Light combo

[MadReefer]

Thoughts on a T5 halide combo light. Saw someone selling this.
I am considering not going full LEDs with the upgrade.

 

[Sponge]

Great combo. As far as par and spectrum. As long as you can manage heat. As halides can produce quite a bit.

 

[Mrx7899x]

I've always wanted to try halides.

 

[MadReefer]

It will be mounted to the wall above the tank.
Not sure how much heat it will throw.
Also concerned about the mount of electricity it will draw.

 

[deepblue68]

i had great growth when I used metal halide.

 

[motortrendz]

Are they 2-250w or 400w halides. I had the same fixture with 400w they were insane. I had them on dimmable ballasts with 20k radiums. they looked amazing. But you could literally fry an egg below them

As for the amp draw, 500w is 4.5amps and 800w is about 7.2 amps, so with that said youd probably need a dedicated circuit for the tank of atleast 20 amps bc if you have a 500w heater that's another 4.5 amps, plus pumps, powerheads and any other electric used for the tank.

 

[MadReefer]

Thanks. I plan to have the new office in its own breaker.
I reached out to seller to find out about the halides.
Does anyone know what these cost new? Just comparing.

 

[motortrendz]

They're not cheap or atleast went when new. I think they were about 700$ atleast the ones I had were. They were Hamilton's.

 

[Sponge]

Mark. I used a large halide fixture for a few months simply because it’s what I had. Over a frag/hospital/acclimation tank. Hahaha. The fixture was about 18 inches above the water and all I did was keep a fan running. On the same timer as the light. It worked great. Never had a heat issue. It blew air across the water which of course aids in heat and oxygen exchange. And it also was large enough that a portion of the air was hitting the fixture. I believe that helped a lot. Because without it that fixture got hot. FYI. That unit is adjustable and was running at 250w. I did not need to run it at 400w so I cant say if the fan would have cooled it enough.

 

[MadReefer]

The halides are 250W each.

 

[MadReefer]

Asking $130

 

[motortrendz]

Not bad, expect to pay that in replacement bulbs and then new t5s

 

[amado]

Just say NO!!
LED are your friend
Just say NO to metal halides it’s not worth it. you will need a chiller in the summer.
Getting replacement bulbs is very difficult.

 

[MadReefer]

Is it really going to get that hot?
Was about to the pull trigger.

 

[MadReefer]

I can pickup 4 bulb t5 fixture 48" for $50.

 

[Sponge]

I can lend you a halide fixture if you want to test heat.

 

[MadReefer]

Matt, Thanks.
When I 1st started had the old school huge scifi halide fixture built-in to the canopy.
Those bulbs were huge and produced much heat. So in comparison to these newer fixture I would hope the heat is less. Why I was asking.

 

[MadReefer]

I looked at bulb replacement cost and WOW!!!

$50 to replace the halides per bulb. Think I am out.

 

[Sponge]

Well there’s your answer lol.