msuzuki126
New member
if "home depot" lights work well for growth of algae in a refugium, wouldnt these also work for the growth of corals in the tank?
lighting?
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mr pink floyd
New member
you can buy some of those curly bulbs, the flourescent ones, they are rated for 6500K
msuzuki126
New member
sorry im a noob 
so, would say three of those curly lights in a 37 gallon tank actually aid in coral growth?
so, would say three of those curly lights in a 37 gallon tank actually aid in coral growth?
msuzuki,
Tank lighting is a personal choice and dictated by what you want to keep in the tank. If all you want is fish, any light will work. If you want Acropora, you basically need halides.
Lights are broken down by two components, the color or spectrum of the light and it's intensity. As a general guide, the wattage of the light gives you it's intensity, a 100W bulb is the same as 10 10W bulbs.
The spectrum of light that our corals need tends to be "bluer" or of higher energy than normal lighting. The bluer the light gets, the more energy it has in each light "particle" Color temperature is an indication of this. The higher the color temperature, the more high energy light it produces. The spectrum of the sun is 6500K, this is what home depot's "white" or "sun" lights are. 6500K light in enough quantity will keep ALL corals alive. Most people agree that this light temperature is the best to use for sheer coral growth. Personally, I use a mixture of 10000K VHO lights and 14000K metal halide lights.
Home Depots " Plant and aquarium bulbs are a mixture of orange/yellow (low energy) light and a small bit of blue (high energy) light which is what makes them purple. However, their true color temperature is more acuratley described, as someone mentioned above, around 5000K. This type of spectrum, while being good for plants (photsynthesis), it is not very good for corals.
To clarify, low energy lights are not "bad" for corals. With enough intensity, almost all lighting sources will provide the corals with enough of the right light to thrive, however at low color temperatures, you are providing alot of light to plants and algae that you don't want in your tank. Lighitng a tank with the Home Depot Plant and Aquarium bulbs will likely mean you have a tank overrun with algae that overtakes your corals.
As a side note,
cristhiam,
"I'm using 3 40W HD lights Phillips 6500K and 1 actinic bulb. I'm using an IceCap 660 to overide the bulbs (2 years now) bulbs are replaced every 6 months"
If this is so, why does it say "540W of VHO" in your tank's description underneath it?
So, to answer your question,
There is no reason why you can't create a canopy which houses enough 6500K Home Depot lights to have a thriving reef tank. However, you will find that for cost and space, higher intensity lighting will be more efficient. After all, it takes alot of "curly" bulbs to match a 250W mogul, remember, the wattage's listed are "equivalent" wattages and don't indicate the actual wattages of the bulbs, my recollection is that a curly bulb advertising 100W is actually 16W, thus it would take 10 of these to make 1 165W VHO bulb. I paid 85$ for my VHO ballast, and 40$ for each bulb, that's $125 for 2x165W, at home depot, I think those bulbs are about $6 each, you would need 20 or so, ignoring fixtures.
I use Home Depot, 4x24W NO flourescent and 3 16W curly bulbs for my refugium and have noticed many softies growing under them, like Xenia, however I would never try to design a system based on that lighting.
HTH,
Will
Tank lighting is a personal choice and dictated by what you want to keep in the tank. If all you want is fish, any light will work. If you want Acropora, you basically need halides.
Lights are broken down by two components, the color or spectrum of the light and it's intensity. As a general guide, the wattage of the light gives you it's intensity, a 100W bulb is the same as 10 10W bulbs.
The spectrum of light that our corals need tends to be "bluer" or of higher energy than normal lighting. The bluer the light gets, the more energy it has in each light "particle" Color temperature is an indication of this. The higher the color temperature, the more high energy light it produces. The spectrum of the sun is 6500K, this is what home depot's "white" or "sun" lights are. 6500K light in enough quantity will keep ALL corals alive. Most people agree that this light temperature is the best to use for sheer coral growth. Personally, I use a mixture of 10000K VHO lights and 14000K metal halide lights.
Home Depots " Plant and aquarium bulbs are a mixture of orange/yellow (low energy) light and a small bit of blue (high energy) light which is what makes them purple. However, their true color temperature is more acuratley described, as someone mentioned above, around 5000K. This type of spectrum, while being good for plants (photsynthesis), it is not very good for corals.
To clarify, low energy lights are not "bad" for corals. With enough intensity, almost all lighting sources will provide the corals with enough of the right light to thrive, however at low color temperatures, you are providing alot of light to plants and algae that you don't want in your tank. Lighitng a tank with the Home Depot Plant and Aquarium bulbs will likely mean you have a tank overrun with algae that overtakes your corals.
As a side note,
cristhiam,
"I'm using 3 40W HD lights Phillips 6500K and 1 actinic bulb. I'm using an IceCap 660 to overide the bulbs (2 years now) bulbs are replaced every 6 months"
If this is so, why does it say "540W of VHO" in your tank's description underneath it?
So, to answer your question,
There is no reason why you can't create a canopy which houses enough 6500K Home Depot lights to have a thriving reef tank. However, you will find that for cost and space, higher intensity lighting will be more efficient. After all, it takes alot of "curly" bulbs to match a 250W mogul, remember, the wattage's listed are "equivalent" wattages and don't indicate the actual wattages of the bulbs, my recollection is that a curly bulb advertising 100W is actually 16W, thus it would take 10 of these to make 1 165W VHO bulb. I paid 85$ for my VHO ballast, and 40$ for each bulb, that's $125 for 2x165W, at home depot, I think those bulbs are about $6 each, you would need 20 or so, ignoring fixtures.
I use Home Depot, 4x24W NO flourescent and 3 16W curly bulbs for my refugium and have noticed many softies growing under them, like Xenia, however I would never try to design a system based on that lighting.
HTH,
Will
cristhiam
New member
That picture was my 55. I just set up my 125 last weekend and now I have 4 40W 6500K and 2 110 Actinics. I'm using 2 IceCaps 660 I love them. According to IceCap overide the bulbs at 80W each so that's how I made that calulation
Bulbs are just $20 for 4 can't beat that. Most of the corals on the 55 were frags. check out my gallery I have some pics. and more on my website.
Bulbs are just $20 for 4 can't beat that. Most of the corals on the 55 were frags. check out my gallery I have some pics. and more on my website.
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