HID lighting

[Hoovercat]

It seems like everyone uses fluorescent lighting. Does anyone use HPS/[acronym:7a9754be25="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:7a9754be25] lighting on their tanks? Are the [acronym:7a9754be25="Watts Per Gallon"]WPG[/acronym:7a9754be25] rules the same for [acronym:7a9754be25="High intensity discharge lighting (Mercury Vapor and Metal Halide)"]HID[/acronym:7a9754be25]?

[malkore]

[acronym:59b845bdb7="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:59b845bdb7] just isn't as popular in planted aquaria, because most of the time the tank sizes don't get big enough to merit the expense of [acronym:59b845bdb7="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:59b845bdb7].
From my understanding, [acronym:59b845bdb7="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:59b845bdb7] is slightly less efficient than fluorescent lighting, in terms of lumen output per watt consumed by the bulb.
You could follow the basic guideline of [acronym:59b845bdb7="Watts Per Gallon"]WPG[/acronym:59b845bdb7], but feel free to go over it just a little. For example, power compact users can grow glosso with 2.5wpg...but with [acronym:59b845bdb7="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:59b845bdb7] I'd go for a full 3wpg.

[travis simonson]

Here's a great article if you're interested in the technical side of the [acronym:077493d58b="Watts Per Gallon"]WPG[/acronym:077493d58b]/Lumens/PAR argument. [acronym:077493d58b="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:077493d58b] may not be as efficient in Lumens per watt but it does produce noticeably higher amounts of light in the photosynthetically useful spectrum than other light sources.

[savga]

I've looked into [acronym:b0b8732438="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:b0b8732438] lighting for planted tanks, but bulbs with the right color temperature rating are hard to find. Most setups are for reefs and are too blue.

[travis simonson]

There are now 10,000K [acronym:df2aec671c="High intensity discharge lighting (Mercury Vapor and Metal Halide)"]HID[/acronym:df2aec671c] [acronym:df2aec671c="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:df2aec671c] lamps available that I've seen many experienced aquarists using (Luis Navarro, Jeff Senske). I use mainly 10,000K [acronym:df2aec671c="Compact Flourescent"]CF[/acronym:df2aec671c] lamps in my planted tank and the plants are doing great so I'll bet those new 10,000K [acronym:df2aec671c="Metal halide light"]MH[/acronym:df2aec671c] lights do wonders

[Hoovercat]

Well, I've got a 29 [acronym:8fefab1b2c="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:8fefab1b2c] and a 50 watt hps on the way, so we'll see if my swords and banana plant like it