dekker59 Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 I have access to some metal halide fixtures/bulbs through work, and was curious how well they would work in a freshwater planted/unplanted tank. I've heard that they work well in saltwater tanks and would assume they'd work in a freshwater as well. Just figured I'd get some options on whether or not it'd be worth the effort to retrofit some metal halides in place of some florescents? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren88 Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 i have on my fresh planted and there awesome you just need to get actual plant bulbs or they wont be the right spectrum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evolution Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 Metal Halides work very well with plants, better than any other type of lighting and especially in deeper tanks. However, they cost a small fortune to run as they use huge amounts of energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 Just make sure you have LOTS of plants and nutrients are in balance, or you could be fighting algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 , and was curious how well they would work in a freshwater planted/unplanted tank. , , , What wattages do you have availible? I am not sure you will find advantages in an unplanted tank. Two ten dollar clip lights will allow you to view your fish. Why try harder? , , , worth the effort to retrofit some metal halides in place of some florescents? By retrofitting - your intending to convert an existing t-tube hood to accomadate moguls ? Overhead clearance my present challenges there - some bulbs prefer to burn "base-up". A single ended bulb is enveloped; whereas a double ended bulb will typicly require UV shielding. Do you have central air ? These can run hot - consider cooling fans. Personaly, I will not abide light spill. If you are overpowered the simplest solution is to raise the fixture. This (pre-meditated) is counterproductive. Why pump in extra electricity when it requires shackling to handicap the output? Short answer - yes, it can be done. The highly penatrative light will allow you to produce displays unachievable with other light sources. Ideally you are constructing a fixture that will allow you to produce a light intensity {read - PAR value} that you can manage. From personal experience - below 10 Par only mosses and possibly Naja grass will increase in size below 20 Par ferns will increase in size below 30 Par stem plants can be maintained sustained below 40 Par stem plants will grow with fertilization above 40 Par fertilization and carbon become warranted + 100 Par pressurised CO2 and daily ferting required to abate algae + 200 Par becomes a plant only tank - required CO2 levels will gas fish and the intensity will eventually blind them. Also @ this point you will be dumping about a pound a month of KN03 It can be done - and it can be a beautiful thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgd Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 , and was curious how well they would work in a freshwater planted/unplanted tank. , , , What wattages do you have availible? I am not sure you will find advantages in an unplanted tank. Two ten dollar clip lights will allow you to view your fish. Why try harder? , , , worth the effort to retrofit some metal halides in place of some florescents? By retrofitting - your intending to convert an existing t-tube hood to accomadate moguls ? Overhead clearance my present challenges there - some bulbs prefer to burn "base-up". A single ended bulb is enveloped; whereas a double ended bulb will typicly require UV shielding. Do you have central air ? These can run hot - consider cooling fans. Personaly, I will not abide light spill. If you are overpowered the simplest solution is to raise the fixture. This (pre-meditated) is counterproductive. Why pump in extra electricity when it requires shackling to handicap the output? Short answer - yes, it can be done. The highly penatrative light will allow you to produce displays unachievable with other light sources. Ideally you are constructing a fixture that will allow you to produce a light intensity {read - PAR value} that you can manage. From personal experience - below 10 Par only mosses and possibly Naja grass will increase in size below 20 Par ferns will increase in size below 30 Par stem plants can be maintained sustained below 40 Par stem plants will grow with fertilization above 40 Par fertilization and carbon become warranted + 100 Par pressurised CO2 and daily ferting required to abate algae + 200 Par becomes a plant only tank - required CO2 levels will gas fish and the intensity will eventually blind them. Also @ this point you will be dumping about a pound a month of KN03 +1 to all that Jewel said. Except this: "Short answer - yes, it can be done. The highly penatrative light will allow you to produce displays unachievable with other light sources." It doesn't matter what light source you use, the light intensity will decrease the same. Par drops off proportional to the square of the distance from the bulb. So T5HO putting out 200 par at the surface will have the same par at the substrate as a MH putting out 200 par at the surface. Metal Halide is no more penetrative... it is just generally more intense to start. One advantage that comes about from this is that (if you don't mind wasting energy and $$$) you can raise the fixture up higher and have more uniform par levels throughout the tank than if you put it right over the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dekker59 Posted August 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 , and was curious how well they would work in a freshwater planted/unplanted tank. , , , What wattages do you have availible? I am not sure you will find advantages in an unplanted tank. Two ten dollar clip lights will allow you to view your fish. Why try harder? , , , worth the effort to retrofit some metal halides in place of some florescents? By retrofitting - your intending to convert an existing t-tube hood to accomadate moguls ? Overhead clearance my present challenges there - some bulbs prefer to burn "base-up". A single ended bulb is enveloped; whereas a double ended bulb will typicly require UV shielding. Do you have central air ? These can run hot - consider cooling fans. Personaly, I will not abide light spill. If you are overpowered the simplest solution is to raise the fixture. This (pre-meditated) is counterproductive. Why pump in extra electricity when it requires shackling to handicap the output? Short answer - yes, it can be done. The highly penatrative light will allow you to produce displays unachievable with other light sources. Ideally you are constructing a fixture that will allow you to produce a light intensity {read - PAR value} that you can manage. From personal experience - below 10 Par only mosses and possibly Naja grass will increase in size below 20 Par ferns will increase in size below 30 Par stem plants can be maintained sustained below 40 Par stem plants will grow with fertilization above 40 Par fertilization and carbon become warranted + 100 Par pressurised CO2 and daily ferting required to abate algae + 200 Par becomes a plant only tank - required CO2 levels will gas fish and the intensity will eventually blind them. Also @ this point you will be dumping about a pound a month of KN03 It can be done - and it can be a beautiful thing. Well by retrofit I guess I ment more 'replace with'. Would be kinda tricky changing tombstones to a mogul base. As for wattages, I got a 150 and a 250. Main thing I was concerned about was the heat as I've always thought they were really very hot. Either way gonna give it a shot when I got some free time and see how it looks. Nice pics btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 . Par drops off proportional to the square of the distance from the bulb. absolutely true - in outerspace http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/esi/2001/CostaRica/la_selva2/light_intensity/intensity_image/luminosity.gif . . This chart shows an instance where light travelled about 150 million KMs and then lost over % 90 of it's intensity just making its way slanted through the atmosphere. Within the last 100 feet; as the light penetrates the canopy - only @ noon will %1 reach the floor. After 4 pm you are left with %20 of the remaining %1. Thats % 0.2 . . The highly penatrative light will allow you to produce displays unachievable with other light sources. Ideally you are constructing a fixture that will allow you to produce a light intensity {read - PAR value} that you can manage. The intensity cannnot be readily obtianed from other light sources. There are many tutorials around that one may follow in order to obtain 40-60 PAR @ the [barren] substrate . The short coming there is the fictitious belief that that value will still be there after decor, planting, and growth. The unknown factor is how to put down 40-60 par after the aquarium is stuffed with plants. This just cannot happen regardless of how many CFL's one puts over a tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evolution Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Is that an Acanthicus sp. of pleco in the pic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 The first photo shows about three feet of a four foot tank. The rock on the lower right is about as big as your my head. The Pl*co is a common (Hypostomus plecostomus ?) he is about fourteen inches (TL) in that photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soaptray Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 As mentioned, using MH or even Marine Spectrum lighting will cause a gigantic algae problem if you are not careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 jewels, that is a massive amount of wisteria you have there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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