# Anyone using metal halides still?



## spiderguardnano (Aug 8, 2015)

Was thinking of using some metal halides for my new builds any thoughts?


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## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

I don't use them personally but I love the looks of metal halides. No they're not as energy efficient. That's a given, and I'm calling it...there will be a dozen or more replies to follow talking about how you should not even consider them knowing the cost and efficiency of LEDs. But...you didn't ask that, and probably are already aware. For what it's worth I think the color and shimmer of metal halides are unbeatable for both plant tanks and reef tanks


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## Argus (May 22, 2013)

spiderguardnano said:


> Was thinking of using some metal halides for my new builds any thoughts?


My thoughts:

1. If I was using MH lights today, my fish would have boiled. It was 85°F in the house (no air con) and the smoke from nearby fires made opening windows a bad idea. 

2. I've read a few articles that say MH is inferior to LEDs in PAS/PUR for a given PAR. Although I haven't fully digested and grokked these articles, it seems that LEDs are a better choice for plant growth.
http://www.fish-as-pets.com/2010/01/led-vs-metal-halide-aquarium-lights.html
http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2012/03/pur-vs-par-in-aquarium-lighting.html
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html#energy
Some info is redundant. 

3. It seems that MH are more generous than LEDs in their contribution to climate change. So, if you are hoping that rising sea levels will give you beachfront property, or you like the idea of California droughts causing the state to go up in smoke, please do your part to contribute by using MH.

4. The automated sunrise, midday, sunset, and moonlight of the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 is groovy, man. I'm beginning to suspect it was designed to maintain high PAS/PUR levels while cutting back on the yellow/greens (and thus reducing PAR) during its evening, night, and morning modes. Haven't really checked this out yet.


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## duce (Sep 11, 2015)

Im considering metal halides for my new tank too. All the great planted ive seen in real life are under metal halides. Ive read a lot saying how great LEDs are but the fact that most pics ive seen on the net of professional aquascapes are useing metal hilides makes me question alot of what ive read.

As far as people claiming they cause global warming ill listen when said people stop using microwaves, dishwashing machines, washing machines, tv'sand other household appliances. In fact ill listen when they are living in tents in hunter gather societies without electricity or fishtanks.


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## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

duce said:


> As far as people claiming they cause global warming ill listen when said people stop using microwaves, dishwashing machines, washing machines, tv'sand other household appliances. In fact ill listen when they are living in tents in hunter gather societies without electricity or fishtanks.



Amen. Your Vehicle is contributing to global warming far more than your fish tank is. 


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

spiderguardnano said:


> Was thinking of using some metal halides for my new builds any thoughts?


I used to a long time ago. They worked, but they burn terribly hot, don't produce as much light as they do heat and cost a lot to run.... there are alternatives such as florescent induction lighting Inda-Gro Induction Lighting Systems | It's What Plants Reach For advantage long life and run cool. There's plasma lighting also Search Results and Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQVhN3i1QcM 
You'll see the bulb is incredibly small. Is it practical for the average home aquaria, probably not. If I were you I'd go with led.


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## DaveK (Jul 10, 2010)

duce said:


> Im considering metal halides for my new tank too. All the great planted ive seen in real life are under metal halides. Ive read a lot saying how great LEDs are but the fact that most pics ive seen on the net of professional aquascapes are useing metal hilides makes me question alot of what ive read...


I see few reasons for this. First off, MHs have been around for years, so it's already in use on the system. Decent LED lighting is fairly new. Many people don't want to make the investment in LED lighting when the existing lighting is already good. 

In a really large tank, and we are talking something like 500 gal and up, MH is the only solution to getting really good penetration in a deep tank. Most of your LED systems are not going to be able to do this.

MHs have a low initial cost, and can be repaired with off the shelf parts. If the manufacturer goes under, or discontinues parts, your LED fixture can easily become a paperweight. Anyone remember the Solaris LED lighting system from about 10 years ago? Perfect example.

Having tried most types of lighting, I have found most of them work, and good lighting of one kind is better than poor lighting of another kind.


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

DaveK said:


> I see few reasons for this. First off, MHs have been around for years, so it's already in use on the system. Decent LED lighting is fairly new. Many people don't want to make the investment in LED lighting when the existing lighting is already good.
> 
> In a really large tank, and we are talking something like 500 gal and up, MH is the only solution to getting really good penetration in a deep tank. Most of your LED systems are not going to be able to do this.
> 
> ...


 For a tank that large or larger, plasma would be more appropriate. Perhaps certain types of leds in a battery formation could work.


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## DaveK (Jul 10, 2010)

Steve001 said:


> For a tank that large or larger, plasma would be more appropriate. Perhaps certain types of leds in a battery formation could work.


Plasma lighting in home aquariums, even large reef systems is still so new and so few people use it that you really can't draw too many conclusions about how good it is.

