KrackerG Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 more of an electrical question i guess, but how long have metal halides been available? being new to the aquaria scene, everything is new to me, so i'm just wondering how many years old are metal halides ...thanks:P Link to comment
Condiman Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 Ohh I think I herd of them back in the late 80s but I do not really think that they are older then maybe 85 or so Link to comment
KrackerG Posted January 26, 2004 Author Share Posted January 26, 2004 ...but how long have they been used on aquariums...like when did they start to take off? so before then, florescent tubes were the only thing? how about DE bulbs, they loook like newer technology...been around for a while?? sorry for asking a pointless question...but inquiring minds want to know:P Link to comment
jojopus Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 Up until a few years back Metal halide lights were more commonly seen on European reef aquariums wheras VHO's reigned supreme here in the states. Link to comment
theDude Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 About 40 years ago General Electric began to experiment with more complicated mixtures of stuff inside of mercury arc lamps, in order to get better efficiency and a more pleasing, white color. Starting with mercury metal vapor, they added iodine salts of other metals (indium, scandium, sodium, and thallium). Iodine is one of the halogen elements, and thus a compound of a metal and iodine is called a "metal halide" salt. By 1962 they had applied for patents on this varient arc lamp, which they called a "Multi Vapor Metal Halide" lamp. The "Fountain of the Planets" at the 1964 New York World's Fair was illuminated by GE's new metal halide lamps. Metal Halide lamps are more efficient than their parent, the mercury vapor arc lamp. They can be as much as 50% efficient in turning electricity into light. They tend to not be quite as efficient as the high pressure sodium vapor lamp, but they put out a much more white light. This white light does tend to be somewhat biased toward appearing a bit bluish. That's the only info I coule find. I don't think there is anything on the internet that documents MH history as it relates to aquariums. Link to comment
KrackerG Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 wow, thanks dude! Link to comment
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