Halogen over a planted tank (nano) ?

[dapellegrini]

Has anyone had success with halogen lighting over a planted tank? As far as I can tell, they give you no clue to their spectrum etc...

I am looking for a solution to add light to my 3-gallon nano eclipse system (stock light is a 6watt T5), and those little halogens pack a lot of watts for the size... Either mod the hood that it came with or build a mini canopy (which would be complicated because of its odd shape)... I was looking at CF, but I think they would be too bulky for this application.

Desk lamps are out because I need to keep the top closed on this one...

 

[Jchillin]

If you hang it from a 20' ceiling, you just may have something.

Actually, I believe I recall someone who did that over a 29 gal. I cannot recall ATM who it was but they did suffer from some serious algae issues and ditched it in favor of CF.

 

[dapellegrini]

LOL. I was actually looking at the little 15-30 watt halogens...

 

[rkilling1]

I have read somewhere that Halogens are just like incandescence lights. They don't put out the correct spectrum and produce way to much heat.

 

[redswi]

I have read somewhere that Halogens are just like incandescence lights

they are the same...

A halogen lamp also uses a tungsten filament, but it is encased inside a much smaller quartz envelope. The gas inside the envelope is also different -- it consists of a gas from the halogen group. These gases have a very interesting property: They combine with tungsten vapor. If the temperature is high enough, the halogen gas will combine with tungsten atoms as they evaporate and redeposit them on the filament. This recycling process lets the filament last a lot longer. In addition, it is now possible to run the filament hotter, meaning you get more light per unit of energy. You still get a lot of heat, though; and because the quartz envelope is so close to the filament, it is extremely hot compared to a normal light bulb....

Xenon bulbs run a little cooler...but still not the right spectrum....

no I'm not a science geek....I'm just researching the same question as dapellegrini

 

[dapellegrini]

Thanks for the feedback. I was also looking at the Xenons actually... Back to the drawing board for me...

 

[mr funktastic]

your best bet would be to buy small compact flourescent lamp. they are about 10-15 bucks and usually have a 14 watt CF bulb in them. i got mine for 15 bucks and it has a 4100K bulb. they also sell 6500K replacement bulbs.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

redswi, very correct. I thought the gas in incandescent was nitrogen, but it can be any "inert gas", that is a very good description of how it works. And there seems to be a lot of information available on them.

As for the spectrum, incandescent and halogen (and HPS(High Pressure Sodium) and MV(Mercury Vapour)) all produce a very strong red spectrum (in fact the first 2 only get as high as yellow in the spectrum, the latter 2 are a bit different, but still produce strong reds).. This is why the person in question had issues with algae.. (ever see the old photos that are all orange?)

Flourescents and Metal Halide produce a light that is broad spectrum, the former (if tri phosphor) produces a spike in the red, green and blue regions. The latter produces it's light from an arc that is a much smoother spectrum, with no definitive peaks. (smooth curves).

 

[malkore]

i was able to throw 50w over a 15gallon, and kept java fern alive...just barely though.

its not a great spectrum, and a hideous yellow color of light that makes 5000k bulbs look white.

 

[redswi]

anyone know the spectrum on GE REVEAL bulbs ...they also offer a halogen

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpip/lightingAnswers/fullSpectrum/lightSources.asp

Very strong in the reds (it's the red line in the graph)