Will Indoor Growing T5s work for reef tank?

bms

bms

Member
Can you use indoor grow plant lights for a reef tank and be able to support LPS and possibly any SPS corals and anemone? I have a friend that owns a hydroponic store and can get me this 4 bulb T5 light fixture for $60 no tax which is normally marked at $125.99 and up to $164.99 depending where you go. The bulbs are 24 inches long and 15" wide. Each bulb is 6400K and 24 watts (a total of 96 watts). Would these lights work? How would 2 of these 6400K light fixtures do for corals?. If have a 48" 60 gallon tank so i could get two of these systems and have 192 watts for $120. Also if it would work for my tank, would i need to rig up some sort of glass/plexiglass to cover the bulbs from salt creep or would hanging them a foot or foot and a half above my tank be far enough away to not have to worry about salt? Here is a picture of the light fixture (its the bottom one--the top is the two bulb system).
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
are they t-5 or t-5 ho? either one will work but if they are only regular t-5 they may not be powerful enough for SPS
 
fraggle rock

fraggle rock

Member
its really hard to say if the fixture would work the magic of T5 isnt just the bulbe but in the reflectors. Since its a grow light to promote photosynthesis the fixture may work. Now the stock bulbs are really in the yellow spectrum, the reef world usually is from 10K to 14K in T5 some people do use the 6700 in combo with, also it doesnt address the lower 400 to 500 nM spectrum that produce color. Yes a cover would be a good idead, since hanging a fixture like that 12" up afffetcs the light penatration and you PAR value, which of cousre affects color and growth. Also tese fixtures are single ballast which means even if you put in a mix of actinic and 10/12k lamps they would all come on at once, its preffereed to turn actininc 30 to 60 minutes before the 10/12K, and the same on the off cycle.
In the long run you probably would do much better either building a fixture from a retro kit or buying one designed around the hobby, if its cost look on Clist/or the auction sites for a used one.
 
bms

bms

Member
im glad i asked instead of just buying it thinking it would work. after weighing in all the factors i just read, i think it would probably be wiser (especially in the long run) to just buy/build one like fraggle said. i figured 6400K was pretty low in the kelvin range because i had seen most fixtures with bulbs above 10000K but i have also seen 6700K lights so i wasnt sure if there would be a difference. thanks for your replies and your help.
 
markw

markw

Member
Originally Posted by bms
http:///forum/post/3139674
i have also seen 6700K lights so i wasnt sure if there would be a difference.
Under 10,000K wil be progressively yellower. 10,000K is crisp white. The higher you get, the bluer. 20,000K is blue.
Mark
 
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