MH security lights

The only thing that jumps out at me is the "dawn to dusk" feature, which means that it has a light sensor to automatically turn it on at night and off during the daytime. You'll have to disable that somehow if you want to use it on a tank, but that wouldn't be too hard. I also imagine that the bulb it comes with isn't going to be a good spectrum for reefkeeping, so you'd want to replace that as well.
 
That's the thing I can't see why it wouldn't work.

That is just one of the lights. There are others at my local hardware stores that don't have the dawn to dusk feature.

I'm sure it is too good to be true.
 
As long as you replace the bulb with one with a higher kelvin rating (10,000k-20,000k) you should be fine. also I noticed on the one you listed that the finish was bronze. I'd stay away from that because it's a copper alloy and could corrode and leach copper into your tank. You might also look for retrofit kits on ebay. I got a 250 watt retrofit for like $100 that way which worked great for me till i made the switch to t5s. If your on a budget I'd think those security lights would work fine as long as your tank is pretty small, just change the bulbs like I said or you'll get some serious algae growth.
 
I think I will go pick one up tomorrow. A LFS sells lots of different bulbs so I'll go grab one and try it out. Mounting it shouldn't be hard.

Thanks for the tip on the copper, don't want to hurt my inverts.

The tank is a 40g - 24" high. I don't really have a budget but I always try and save money. ;)
 
Get the 175w version. There are no 50, 70, or 100 watt single ended reef bulbs You'd have better luck with the 175 (or 250 if they have it).
 
I was looking at lowes bulb sections. I think the bulbs are different so you cannot use a marine brand to suit your needs. I could not find a K rating for the lights at lowes either.

Hope I am wrong b/c the bulbs from lowes are around $10-$15 if I remember correctly.

Let us know what you find out. I would be interested for cheap bulb replacement
 
Back
Top