Halide lighting

[GrandeEsteban]

I am not a reef keeper but I like to know as much as I can about things like lighting for such ventures if I decide to go there one day. I've looked through magazines and seen mamc Halide lighting systems for large sums of money and bulbs as high as 275.00. Now I happened to be in my Home Depot the other day and saw Halide bulbs in a range of sizes ( screw socket , not double ended ) from 175-400 watts. The most expensive was around $45 being the largest 400 watt. Now , what is the difference in making a DIY fixture with your own ballast and these cheaper bulbs vs. the 10-20,000 K 250 watts bulbs they have in my Dr. F&S catalogue for 175.00??? Amc help would be appreciated!

steve

[mogurnda]

One issue is spectrum. What is the color temp of the Home Depot lamps? Corals, clams, and their owners can be picky about the wavelengths they are getting.

[GrandeEsteban]

that's the thing...they didn't list the what the K rating, spectrum or anything. They were Philips bulbs, so I guess it might be possible to track down the Philips website and maybe get some info that way???

[GrandeEsteban]

i did some research on the bulbs...they range from a 4000k to 4300 k rating. Is this a little too much of the red spectrum?? Not really sure how that whole thing goes.


steve

[mogurnda]

That is way low color temperature. 6500 is usually considered minimum, and most are using 10,000K and up.

[a_free_bird73]

I have looked into the same thing before and yes these standard halogens can be as low as 3000K depending on the brand. I have not been able to locate any 6,500K or up that does not cost $$$

In theory, it should still work for some organisms specially those normally found closer to the water surface. However algae becomes a serious issue with such a high red intensity. I have gone as low as 5000 with standard off the shelf compacts and although to me the algae is fine and controllable (at least for now) it is not asthetically pleasing for a display tank unless you do a lot of cleaning

[gcvt]

Originally posted by GrandeEsteban
Is this a little too much of the red spectrum?? Not really sure how that whole thing goes.

Yes - the tank would look very yellow with those bulbs. 10,000K bulbs are pretty crisp white and 20,000k bulbs are blue-ish. I think the most common setup is probably 10,000k bulbs with actinic supplementation.

[fishinhd]

OK guys...I'm gonna let out a little secret....just got my bulbs from a new dealer in Canada.....26.99 + shipping for a 400w m59 10,000k bulb, and his 250w are a little cheaper!! His website is sunaquatics.com, but it is not fully up yet. However, you can go on Ebay,,,seller name sunaquatics. He will combine shipping on multiple items....email him with questions. He says he is looking into other product such as skimmers, etc. His goal is to rock the reefing world with his low prices. I for one, am a very happy customer!!

Mike

[Nightwing]

so what would be the best Tempurature halide to go with? i have used 6500k before and had great results. but that bulb is pretty much done so should i change it up to a 10k or 20k? would the 20k need actinic supllimentation?

Tom