Metal Halide and no Chiller?

[PoonTang]

I was hoping i could run 2 x 250 MH on my tank with no chiller. Figured if i had to lay out the money for the lights AND a chiller then would just say the heck with it and spend the money on a solaris led unit. Think now i may give the MH and fans a try if i can find a good used setup for the right price now and get the LED in a couple of years when the prices drop.

[briansmyth]

400 watt halides on 90 gallon tank in my basement- ran fan on high just above the sump - had to replace evaporated water every day - also had to be careful to have blinds drawn on the basement windows on the really hot days - still got temperature swings of 3 degrees on the really hot days.

Have run with Solaris PFO LED lights for almost a year... no chiller required, temperature fluctuation of 1 degree at most.

[Reefer Rob]

You could always run T5s. Much less heat, and not a expensive as Solaris. When I ran them I had to dial back the fan that blew across the top of my tank or my heater would come on in the middle of the day.

Sick of the MH heat thing really... but they do supply most of the heat for my house in winter. I might yet go back to T5s, Hmmm... but I'd loose the ripple effect *sigh*

[ron101]

Originally Posted by Reefer Rob

You could always run T5s. Much less heat, and not a expensive as Solaris. When I ran them I had to dial back the fan that blew across the top of my tank or my heater would come on in the middle of the day.

Sick of the MH heat thing really... but they do supply most of the heat for my house in winter. I might yet go back to T5s, Hmmm... but I'd loose the ripple effect *sigh*

What was the T5 wattage vs the MH wattage that you are running now?

[Reefer Rob]

Originally Posted by ron101

What was the T5 wattage vs the MH wattage that you are running now?

I was running 324 wats over my 72G bow because that's all I could fit over it. I was planning to run 800W of T5s over the 180G that I have now if I went that way.

[PoonTang]

Originally Posted by briansmyth

400 watt halides on 90 gallon tank in my basement- ran fan on high just above the sump - had to replace evaporated water every day - also had to be careful to have blinds drawn on the basement windows on the really hot days - still got temperature swings of 3 degrees on the really hot days.

Have run with Solaris PFO LED lights for almost a year... no chiller required, temperature fluctuation of 1 degree at most.

Which solaris unit are you running? and how do you find the colour and brightness compares to your MH setup?

[clipperfish]

I am running two 400w raduims 20000k On a 130g tank . And no chiller I do own one but tem never goes higher then 81F even in the summer .