FISHROOM/ Halogen?!

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: FISHROOM/ Halogen?!
From: Erik Olson <olson at phys_washington.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 08:30:04 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <199506250739.DAA30158 at looney_actwin.com>
> From: David Brockman Wheeler <dwheeler at leland_Stanford.EDU>

> Well, the meeting wasn't a thundering success and we weren't overrun
> by participants.

Well, I didn't actually take the time to convert from GMT correctly early 
enough to realize it was noon on a Saturday for me.  Will be more careful 
next time.  Oh well.


> From: Stephen.Pushak at hcsd_hac.com (Stephen Pushak)
...
> able to build a pretty nice reflector and transformer. Halogen is about twice
> as efficient as fluorescent lights. I couldn't get enough light out of
> fluorescents for the box shaped 75 gallon (2'x2' footprint) and read about
> these type of lights in H&K's TOA. ;-)

Are you sure you're talking about HALOGEN lights?  Halogen lights (eg, 
the lights in your slide projector, those 300W torchiere floor lamps, etc) 
are basically incandescents.  They are not very efficient.  Maybe you 
mean Metal Halide (MH), which is a high-energy gas discharge lamp (eg, 
warehouse or football stadium lights)?  It is very important to 
use the right terminology; it's a pet peeve with many (myself included).

Anyway, there was a guy advertising $60 bulb+fixture combos in FAMA about 
a year back; don't know if he's still there.  There was also a thread on 
rec.aquaria recently about getting cheap MH systems. Basically, you can 
always go to industrial lighting supplies and get things cheaper 
(definitely UNDER $200).  You 
can also get the fixtures cheaper at hydroponics shops (around $200), but 
these often 
don't have remote ballasts.  I, for one, don't want to hang a 50 pound 
light from my ceiling.  Mailorder places will sell you fully remote 
ballasted setups for $200+, but as you note, the worst possible place to 
buy is a local aquarium shop.

For more reading on MH, Halogen, etc, I suggest Richard Sexton's Lighting
FAQ (and other articles sitting in
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Krib/Lighting/).  

I'm starting to think about replacing my 45gallon with a 100 with 2 
pendants, so MH is on my mind too...

Another option I'm exploring is the Wonderlite (also described on those 
web pages).   This is a 160W bulb that screws into a normal incandescent 
base and produces a daylight spectrum with enhanced red and blue spikes 
for plant growth.  The bulb costs somewhere between $60 and $80 (you get 
a discount for multiple orders) and is supposed to have an average 
lifetime of 5000 hours (one year).  I have the data sheet (can scan into 
the Krib if anyone's interested). 

   - Erik

---
Erik D. Olson                		Mail to me bouncing?
olson at phys_washington.edu		Try eriko at wrq_com instead