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Re: Halogen Lights for Planted Aquaria ?
>Just saw an add on TV for some really cheap halogen lights.. like 150W and
>500W ones.... what are peoples experiences with these and are they >suitable for planted aquariums ?
Stay away from them. They give off much too much heat and have a relativly
low (2800-3200 K, approx, maybe 3600 K tops) color temperature light. I
actually used some small 20w halogen lamps to supplement a flourescent a
while ago, but stopped using them do to the heat and the fact that it
didn't seem to make any difference in plant growth (I was curious about the
extra red spectrum light they provide).
And although some books don't seem to make a distinction, halogen is NOT
the same thing as metal halide. And easy way to tell the difference from
looking at the bulb is that MH lights don't have filaments (they are arc
lights), and halogen lamps DO have filaments. The large halogen lights
typically do not need ballasts either.
-Bill