Home Depot Lighting

[utdrmac]

I've been reading that one needs lots of lighting in their tanks for best results with coral. I've got a 70gal with 265 watts of (2) actinc and (2) 10K bulbs.

I've been looking into MH to get some more lighting but they are quite expensive.

At recent trip to Home Depot I saw a "300 Watt White Halogen Floodlight Fixture" for under $20. Why can't I use those? What's the difference between Halogen and MH for tanks?

Am I stuck paying upwards of $400 for a MH system? Or will $100 at Home Depot and some DIY work be plenty?

Has anyone out there gone the DIY/Home Depot route for lighting?

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[reefsahoy]

initally when you go cheap and diy especially with lighting you end up paying twice as much in the long run. my advice especially to lighting is to buy the best you can afford. lighting is the single most important thing for corals. you can always do waterchange to compensate for poor skimming and filtering but lighting there is no substitute.

 

[revclyburn]

The difference is in the color spectrum of the bulbs. Halogens are more yellow, though they look white. That I believe is not a good thing. You want a light moving more towards a blue, cooler color.

If you want to dyi your lights, look for parts at a local electrical supply store. And go to www.melevreef.com for plans, there are a lot of good plans there.

Edwin

 

[utdrmac]

Thanks for the comments. www.melevreef.com came up as one of those spam domains. Did you type it right?

What about getting the parts from Home Depot but buying just a different bulb?

 

[aroundtuit]

Its http://www.melevsreef.com/.

 

[scarter]

halogen is halogen, there is no halogen bulb that contains the correct color spectrum. your animals will not survive. Photo synth animale will recieve no benefit from a halogen light. Besides the fact that the color spectrum is incorrect, they produce enormous ammounts of heat. Thirdly, halogen have no UV protection shields, so anything that you do illuminate with them will get a nice sunburn.

THe only reason I know is because I has the same idea and did some research on the topic.

just fyi. HPS or high pressure sodium bulbs are also no good. your choices are halide or flourescent in any of there various forms

 

[snulma1]

There used to be a mod using a halogen lamp. That you can do and set it up to handle a DE (double ended) MH bulb. I believe it was called a "Regents Mod" because of the model halogen lamp used. So if you search for it, you might be able to find it. I did it just to see and its not too hard!

 

[orlenz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7482410#post7482410 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snulma1
There used to be a mod using a halogen lamp. That you can do and set it up to handle a DE (double ended) MH bulb. I believe it was called a "Regents Mod" because of the model halogen lamp used. So if you search for it, you might be able to find it. I did it just to see and its not too hard!

I know about that mod,
it did not use a halogen lamp,
it used a halogen fixture to house a halide lamp,
and hooked it up to a halide ballast.
it was just a cheap way to hold the bulb.

 

[MarkD40]

I use a 500watt Power compact I got at HD for $39 over my 20 gallon sump for my chaeto and it works great. It is 500 watt equivalent but only draws like 80 watts or so of power. I really question the 500 watt output because it really is not that bright. Adequate for my chaeto though.

 

[iamquockie]

The ballasts that are commercial or home use also draws way more energy than the marine one as they are made for maximum efficiency. They will also run cooler compared to ones that HD carry. The energy bill wont be $200 higher a month, but things add up...........quick.....

 

[Catharsis70]

Those Hardware Store PC's list the incandescent equivalent when listing output. It is not accurate for our use at all. You are probably getting 80 watts +/- of actual PC light.