i dont think it matters much in freshwater but i saw a...

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krap101

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500 or 600 watt metal halide fixture type thing at menards yestreday. it was used as a shoplight. so...
 
Personally, I think metal halides are a waste of money and resources on freshwater aquariums. Even for planted aquariums. Too much. Not needed. Save the money and electricity for something you really need...if that's what you are thinking (buying the halide). Large reef aquariums that house coral that require high output lighting are really the only systems that would have a use for metal halides that I can think of.
 
welll... people are paying hundred of dollars for ametal halide setup when they can just hook up a shoplight. thats mainly what i was saying. i guess ill post this in the saltwater forum :)
 
MH does have its uses in FW planted aquaria.. it depends on the bulb and the wattage though.. It would depend on if you could get a bulb that puts out the correct K's and make sure its wattage is not too high for the size aquarium your wanting to use it for..
There are FW planted aquariums that are 100 gallons+...
 
Some good points greenmagi. MH is supposed to be the most efficient light available. As you say, there are some big tanks out there. A standard 240 gal is 30" deep and requires some serious liht to reach the bottom through the water. I inquired about the cost of the bulbs afew years ago, since the 400 wtters were in use throughout the plant, and the cost was roughly 1/3 of the LFS price from an electrical supply store. Again, it is important to get the right colour temp.
 
The big question I guess is what is the bulb type used so it could be looked into.. I think its the type that has leads on both sides.. like a small tube..
 
The double ended bulbs are usually in the 150w range. Most of the 400-600 watters are mogul base. A screw-in about double the size of normal incandescent.
 
The reason you can not use a MH "shoplight" is the wave lenght of the light it produces. I have 2800 watt MH's on my SW tank but only NO on my small freshwater. I would not recommend them for FW. They also generate lots of heat.
 
Brenden said:
The reason you can not use a MH "shoplight" is the wave lenght of the light it produces. I have 2800 watt MH's on my SW tank but only NO on my small freshwater. I would not recommend them for FW. They also generate lots of heat.

thats why I said you would have to look into replacing the bulb..
and regular NO is not good for freshwater planted tanks..
 
I have run 2 x 150W MH on my 85 gal FW planted and will be definately running them when it is replaced by a 150 gal (6 x 2 x 2). They give a fantastic shimmer and you can buy freshwater plant colour temp (around 5.2K) double ended bulbs from Arcadia now.

If you are prepared to supplement with other lights (maybe NO or HO) then you can go with the dirt cheap Osram metal halides (around £10 for 3 on Ebay) that have a temp of 4.2K.

Once your tank gets past 18" deep I don't think that NO tubes can really cut it.

You just have to make sure that you can get rid of the heat (PC cooling fans on the hood is a great way).

Andy
 
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