Metal Halide Q&A

Discussion in 'Metal Halide Aquarium Lighting' started by Dingo, Feb 16, 2010.

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  1. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    agreed... but I dont see what all the hype about t5's being more energy efficient is for!?

    If your using 250 watts towards light your getting 250 watts of light output... Roughly we are turning the 250 watts of electricity into photons. To measure this efficiency, we rate PAR. look at this article now... watts are almost the same, PAR is still lower for t5!

    Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Quantitative Comparison of Lighting Technologies: Metal Halide, T5 Fluorescent and LED
     
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  3. Tangster

    Tangster 3reef Sponsor

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    I myself would not give a hoot in hell with a $100,00 kicker added on for all the T5 ever made , I guess if you want to keep corals they will work ? But time will tell that also I recall the early in 90's and wow P/C's keep any corals you want yes Huum Power compacks LOL

    Until a better ligting is cheap enough I'll keep my M/H and VHO's I hvae had several of the LED solairurs to crap out also at several K$ a pop crazy
    I'll stick with what I know to be proven and over many yrs .
     
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  4. railroader46

    railroader46 Skunk Shrimp

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    Halides and T5s is whats going on mine. Mainly 500w of halides and 2x54 T5s this should grow any thing I want.
     
  5. Tangster

    Tangster 3reef Sponsor

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    But I'm guessing your t5's will most likely be used for Actinic sublimation ? Thats all I use my VHO tubes for . I run 20 lamps just 6 hrs a day and the VHO from 6:30 am till 10:00 Pm .
     
  6. railroader46

    railroader46 Skunk Shrimp

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    Thats all they will be used for. Ati true actinics.
     
  7. slocal

    slocal Doot!

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    I've seen Iwasaki's and was a bit weary since it's not a name I've heard get thrown around a lot. I guess that's because I haven't been in the MH world for too long. The tank will be a mixed reef as the contents of my 29g will be moving. Acans, Pocillopora, Birdsnest, Montis, Acros, Trumpets, Torch, etc will be going in there. I was told 14k would be a decent mix for them, but I welcome all opinions.

    I have these that just came in. Sunlight Supply Reef Optix 2 reflectors. Thanks for the advice, Tangster. I'd like to think Hamilton is around for such a long time.

    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    The color temperature will change based on the type of bulb and even the ballast you use. Im surprised you havent heard about iwasakis... they are THE lights for growing corals (just not good color at all). If you want to stick with 14K I would say Phoenix, Ushio, or SPS... all good for this color :)

    If you dont mind the extra price, go with lumen max reflectors... i promise you will be more than satisfied!!!
    http://www.saltysupply.com/ProductD...e&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=GoogleBase
     
  10. slocal

    slocal Doot!

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    I'm not concerned about color as much as I am getting the right light in to my tank. I mean, we all like a bit of blue in there and I suppose my t-5's can help out with that. Iwasaki should still be the one to go? If so, what color temp would you recommend?

    Those LumenMax's look great, but they won't fit in my canopy. Those things are freakishly massive :stare:
     
  11. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    they have different sizes, even one for a nano tank!

    But i pulled some charts for you:
    Real yellow color
    [​IMG]
    Nice crisp white
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Medium blue
    [​IMG]
    And darker blue
    [​IMG]

    The charts show how much of each wavelength is emitted from each light
     
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  12. slocal

    slocal Doot!

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    Ah, I'll have to look for one small enough. Thanks for the tip.

    What I'm seeing from the 10k bulbs is that they seem to still have a bit of blue in the 420nm range. Is that visible? I do like the fuller spectrum they provide.