Metal halide Vs Radion Vs Ati

[rayray]

I'm currently running dual 250 halides on my 70 Cadlights which is great however the spare room is getting a bit warm
I was wondering what lighting system would be second best ?
Ati 8 bulb or Radions?
I have mostly Sps any advice would be appreciated
Thanks
Lance

since your issue is temperature control, try a couple radion LEDs. IMO for the long term reefer LEDs are the best as no bulb changes, less chiller maintenance (can even turn off your chiller and the nagging "did my chiller kill my tank today" thought in the back of you mind goes away), no reflector butt wiping, and you get to play with spectrums, simulated lighting schedules, etc.

the physics part of lighting is universal and comes down to spectrum, intensity..,what am i missing? I think you can hit both these points with LEDs spectrum from UV to infrared, and then a lot of LEDs, a lot, a lot. the biological part of lighting might be harder as these coral have so many different chlorophylls and reflective pigments. each species and even variety might have its own optimum requirements for lighting?

yes you can do some of this with T5s, but the temp will still be almost as hot, and then be prepared to be the bulb/reflector slave.

 

[newe70]

If I decide to get an Ati 8 bulb do I need the dimmable version? I always do straight on/off no dusk /dawn


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had a 48" 6x54 dim version and did not like it. The relays went out a few times in less than couple months in operation.

 

[kajung2k]

Well put!! Though one thing I heard was that the kessil ap700 uses reflectors...? So does this put them in a different classification?

In the grand scheme of things photons are photons. That being said, any of the three lighting types can yield excellent results, provided that you are ensuring that the tank is getting an even spread of light.

Metal halide systems are half point source (the light coming directly off of the bulb), and half diffused source (the light coming off the back of the bulb and reflected off of the reflector and back into the tank). This gives both high intensity and and excellent "diffused spread" if large reflectors are employed.

T5HOs by their linear geometry provide excellent spread over the entire area beneath the fixture, similar to the metal halide you get somewhat of a linear source coming off the bottom of the bulb, and a diffused source being reflected down into the tank off the top of the bulb.

LEDs are strictly point source and can be found in either groups (helping to blend colors together like in the case of a Radion, Kessil, or similar), or in a spread out array (like a Reefbreeders Photon) to help increase spread at the expense of eliciting somewhat of a "disco" effect. When used in either groups or arrays, as long as there are sufficient groups or a large enough array to cover the top of the tank, you will have good results.

I'll give an example of possible systems for the last tank I set up, a 32x24x20h. I wanted "high" light for this tank because my intent was to do a mixed reef and then transition into a SPS dominant setup after the tank matured.

To do a metal halide setup on this tank I was looking a running a pair of 250w bulbs.

To do a T5HO setup I was looking at a 8x24w ATI fixture.

To do LEDs I was looking at running either two Radions or three A360we Kessils.

Any of the scenarios above would give excellent spread on a 32x24 footprint, but I chose the ATI because for me it was the most cost effective. The halides were a close second, and the LED systems were just prohibitively expensive for my budget.

 

[NVTE]

you tell that to dave aka [MENTION=824]o2manyfish[/MENTION]

How many has tank like o2manyfish? How many type of corals he has in there? I just spoke from experiences that i got from many Led users i checked out their tanks and spoke to. It is depend on multiple factors.
No offense bro. Hope you dont bring up high PO4 will make his tank like that especially new hobbiest. (i do heard people said his tank look good with high PO4 so can their tank.) all i said it depends.




Btw. lance. I would go with non dimmable version.

 

[e92Monster]

seems like t5 brings out the best colors in sps, and everything grows good I've noticed with t5's, I'm very happy with my 8 bulb ati sun power