I started my 35 hex Fish only tank about 4 months ago. I am having a lot of trouble getting coraline algae to grow. I have tried everything I can think of to raise calcium. I was told that rather than just calcium my lighting may be a problem. I just have a regular tube light as of now. I was given an out door Metal Halide light and was hoping I can set something up. Eventually I want to do coral. I am thinking about mounting the MH over an open top tank. I wondered if anyone knew of any problems that might arise since this ballast is not specifically made for aquariums. It is water proof.
Outdoor Halide
- Thread starter fishface311
- Start date
well first the spectrum is usually very low and far from 10000k, and if the water reaches the bulb it might explode. Generate a lot of heat + usually the ballast is pretty noisy. I used one to grow plants and even grease from fingers on the bulb might blow it. I wouldn't use those, even tough they're not the same price. Also ..they are like 400w, 1000w and up most of the time.
Is there any coraline algae growth on you live rock at all? Your coraline algae won't grow on its own. You need a source of coraline algae in order to grow it. Go to your local LFS and see if you can get some coraline scrapings from one of their tanks. Put that in your tank and it should eventually start to grow.
Thanks for the responses. I do have a little coraline algae. bright green and the tiniest bit of red. When i say LITTLE and TINIEST BIT i mean it though. I feel like i should have a lot more growth by now.
to KahluaZzZ, The bulb is not exposed to the air. it has a hinged glass door so i don't think that the water hitting the bulb or grease from my fingers would be a problem, but I guess the spectrum would be wrong? and the wattage? hmmm.... too bad. I was hoping to save some money since this one was given to me for free.
Anyway. I guess I will wait to buy new lights since I am planning on upgrading when I move in August. too bad though.
Does anyone else have thoughts on the issue?
Thanks again for the comments!
ONE LOVE
to KahluaZzZ, The bulb is not exposed to the air. it has a hinged glass door so i don't think that the water hitting the bulb or grease from my fingers would be a problem, but I guess the spectrum would be wrong? and the wattage? hmmm.... too bad. I was hoping to save some money since this one was given to me for free.
Anyway. I guess I will wait to buy new lights since I am planning on upgrading when I move in August. too bad though.
Does anyone else have thoughts on the issue?
Thanks again for the comments!
ONE LOVE
It's often in the 4000-6500 range, lower than that if it was used as a standard light (like above a door)..if you don't know what's the spectrum is, yeah it's kind of a big guess for your future corals. Anyways mh over 150 ( hanged way up ) is kinda too high. Current USA sells good and not expensive T5 fluorescents as an alternative.
For corals in a hex tank, I think MH is going to be your only option. The small footprint makes it really hard to use T5s or CF lights. I know there are some reasonably priced clip on MH lights you can buy.
One thing you definitely don't want to mess with is the possibility of a fire in your house due to a short from the lighting.
One thing you definitely don't want to mess with is the possibility of a fire in your house due to a short from the lighting.