Halogen work light? - DIY Aquarium Projects

dennis · 08-31-2004, 02:19 PM

Has anybody ever tried using a halogen work light for lighting an aqaurium. I have seem them from 75watt to 500watt. They seem to be the double ended bulb and what really got me thinking was the reflector they come with. Looks just like what you see advertised in the catalogs. The only thing I wonder about them is the K rating of the bulb. I was considering somehting like this for a 10 gallon aquarium. I have seen them at Sears for 15-20 dollars. I can't buy a ballast for 3-4 NO florescents for thatprice, let alone the tubes.

Tell me what you think of this idea. I figure it would have to be slightly raised from the top of hte tank to get good coverave but with 75+watts over a 10 gallon

THink it would work?

HanshaSuro · 08-31-2004, 04:36 PM

I put a halogen desk lamp over a truely tiny tank (~3gals) and had decent results with it. If my memory serves me correctly, however, information I've read said that the spectrum produced by halogen is less than ideal.

Your milage my vary

bharada · 08-31-2004, 05:50 PM

All the halogen lights I've seen have had a strong yellow/orange cast to them. So while it might produce adequate plant growth, it probably wouldn't be the most asthetically pleasing to look at.

gpodio · 09-01-2004, 06:00 AM

They seem to work however do cause more heat than other options. If I recall some of Amano's nano tanks use halogen pendants.

Giancarlo Podio

**IUnknown** · 09-01-2004, 06:26 AM

Read through this,
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/show...threadid=16346
I think you would have to switch out the bulb to a AB 70W 6500K or similar.

gpodio · 09-01-2004, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IUnknown

Read through this,
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/show...threadid=16346
I think you would have to switch out the bulb to a AB 70W 6500K or similar.

That's a great retrofit however it's not halogen, they are just using the metal case and converting it to MH by changing bulb and ballast.

Here's a similar retrofit from another HomeDepot fixture:
http://www.freewebs.com/smaugs_reef/index.htm

Giancarlo Podio

aquaverde · 09-01-2004, 10:45 AM

Halogen just is too inefficient, creates too much heat. And that makes it unsuitable when compared to more generally accepted solutions IMO.

dennis · 09-01-2004, 01:49 PM

What about this idea. You could just get the 55 or 65 watt quad bulb and a work horse ballast or by the whole light.

gpodio · 09-02-2004, 08:42 AM

HD had a really good deal a few months back on those flouro work lights, they were all gone by the time I got there though

Giancarlo Podio