Hows this for temporary cheap lighting for a FOWLR?

[Dresden]

120g 42L x 22W x 29H

600W Deluxe Halogen Shoplight

Price $57.69

Adjustable aiming feature directs light where needed
Three position dimmer with three light settings
Attractive contemporary design
Aluminum housing with white finish
Uses two 300W halogen bulbs (included)
Includes chains and installation hardware
12' cord length
39.5" l x 6.4" w x 6.4" h (98.75 x 16 x 16 cm)


http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortments/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=699555&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=171675&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=407373&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=464965&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=464965&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=166971&bmUID=1037868228084

or even 2 of these

150W Halogen Task Light
http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortments/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=699543&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=171675&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=407373&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=464965&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=464965&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=166971&bmUID=1037868228486

[Samw]

It'll be fine for fish only tank. However, the light will be a little bit yellowish in color. Halogens also produces more heat so you wouldn't want it too close to the tank.

I ordered some low voltage 12V Ushio Whitestar 50W 6,500K MR-16 halogen lamps for my track lighting. I'm also getting a few portable fixtures so that I can experiment shining the Ushio halogen spotlight directly at some Acroporas to see if they'll change colors.

The bulbs I ordered were these

http://www.ushio.com/files/WhitestarSpecSheet0302.pdf

[Dresden]

let us know how it works for you

I'm wondering if this is a good route for algee growth, there's some cheap lighting that would fit my rubbermaid sump lid easy.

like this http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortments/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=444027&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=171675&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=407373&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=464989&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=464989&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=166971&bmUID=1037879541332

was hoping to add a tang and lawnmower bleenie early on and was hoping these cheap out door and work type lights would fill that need.

500 Watt Outdoor Halogen Floodlight
http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortments/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=443391&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=171675&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=407373&FOLDER%3C%3EbrowsePath=465277&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=465277&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=166971&bmUID=1037879870328

Also if sufficiant any 24" NO light suggests to offset the yellow color?

Looking up favored light type by Macroalgee noe

[Dresden]

looks like a low wattage is prefable on the Halogen due to spectrums in the heat only range.

[rossb]

Dresden..
There is much to be said about lighting. From my research one should consider two things. The first is the lumens per watt and the second is the color temperature.
On the first point (lumens per watt) there is much to learn. Basically the scale goes something like this. Incandesant (includes halogen) 15-25 lumens per watt, fluoresent (no) 45, compact fluorescent (CF) 70ish, metal halide 89ish and finally sodium high pressure ...around 100. Of course these figures vary greatly. this is rather a scale of brightness.

The second and equally important is the color temperature. Without discussing like Plancs constant or other ugly concepts, one should think of heating metal...as you heat it it gets hotter and as the temperature goes up it turns whiter, which is sort of the color. As an example consider the light at the equator. At the equator at noon the equivalent light temperature is about 6500 K...but at full spectrum. When the light hits the water the longer wave lengths are filtered out and at various depths the color changes. So some marine critters like 6500K and other like the shorterwave length lights ...10,000K or at greater depths 20,000K.

If your still awake here this has a bit to do with your original question. The halogen light, although a great deal, has "yellow" light or very low light temperature. This is a light that is kind to the human light spectrum but not the reef...live rock...marine criter spectrum. As you move into the flourescent and MH bulbs you can specify the color...and hence the enviroment marine things need.

Marine critters need specific colors of light. If they don't get it ... well they croak. So in setting up your reef lighting you have to consider this. Although cheap works for humans...well...

Think of it this way, its like american beer ..its cheap, no one will argue it doesn't look like beer... you can drink that stuff all night...and all that happen is you pee alot... (no offence intended BTW)

[Samw]

Good info Ross. But he did say from his subject that he wants it for his fish only tank with live rock. He won't have corals or clams. I don't think liverock needs high color temperature lighting. I assume the only photosynthetic life on the rock will be Coraline algae and I think algae does prefer the warmer, lower K light.

Halogen lighting is slightly more efficient than normal incandescent lighting which, though not optimal, is commonly used in fresh water fish tanks.

[rossb]

True Samw but consider the first point (lumens per watt). One could pick up a 125 compact fluorescent which provides just about as many lumens at 1/4 the operational costs and much less heat. They are about a buck a watt to buy and have a similiar life to halogen. Even better are some of the now cheap 34 watt CF's.

One of the big disadvantages of a halogen bulb is heat...

and when "hobbie creep" happens and you go for a FOWLR plus 1 coral...

[Samw]

I think cost is the issue here for Dresden which is why he mentioned that it was a temporary solution. The halogen light with fixture was $57.69 and a 110 W CF fixture starts at $300 I think for 4 feet length. I'm sure he intends to get proper lighting eventually if he decides to change the inhabitants in his tank. But if not, there's nothing wrong with buying what is suitable for his current needs.

Yes, heat is an issue which I mentioned but many many people who keep fresh water aquariums use the less efficent incandescent lights anyways. When I use to work at the pet shop, the majority of customers purchased lights with incandescent fixtures.

If he wants and has time to DIY, he might be able to build himself an incandescent fixture and then use CF self ballasted bulbs.

[Dresden]

thanx for the info, yes i will be upgrading in the future, just costs high that which we dont need gets pushed to the end. the original halogens i was looking at was 250 watt and 500 watt. I will be picking up temp 20watt or 50 watt ones now prob just 2 with my 2 24" NO bulbs.

Reading the Lighting info from Maine Reef USA last month, but thats a little to detailed. Reading many posts
thanx for the info and i hope my boss doesn't see me right now :wink:

[Delphinus]

I'd still stay away from the halogens... Too many minuses and not enough pluses. Heat is enough of a problem for me to stay away. Heck, those things are going to heat up their cover glass to the point where salt spray on the cover glass may risk shattering it! Or worse yet pose a fire hazard if you put a 500W halogen into an enclosed canopy (aka "heat sink").

If "inexpensive" is the operative word here then go get yourself a galvanized piping T, two ceramic light sockets, some wire, and two self-ballasted CF bulbs, and hey-presto you're done, and you've got lighting for $30 or less.

At least every six months I've seen somebody "discover" halogens and convince themselves that it's a revolutionary idea that will turn the hobby upside-down because of the all money that they will save. The bottom line is, we don't even use halogens for growing plants in the gardening/horticulture/hydroponics hobbies/industries. Halogens are good for lighting your living room or spotlighting a picture on the wall .... and that's about it, IMO.

Just my $0.02 ...

[Dresden]

ok no halogens for me
I will maybe get a few of the CF 18 watt bulbs and retro fit them from desklamp ;) thanx for the advice. Mercury lighting decent and cheap?

[rossb]

Samw...try a hydroponic store or commercial lighting outlet. When I was pricing my lighting I found a 95 W compact flourescent (6500K) with a light bulb socket for about 100 bucks. ( they came in 85, 95 and 125 watts and you can add a reflector later for around 30 bucks.). These were nice bulbs...about a foot long. You can also get a lower temperature 34 W compact flourescent almost anywhere for under 10 bucks. I was at costco and I believe I saw 3 34 watt ones for 20 bucks.

My original plan was to go CF but I got a really good deal at petland on some vho fluorescent...so now I have those. Halogen makes me nervous...all that heat unattended all day...