...THAT LAMP I LIKE IS NOT COMING BACK IN STYLE....:(

[Reeferguy365]

Sorry to hear your favorite bulbs got discontinued. Metal halides grow Coral like crazy but I'm happy with my LEDs. I may not have the most expensive LEDs but viparspectras do the job and are cheap my corals are happy and the colors I'm pulling are great. My growth might not be as good as someone using a metal halide but I like not worrying about heat or replacing bulbs

 

[Tennsquire]

I ran AB 250 watt 10k halide bulbs for years until they got crazy expensive. Switched to Phoenix 14k a few years back and have been happy with them.

 

[Battlecorals]

I have never used Iwasakis but thought about trying them. The lamps that I loved the most and gave me the best results were 250W XM 10Ks. I am still using one but I really think it is on its last legs as it is 4+ years old. They were inexpensive, very high par, nice crisp color IMO and grew my corals the best. I am still lamenting I cannot get them anymore.

That XM 10K was a great bulb as well, I ran them a while myself on ice caps

 

[Knapp870]

Ive actually seen a somewhat comeback on halides. Although they are of success for coral growth, they are the least energy efficient.
LED have proven successfully but also costly, so you then do the math- energy cost VS. cost of led and if a halide cost $700 to operate over a year, thats the price of ONE AP 700. So, which direction do you go?

Somehow MH have become grossly underestimated at efficiency and demonized by LED folklore. I run 3 250 watt radium MH overdriven on HQI electronic ballasts and it costs me $12 per month....The fact is most usually run a MH at around 6-8 hrs but will run LEDs at around 12 hours with ramp up/down/actinics, so you get some energy offset there. The difference as @Bpb stated is really peanuts. Bulb replacement at 9-12 months depending on your philosophy but it still takes a long long time to recoup costs. I had to run 3-4+ 165watt LED fixtures to get proper lighting over my 220 where 3 250 MH now do the job.

 

[brewandreef]

Well that kind of bums me out. I've read so much here on the forum about how Iwasakis were king back in the day, and nothing would come close to the kind of growth you would get out of them, and the pigments they could develop (but not illuminate or fluoresce) on the corals, etc.... they're probably the closet thing to replicating natural sunlight. I always thought that maybe in the future, I'd run a frag tank with one, but I guess not.

I don't have too much experience reefing, but I started out with LEDs last year, and I just switched to a 250w MH pendant with a Pheonix 14K bulb. I'm just in love with it, and I can already see positive results after making the switch. Plus I haven't had any heat issues with a fan blowing over the water. It's such a bummer they're so underrated. I'm hoping they never truly get retired.

 

[shred5]

That XM 10K was a great bulb as well, I ran them a while myself on ice caps

Yea I remember them too.. Carlos I think was getting those for me from somewhere at a good price..
I liked the Ushio bulb better.

I was thinking of changing the 120 to halides. I do not know if you remember Gareth? Anyhow I was taking care of one of his duplexes for a while in Waukesha and he left me a old Hamilton 250 watt 4' fixture.
It need a coat of paint but I left it there when I moved out but I should have grabbed it.

 

[tnyr5]

Just use the Iwasaki Hortilux Blue, it's quite similar. I'm assuming it is the reason the 6500k is being discontinued, unless they are both going the way of the dodo.

 

[Lousybreed]

Ive actually seen a somewhat comeback on halides. Although they are of success for coral growth, they are the least energy efficient.
LED have proven successfully but also costly, so you then do the math- energy cost VS. cost of led and if a halide cost $700 to operate over a year, thats the price of ONE AP 700. So, which direction do you go?

I took expensive electricity rate of $0.15/kw, factored in ballast efficiency losses, and came up with $150/yr for a single metal halide. If you went with a Radion Pro you would spend $105/yr. I think if more people understood the economics of metal halides, and not some weird misconceptions about them, they would be more popular. The UV that halides produce is magical. The “uv” in the Pros isn’t even true UV and most Near UV LED’s have a shockingly low life expectancy.

 

[Lousybreed]

Somehow MH have become grossly underestimated at efficiency and demonized by LED folklore. I run 3 250 watt radium MH overdriven on HQI electronic ballasts and it costs me $12 per month....The fact is most usually run a MH at around 6-8 hrs but will run LEDs at around 12 hours with ramp up/down/actinics, so you get some energy offset there. The difference as @Bpb stated is really peanuts. Bulb replacement at 9-12 months depending on your philosophy but it still takes a long long time to recoup costs. I had to run 3-4+ 165watt LED fixtures to get proper lighting over my 220 where 3 250 MH now do the job.

Great post!! Hey there is data now showing if you run radiums on electronic ballasts, getting 18-24 months is not out of the question. However, the Radions hold their spectrum better than most other bulbs. I replace my Phoenix’s at 14 months.

 

[Knapp870]

Great post!! Hey there is data now showing if you run radiums on electronic ballasts, getting 18-24 months is not out of the question. However, the Radions hold their spectrum better than most other bulbs. I replace my Phoenix’s at 14 months.

