question about the HQ light

[BadRoma1]

i normally buy HQ specially for fish tanks, but i've been a little low on money for a while and today i found regular helogen light table lamp and clipped it over my chaeto in refugium, that has been in the tank for like 6 months with no light at all. the price was great and i was thinking to maybe clip a couple of those in one corner of my low light tank for corals that obviously need better lighting, because i'm out of room in another small tank. i'll post picture of my outgrown tank under HQ later. would that be okay or do i need the light specially made for fish tanks because it has some kind of UV filter? i'm not an axport in lights, it's my week side. please help. thank you

 

[BadRoma1]

yes, that looks like i have to turn the light in because it produces too much heat from what i found out, more than HQ. i was just curious if it penetrates through better than fluoresence lights. anyone grew chaeto or corals under helogen? thank you

 

[Fishieness]

i know some people who have used 10-15 watt halogens for cheato growth. But it isnt really going to be much better than a normal incandescent or even one of the PC screw in bulbs.
But you are right. For the most part, they are goign to produce WAY to much heat to be usefull for a tank. At one point, i heard of at least one company that was making halogen fixtures for tanks, but have never heard anything beyond that, so it wasnt that big of a hit. haha.
ALso, halogens that you would normally find at a hardware store are not going to be a very nice color. Most likely very red/orange or VERY yellow. Not the nicest thing for color in your tank.
And Depending on your ballast, i dont believe you will be able to find very many bulbs that match the number of watts.
As far as the UV filter, most HQI bulbs dont have them. COralife makes them on the bulb, or at least they used it. SO you would already have the UV shield.
so yeah. Overall, dont bother