Grow lights????

[tottenchris]

Can you use grow lights for corals in a 125 gallon tank?

Do cleaner shrimps need special lighing?

I'm would like to build my own hood if I can so any info will help.
Thanks

 

[Reefscape]

Cleaner shrimps dont need any particular lighting, other than what your fish/corals require...

Dont know about in the US, but over here in the UK, nobody uses grow lights as they dont give the correct lighting spectrum...Like i say, they may be different in the US..

Metal halides all the way !!!!!


Niko

 

[dorkfish]

By grow lights do you mena those flourescent fixtures you get at the hardware store? If so, then yes, you can use them (actualy I'm using one of those over my 45g right now), just you'll want to replace the bulbs and you'll need roughly 4 6 foot bulbs just to keep soft corals... 6-8 for LPS... 10-12 for SPS. But using standard shoplites, I doubt you'll be able to fit more than 6 bulbs in there. If your looking into high light corals, it would be a good idea to switch the balasts and bulbs out with VHO's.

But more than likely metal halide pendants will end up being cheaper in the long run if you are planning to keep high light corals.

 

[tottenchris]

I was talking about the blue floodlights that people use to grow plants indoors. The lights are 60-100 watts each.

 

[Reefscape]

i would suggest putting the money to some good halides or a T5 setup rather than grow lights..as you may end up upgrading to them in the future..

Niko

 

[tottenchris]

Ok that sounds like the best idea, so I don't have to do the lighting twice.

I have another question. Should my skimmer be on 24/7 or less?

 

[Reefscape]

yes, it should be running 24/7...

Niko

 

[tottenchris]

thank you for the help!!