That's awesome! I heard similar on the brs t5 testing but hadn't seen anything definitive on halide yet.

 

[shred5]

I took expensive electricity rate of $0.15/kw, factored in ballast efficiency losses, and came up with $150/yr for a single metal halide. If you went with a Radion Pro you would spend $105/yr. I think if more people understood the economics of metal halides, and not some weird misconceptions about them, they would be more popular. The UV that halides produce is magical. The “uv” in the Pros isn’t even true UV and most Near UV LED’s have a shockingly low life expectancy.

Most people do not understand light or even what it means to certain corals.
There are true UV leds out there they are just expensive and would cost more than a whole fixture does now.
My Iwasaki put out enough UV that My skin in the winter would actually be a little red if I worked in the tank for longer periods.

 

[sfg]

Great post!! Hey there is data now showing if you run radiums on electronic ballasts, getting 18-24 months is not out of the question. However, the Radions hold their spectrum better than most other bulbs. I replace my Phoenix’s at 14 months.

You have a link? Just recently switched over to radiums on electronic ballasts and would love to see this data.

Thanks man

 

[Lousybreed]

You have a link? Just recently switched over to radiums on electronic ballasts and would love to see this data.

Thanks man

I will have to search and right now I don’t have the time. I think it was Sanjay’s research that proved it. Basically after 6 months the rate of decline in bulb output stabilizes and the next 12-18 months there is another 5-10% reduction. I have a PAR meter and I have confirmed that 18 months for me is the sweetspot! About a 20% drop compared to a brand new bulb!!

 

[Josh Kraft]

Have you checked out something like this?

https://www.lightexports.com/metal-halide-plant-aquarium-250w-6500k-mogul-e39-lamp/

I've never used a MH fixture before, but did a little research, and what I read was that the bulb that they stopped making actually is around 7600k, but listed as 6500k.

What I posted says "Compared quality to Major Brands such as:
IceCap, Ushio, Aqualine, Iwasaki, Hamilton, Blue Life SPS, AquaMaxx, XM, Megachrome, Phoenix, Elos".

You could give what I sent a try, and the 8000K one, since supposedly the 6500k is speced wrong (and actually close to a 8000k bulb).

https://www.lightexports.com/metal-halide-plant-aquarium-400w-8000k-mogul-e39-bulb-8k/

 

[Lousybreed]

Have you checked out something like this?

https://www.lightexports.com/metal-halide-plant-aquarium-250w-6500k-mogul-e39-lamp/

I've never used a MH fixture before, but did a little research, and what I read was that the bulb that they stopped making actually is around 7600k, but listed as 6500k.

What I posted says "Compared quality to Major Brands such as:
IceCap, Ushio, Aqualine, Iwasaki, Hamilton, Blue Life SPS, AquaMaxx, XM, Megachrome, Phoenix, Elos".

You could give what I sent a try, and the 8000K one, since supposedly the 6500k is speced wrong (and actually close to a 8000k bulb).

https://www.lightexports.com/metal-halide-plant-aquarium-400w-8000k-mogul-e39-bulb-8k/

I worry about the mystery Chinese bulbs

 

[vetteguy53081]

I took expensive electricity rate of $0.15/kw, factored in ballast efficiency losses, and came up with $150/yr for a single metal halide. If you went with a Radion Pro you would spend $105/yr. I think if more people understood the economics of metal halides, and not some weird misconceptions about them, they would be more popular. The UV that halides produce is magical. The “uv” in the Pros isn’t even true UV and most Near UV LED’s have a shockingly low life expectancy.

exactly. you did the math and that's the point being missed.

 

[Softhammer]

I have never used Iwasakis but thought about trying them. The lamps that I loved the most and gave me the best results were 250W XM 10Ks. I am still using one but I really think it is on its last legs as it is 4+ years old. They were inexpensive, very high par, nice crisp color IMO and grew my corals the best. I am still lamenting I cannot get them anymore.

I might have some of those in my garage with very little use. Also have some Coralvue 15ks.

 

[Softhammer]

Reeflux 12ks, 2 XM 10ks and one XM 15k. All 250s. I have no use for them of anyone is interested.

 

[Mark]

Former die hard Iwasaki user here. Bittersweet to say goodbye to that era. I have same reverence for the double ended Aqualine Bushke 10k, which I ran up until 2016. I did the T5 thing after but now all my tanks are LED.

I try not to get nostalgic about the past. It’s a downer. I could get cranky about how the hobby was more fun in the past, cost and size of frags these days, etc. But that’s like an old guy yelling at a kid to get off his lawn.

 

[Battlecorals]

Former die hard Iwasaki user here. Bittersweet to say goodbye to that era. I have same reverence for the double ended Aqualine Bushke 10k, which I ran up until 2016. I did the T5 thing after but now all my tanks are LED.

I try not to get nostalgic about the past. It’s a downer. I could get cranky about how the hobby was more fun in the past, cost and size of frags these days, etc. But that’s like an old guy yelling at a kid to get off his lawn.

Very well put. thanks for the post!