How many of you have ever used a Metal Halide bulb to light your reef?

[revhtree]

As funny as it sounds there are now probably a good amount of reefers who have never used a metal halide (MH) to light their reef!

I remember the days of the first LED lights and how it was proclaimed that they would never work.

How many of you have ever used a Metal Halide bulb to light your reef?

PS. I still love the look of a nice Radium MH bulb over a reef supplemented with ATI T5s but I also love how beautiful reefs can be under LED lighting as well.

image via @samparker

 

[X-37B]

My old 120.

 

[Battlecorals]

Have and do 65k even. lol

 

[revhtree]

Have and do 65k even. lol

Are you sure you can get good growth with that combo? HA!

 

[GARRIGA]

Never used due to logistics but have admired many a tank that did.

 

[Serpentman2024]

My old 300g, lit by 3 x 250W MH

 

[Doctorgori]

I started with 175W 4800K GE bulbs and brown corals

 

[Troylee]

Still do and prolly always will!

 

[Formulator]

I only got into the hobby 8 years ago, so LEDs were well established and I still decided to go with a MH/T5 hybrid setup. To me, the intensity and sunlight shimmer effect of the MH just can’t be replicated by LEDs and I’m glad I listened to the old timers who advised me when I first started up.

I wish it wasn’t so hard to find bulbs and I might start stockpiling them… I think of my halides similarly to my rifle - from my cold dead hands!

I know I should have more growth after 8 years, but I just rebooted…

 

[revhtree]

Still do and prolly always will!

Beautiful man!

 

[Doctorgori]

Still do and prolly always will!

see that’s the problem with you old halide folks; your tanks look good and they will have to pry those stone age gizmos from your cold dead hands
(Added, said this a few yrs back and also noticed the below post, must have same sense of humor)

I think of my halides similarly to my rifle - from my cold dead hands! @

 

[jackson6745]

Running Radiums over my current tank in a giesemann spectra with added blue reefbrites. I love this lighting.

 

[IKD]

Would be nice if this was a poll too!

Haven’t used MH before but I do admire the tanks that do

 

[revhtree]

Would be nice if this was a poll too!

Haven’t used MH before but I do admire the tanks that do

DONE!

 

[Battlecorals]

Are you sure you can get good growth with that combo? HA!

I'm trying my best my good man I swear! Bulbs are going on almost 3 years now and still going strong! I have the last remaining iwasakis in my possession! 12 to be exact.

The way I figure I've got at least 10-12 good halide years left with them. Running 3 at a time. What happens after that? Not sure yet.

 

[tmc13]

My old 120 gallon, lit with 2x 250 watt Radium 20k's and reefbrite xho actinic strips. Now that I see there is a new distributor of Radiums, I'm seriously thinking about switching everything back over. The only thing stopping me is lack of fixtures to choose from.

 

[kdx7214]

Had one around 27 years ago. It generated so much heat that I had to remove it and go back to the T8s that were used at the time.

 

[Everclear]

I used them 20+ years ago, coincidentally, I still have an unused sunpod still in it's original shipping box from the good drs...

 

[19Mateo83]

If I could find an indefinite supply is 250w phoenix 14k bulbs, I would switch back in a heartbeat! Halides are awesome, in shimmer, spectrum and coral growth.

 

[Arkayology]

Here's my 20H from 2010 with a 250w 14k phoenix bulb.