Why not halogen lights?

[the josey wales]

They are very cheep. 10 bucks, 500 w
I know they run hot, but I can get around that.
Does anyone know the halogen "k" rating?

 

[dreeves]

They are way into the reds and would cause excessive algeal growth. And the heat part as well.
Too bad too...as they are cheap.

 

[marvida]

One nice thing about the ten dollar halogen lights is that some of them can be retro-fitted into HQI style MH. I've seen some very clean setups done this way.
Ken

 

[the josey wales]

Is it the color or the intensity of the light that causes the algeal growth?

 

[donjasper]

Originally posted by The Josey Wales
Is it the color or the intensity of the light that causes the algeal growth?
Hey if they can grow algea then they should be able to grow lots of other stuff. Try them out and let us know how it turns out.

 

[bang guy]

They are not as cheap as you think even if you can get around the heat issue.
A 500 watt Halogen puts out about the same amount of light as a 96 watt PC. It's good intense light but very expensive to operate.

 

[the josey wales]

I've already bought the 2x96 pc....
I was just wondering about the halo's
Incidently, I found halo bulbs in the 4000 k range.
what do you think?

 

[bdhough]

Its too low. You really need around 6700 or higher. I think a bulb like that will make your tank look yellow. There are other factors in algaeal (that right?) growth. Such as water quality and how long the lights are on and whats in there to eat it....

 

[sammystingray]

If a ten dollar light worked.......we would all use them.....anything below 5500k is not reef worthy, and I personally would never go that low. Watts are nothing but the power the light draws from the wall......it is input, and not an output value. My vote is a big NO.

 

[aaronw78]

Even 5500k looks yellow to me, That is what my original pc fixture came with and they made the tank look very dingy. But they looked white when you stare directly into the light. halogen bulbs put out a amberish glow, I don't know what to k rating is on halogens bulb, but it must be extremely low.

 

[the josey wales]

I have found the "construction grade" bulbs to be 2000 k (boo)
With nicer ones @ 4000 k (still boo)