I was wondering if anyone has taken a look at these puck lights that ppl use for under cabinets. They make a wide range of these lights and they are usely about 20 watts per light. I was wondering if these lights could be used for a reef vase or even a pico? You can buy them just about anywhere and really dont cost that much. Theres even some called xenon fixtures which run cooler then the halogen and have a longer life. Just something I ran across and though I'd ask here first.
Mini Halogen Lights
- Thread starter Vafik
- Start date
leaffish75
New Member
no. Plants use a different light spectrum than aquarium bulbs. You could make a Mh light your self for cheap. Im doing this.
ghostbear29
New Member
lighting in a tank
in a reef vase your Grow bulbs will work but look like Sh!t. Remember that photosynthesis is photosysthesis. and this is usually starts around 5700 to 6700. Regardless what you hear that is a truth. The problem is that some organisms grow more readily than others. Like simple dinoflagellates and algaes. This causes huge blooms in our tanks. For higher ratings like 10,000 or higher, the light "bends" and simple algaes cant compete with the other macros and zooxanthelle of our reef tanks. Therefore, our creatures thrive instead of compete. Now I cant wait to see the arguments coming in now but basic biology will still win in every case. The play the devils advocate, You will need the higher "bluer" bulbs to actively see the corals in their correct color morph. everything else just looks green or brown.
P.s. has anyone tried something really blue like those 20,000k MH? How does that look on a nano? just a thought. Nevermind.
in a reef vase your Grow bulbs will work but look like Sh!t. Remember that photosynthesis is photosysthesis. and this is usually starts around 5700 to 6700. Regardless what you hear that is a truth. The problem is that some organisms grow more readily than others. Like simple dinoflagellates and algaes. This causes huge blooms in our tanks. For higher ratings like 10,000 or higher, the light "bends" and simple algaes cant compete with the other macros and zooxanthelle of our reef tanks. Therefore, our creatures thrive instead of compete. Now I cant wait to see the arguments coming in now but basic biology will still win in every case. The play the devils advocate, You will need the higher "bluer" bulbs to actively see the corals in their correct color morph. everything else just looks green or brown.
P.s. has anyone tried something really blue like those 20,000k MH? How does that look on a nano? just a thought. Nevermind.
Re: lighting in a tank
The process of photosynthesis is pretty similar across the board but not even all plants use the same wavelenths as other plants.
I'm running a 175w 20,000k MH bulb over my 75g tank. It's got more of a blue tint to it than the others. It balances out my VHO's very well, which seem to be a bit on the pink/red side for some reason.
Here's a fun thread on aquarium lighting.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... genumber=1
In a pico tank like and aqua vase, it would probably work fine. In general though grow bulbs don't have the right color rating to be all that useable for aquariums. The range of useable wavelengths for photsynthesis in plants is not the same range of wavelenghts used by zooxanthellae, most likely because water filters different wavelengths out at different rates.ghostbear29 said:
The process of photosynthesis is pretty similar across the board but not even all plants use the same wavelenths as other plants.
I'm running a 175w 20,000k MH bulb over my 75g tank. It's got more of a blue tint to it than the others. It balances out my VHO's very well, which seem to be a bit on the pink/red side for some reason.
Here's a fun thread on aquarium lighting.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... genumber=1