I don't know anyone, personally, that is using plasma lighting on an aquarium. If anyone here is, I'd like to talk to you about it. 

You might recall how MH lighting, LED lighting, and even T5 lighting went through some growing pains to get where they are today.


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

DaveK said:


> Plasma lighting in home aquariums, even large reef systems is still so new and so few people use it that you really can't draw too many conclusions about how good it is.
> 
> I don't know anyone, personally, that is using plasma lighting on an aquarium. If anyone here is, I'd like to talk to you about it.
> 
> You might recall how MH lighting, LED lighting, and even T5 lighting went through some growing pains to get where they are today.


 I took a moment and found this vid. Interesting how the light ramps up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJkOhw7pxNw


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## Argus (May 22, 2013)

DaveK said:


> Plasma lighting in home aquariums, even large reef systems is still so new...


Interesting technology. More efficient than LED. If I understood the video properly, the plasma reaches about the temp. of the surface of the Sun. 

The spectral graph shows a sharp dip at a wavelength important to photosynthesis. It is a narrow dip, so perhaps the light on either side of the dip will provide enough energy for plants.

Plasma Lighting for Aquariums with Early Testing by Aqua Illumination


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I still see tanks with MH. LED's are great and I am having great luck with all my fixtures I have owned so far. I see no reason to not go MH if it's the best solution for you. As someone above said, one nice thing about MH, or any lighting besides LED for the most part is you can actually fix them, even upgrade them, where most LED fixtures you cannot. I was very hesitant to go LED at first because of non adjustable color spectrum. That was a big deal for me. My first LED fixture was way off what I enjoyed but I did add RGB strips which helped. It seems every time I buy a new LED fixture with better features, a new fixture comes out that makes mine outdated, kind of like buying a smart phone, if you want to keep up, you will waste way more money than a higher energy bill.

I would seriously consider LED's though, especially with adjustable color spectrum and dimmable, if it fits your needs and your budget. The technology has come a long way where MH are a few technology cycles behind. No reason you can't grow plants with them, that's been proven over many years, I feel LED's have proven themselves as well for reasonably sized planted tanks too though.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I ran MH for 14 years 16" over 24" deep tanks. Worked fine except couldn't run lights for long, algae issues plus plants didn't need that much light. I run LED over the same tank, suspended 16" over a 24" deep tank. Works fine. My unit actually can pull a few more watts than the 300 watts of MH I had previously, by design of the manufacturer. I'm sure I wouldn't have put that much over my tank if I built a lighting unit.

Completely agree about the problem of finding the color balance for a fixed LED system. My system can have LEDs replaced [by somebody else, I'm not touching it!] but I chose a 4 channel unit that is programmable and it doesn't cost me a thing to try a different color combo. I wouldn't have gone LED otherwise. With MH I was stuck with a nasty looking tank for months if I chose a poor quality bulb. Plants grew, fish were fine but a couple times there was pink or yellow substrate, no blue on fish, muddy orange platies rather than the clear red orange they show outside in sunlight, or under my LED or under a really nice MH like the ADA one. Honestly the one crypt that has been with me from the start has never looked better than it does now under LED. Leaves are broader and more bullated, colors are more intricate and this is a super ordinary and easy crypt.

I wasn't a fan of bumping my MH when working on the tank but otherwise they didn't heat up the room to any degree. Did turn them off on super hot days on occasion though. Light spill was annoying though. Actually sort of miss it, we didn't need any lights on in the room if the MH was on and now we do.

Forgot about the disco ball light! LED with various colored lights will make for interesting shadows on the sides of the tank and the plants above my tank do show colored spots. Both LED and MH have nice shimmer if the water's surface has a ripple on it. LED shimmer is busier though.

LED power supply is quieter than tar ballast MH, don't get that sort if you go MH. My LED brick runs cooler than the MH brick did as well. I ran a fan over the MH brick. In hot weather it did turn off due to overheating a couple times.

To roughly duplicate the PAR of the nearly 2 year old MH bulbs I can only run the LED at 40% of maximum for the same 8 hours the MH was on or, lots more fun, ramp the lights from 0-20% for a few hours-100% for a bit-40% til dusk-20% for the evening-0 for a nice sunset with lights on for 14 hours a day and no looking at a black box. I don't know if there is less problem spectrum or what, just going for lighting where we can see in the tank most of the time we are in the room and little algae.

Most of the planted tanks I see entered in contests are lit by fluorescent lighting, not MH. Not even the big ones.

Whilst stalking a reviewer of my particular LED unit I discovered he entered his LED lit tank in IAPLC 2015 and received a ranking of 88. The tank was grown under LED, that doesn't mean it was photographed under LED. Internet scaping contests are half scape and half photography skill after all.
https://youtu.be/bSlBF56yEII

Have fun planning your new tank. If you go MH the ADA bulb really is nice for planted tanks.


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