lighting question

[thegrimreefer]

#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#A few years ago, before I had a reef tank, some one I used to work with told me that in addition to floresent lighting he put a halogen heat lamp made for reptiles on his tank with great results. Of course I never saw his tank to see how good his results were and have never heard of anyone before of since useing such a light on there reef. #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#I now have a 29gal reef tank with some soft corals polyps a clam and some trumpet coral. I'm lighting it with a 130watt power compact 50/50. So I was wondering if anyone here as ever heard of or tried useing this kind of lighting, and if so how did it work and would it work on my tank.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Thanks#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#

[graphixx]

I am not the lighting guru but I would think that the reptile bulb would not cover the correct spectrum that is needed for a reef tank. I am someone else will chime in with a more exact answer.

[Reptoreef]

a reptile bulb should cover the uvb needed, but as for uva or even some uvc, you're not going to get what is needed. Remember, that you will need to be sure it's a new bulb for the best results. There's a power compact made for reptiles that is basically a 50/50 twist in that would fit into a common house light fixture.

[jerryc]

A Halogen has been tired and i guess you can say it worked up to a point
But as all Reade stated the spectrum is of by quite a bit
And if you think MH get hot its not close to a Halogen.

Another point is Halogen lamp has a bad safety rating Thea have been none to explode into tine little bits.

[dakar]

Aside from beoing outside of what is accepted as the spectrum required for photosynthesis for our critters, I think most hologens fall short of 4000K, they are terribly inefficient, something around 65%. I need to do a bit of research to verify these numbers for certain. But if these assumptions hold true you could run a pair of 400w halides for the same amound of energy consumed by a single 500w halogen. But their price can make them look attractive if you can find a way to dissapate the heat created, especially over a 6+ hour photoperiod.

But if you give it a shot, throw up some pics and let us know how things pan out, espcially any long term results.

There have been successful tanks running nothing but the 3000K mercury vapor lighting ( < $30 ), think Peregrinus still has a 55g up and running with them.

Experimentation is always a great thing, though the results..... generally interesting.