Radium metal halide bulbs will not be produced anymore!

[areefer01]

We can't even agree on a post by a manufacture that says they are phasing them out....

In any case those using them resupply plus a few extras. Depending on how fast news travels there will be some buying them who are not in the hobby but to score a few easy bucks, or a lot of easy bucks, due to no supply and high demand by hobbyist planning their exit strategy to swap lights or find suitable replacements (if there is such a thing).

 

[djf91]

For someone who is still using the the 400 watt Son Agro ballasts, is there another brand of bulb that can be used?

 

[Rjmul]

What about t5?

 

[jda]

Not to be argumentative - but good intentions or not, bulb production lines are going to go away if there is no commercial demand and/or regulations on production and the materials continie to expand and force the cost cost to be insanely probative (be design).

Industrial and commercial use dictate the supply of products like this, not the "hobby" consumption that isn't even a blip on the radar.

We get "aquarium" bulbs as a byproduct of mass produced flavors that keep the bulb plant humming along.

Short term - you may find a factory willing to crank out some custom 15K or 20K batches - or relabel/resell a product meant for a larger market. But the tracks are coming to an end one way or another.

I agree that market forces will be the deciding factor, not governmental. Remember that Radium bulbs were not reefing bulbs until about 1999/2000 ish and they were general purpose and just happened to look very good for our purposes. I have no doubt that these bulbs have declined for general purpose use in shopping malls, restaurants and other places in Stuttgart, Cologne, Prague or where ever... even if hobby use was still strong. That might make sense for a company to stop producing since the aquarium trade was a rounding error for them. However, this can still be profitable for a reefing company to take over.

The way that it was explained to me is that the cost to make bulbs has been sunk and paid for many decades ago. There can be differences in formulas that go into the emitter to change spectrum and stuff. It costs nothing to keep a machine around to make glass tubes and stuff. Heck, people still make VHOs since the things needed to do it have been paid for since before some of us were born. Think of this like the cost of making a carburetor... not many cars use them anymore, but you can still get new ones since the dies and machines were perfected a long time ago and it doesn't cost much to fire up every so often and make a few thousand... and then let push the stuff into the corner for a while until you need it again.

Vacuum tubes, carburetors, bias ply tires... all sunk costs that can stick around with very low demand. Some things can make resurgences like Vinyl (not comparing reefing lights to vinyl, BTW). Believe it or not, many people still think that MH are the ultimate in performance (few should argue this even if other factors keep somebody from using them) and ultimate things in any hobby stick around... generally.

Again, I am not saying that any of these bulbs will be around for years to come, but I would expect massive hobby exits to be from poorly run businesses, economic downturns and retirements.

 

[jda]

What about t5?

ATI and various factories in China make most of the T5s. Nothing out there that ATI is stopping production. There is no regulation that will make them, so this will be a demand thing, as well. ATI is a reefing company, so their business model is different than Radium. UVL makes bulbs in the US and still makes them.

 

[jda]

For someone who is still using the the 400 watt Son Agro ballasts, is there another brand of bulb that can be used?

Call Giesemann. Their bulbs are real HQI so the might be able to.

 

[djf91]

Call Giesemann. Their bulbs are real HQI so the might be able to.

Ok, will do. I think you told me in the past that the Giesemanns should last longer than the Radiums? Are you currently running Giesemann?

 

[jmichaelh7]

It’s pretty yellow.. they’re excellent for growth and change to 20k when you wanna color stuff up.. or run heavy blue leds or t5’s with 10k bulbs

I have the reefbrite so they come with LED on outside for color up. I ordered 10k today so we’ll see should last 2 years

 

[jmichaelh7]

Call Giesemann. Their bulbs are real HQI so the might be able to.

Worst case scenario , metal halide users switch to T5

 

[jda]

Ok, will do. I think you told me in the past that the Giesemanns should last longer than the Radiums? Are you currently running Giesemann?

I am all double ended... mostly. I have recently used some mogul, but I went to electronic ballasts and Hamilton 250 20k which look almost identical to Radium to me... did not need the HQI/Radium output. I don't know the answer on the Giesemanns, just that they make real HQI bulbs, so might be your best bet. I guess that you know that Hamiltons are a fail on Son Agro?

