. Only speaking of the people I’ve personally known and have watched tanks grow and mature in person over the years.

 

[lancesmith1]

Running Giesemann MEGACHROME 17500k 250 watt, ati actinic x4, although I have blue + I can switch if I want, right now sticking with actinic. I put the halides on reefbrite ballast, mainly because M80 ballast were to big to fit behind my stand.

I have tried that lamp before and it was too white for me which was surprising given the Kelvin rating. I thought it would be quite blue. The Phoenix, Hamilton 20K or even the Gmann 21K would probably be more appealing to you. Also, you may want to try to go with B+ vs the actinic to get a more blue look.

 

[ReefyB]

Interesting. Comments like these aren’t necessarily unheard of, but they are definitely in the extreme minority among people who post on forums. I’d say 3/4 roughly people say their LEDs are an adequate replacement with some minor setbacks and some benefits, and 1/4 say they are unhappy and either would switch back if they felt it economical, or actually do switch back. Your experience would fall in about a literal handful of people that report their LEDs to greatly out perform their metal halides in every way. Not saying I don’t believe you just that it’s a rarity. Of all people I know personally, the most dramatic growth I’ve seen has been under halide/t5ho combo units, with the most vibrant color coming from pure t5ho tanks. Only speaking of the people I’ve personally known and have watched tanks grow and mature in person over the years.

I never said ‘LEDs greatly out perform halides in every way’ or anything like it. I simply said I was amazed by difference visually between the two, and that it’s a matter of personal preference. To me, it’s very obvious that corals and colors look better visually under radions (or other high quality LED) vs T5’s or halides. Even when thr T5’s + LED are on in my tank, it doesn’t look nearly as good as when it’s just the Radion’s on, however the blanket of light from the T5 is a more than worthwhile benefit for growth and spread. Halides are still great IMO, but for me, there was no added benefit of using them over high quality LEDs/T5.

 

[leepink23]

I have tried that lamp before and it was too white for me which was surprising given the Kelvin rating. I thought it would be quite blue. The Phoenix, Hamilton 20K or even the Gmann 21K would probably be more appealing to you. Also, you may want to try to go with B+ vs the actinic to get a more blue look.

I was considering swapping out 2 of the actinic for 2 blue +. Thanks for the advice on the bulbs

 

[Bpb]

I never said ‘LEDs greatly out perform halides in every way’ or anything like it. I simply said I was amazed by difference visually between the two, and that it’s a matter of personal preference. To me, it’s very obvious that corals and colors look better visually under radions (or other high quality LED) vs T5’s or halides. Even when thr T5’s + LED are on in my tank, it doesn’t look nearly as good as when it’s just the Radion’s on, however the blanket of light from the T5 is a more than worthwhile benefit for growth and spread. Halides are still great IMO, but for me, there was no added benefit of using them over high quality LEDs/T5.

I suppose I should have ignored the “growth was insanely faster too” comment as you did mention other changes but at that point it is hard to blame one thing or another.

 

[leepink23]

I ended up switching to 2 blue + and 2 Actinic, as well as changing to 250 watt Phoenix 14k. I love the changes!!!! So far the tank is looking better IMO. I didn’t realize because I had so much blue but some of my coral were pale, they are slowly coloring up. Maybe I wasn’t using the radions correctly and needed something simple.