 

[Muffin87]

Out of curiosity. Do these bulbs contain actual radium?

 

[SpSDrew]

Out of curiosity. Do these bulbs contain actual radium?

No radium. Mercury is in the bulb though

 

[GarrettT]

So is Hamilton discontinuing bulbs too? Can’t find the 10K 400w mogul bulbs anywhere…

 

[Rjmul]

ATI and various factories in China make most of the T5s. Nothing out there that ATI is stopping production. There is no regulation that will make them, so this will be a demand thing, as well. ATI is a reefing company, so their business model is different than Radium. UVL makes bulbs in the US and still makes them.

Every ati bulb I've ever seen says "made in Germany"

 

[Rjmul]

ATI and various factories in China make most of the T5s. Nothing out there that ATI is stopping production. There is no regulation that will make them, so this will be a demand thing, as well. ATI is a reefing company, so their business model is different than Radium. UVL makes bulbs in the US and still makes them.

The phase out of T5 & T8 fluorescent lamps and compact fluorescent lamps 2023 | Aura Light

Everything you need to know about the phasing out of T5 and T8 fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent tubes (CFLs) in accordance with the Ecodesign and RoHS Directives. Also, calculate your savings when upgrading to LED in our LED calculator!

www.auralight.com

 

[jda]

I am not getting into this again. RoHS does not apply to specialty or hobby bulbs. Every EU producer has said as much and have no regulatory reason to stop producing. It says so in the actual documentation and not in an advertisement for a company to sell you new LED T5s.

 

[bsagea]

what does 10k metal halide look like?

I am bulk ordering 14k Hamilton but can’t find any. They have 10k 250w available

I've used 10K bulbs before. Supposedly the best for clams but I'm not a fan of the look - too yellowish in color for me. Totally different than a 20K spectrum which is what I use.
bsa

 

[Double monti 61]

Crappy led’s keep my coral alive.so deal with it! The future is bleak if it use’s to much power they do not want you to use it anymore to much stress on the solar panels and wind turbines.

 

[djf91]

I am all double ended... mostly. I have recently used some mogul, but I went to electronic ballasts and Hamilton 250 20k which look almost identical to Radium to me... did not need the HQI/Radium output. I don't know the answer on the Giesemanns, just that they make real HQI bulbs, so might be your best bet. I guess that you know that Hamiltons are a fail on Son Agro?

I have not tried the Hamiltons but I figured it was probly not a good idea….maybe I’ll try a few.

 

[djf91]

I agree that market forces will be the deciding factor, not governmental. Remember that Radium bulbs were not reefing bulbs until about 1999/2000 ish and they were general purpose and just happened to look very good for our purposes. I have no doubt that these bulbs have declined for general purpose use in shopping malls, restaurants and other places in Stuttgart, Cologne, Prague or where ever... even if hobby use was still strong. That might make sense for a company to stop producing since the aquarium trade was a rounding error for them. However, this can still be profitable for a reefing company to take over.

The way that it was explained to me is that the cost to make bulbs has been sunk and paid for many decades ago. There can be differences in formulas that go into the emitter to change spectrum and stuff. It costs nothing to keep a machine around to make glass tubes and stuff. Heck, people still make VHOs since the things needed to do it have been paid for since before some of us were born. Think of this like the cost of making a carburetor... not many cars use them anymore, but you can still get new ones since the dies and machines were perfected a long time ago and it doesn't cost much to fire up every so often and make a few thousand... and then let push the stuff into the corner for a while until you need it again.

Vacuum tubes, carburetors, bias ply tires... all sunk costs that can stick around with very low demand. Some things can make resurgences like Vinyl (not comparing reefing lights to vinyl, BTW). Believe it or not, many people still think that MH are the ultimate in performance (few should argue this even if other factors keep somebody from using them) and ultimate things in any hobby stick around... generally.

Again, I am not saying that any of these bulbs will be around for years to come, but I would expect massive hobby exits to be from poorly run businesses, economic downturns and retirements.

I’m surprised that nobody in the US has stepped and decided to make all of the different MH bulbs of the past if it really is that simple.