Dumb lighting question

[Mark Henry]

I was posed a question today that I couldn't answer (imagine that!) -
can you use halogen lights over a reef tank? This came from a friend of
mine when I told him what my Aqualight Pro cost and why I needed high
wattage lights. He countered that I could get 300w worth of halogens for
under $40 at Lowes.

I searched around on the web and couldn't find any references to halogen
lights being used for reef tanks. So, what's the deal?

Thanks,

mark h

[Mark Henry]

Okay, forget I asked. After a bit more looking I found (several)
references concerning the spectrum and heat output of halogens vs metal
halides.

Thanks anyway...

mark h

[TheRock]

"Mark Henry" > wrote in message
.. .
>I was posed a question today that I couldn't answer (imagine that!) - can
>you use halogen lights over a reef tank? This came from a friend of mine
>when I told him what my Aqualight Pro cost and why I needed high wattage
>lights. He countered that I could get 300w worth of halogens for under $40
>at Lowes.
>
> I searched around on the web and couldn't find any references to halogen
> lights being used for reef tanks. So, what's the deal?
>
> Thanks,
>
> mark h

I looked into this before...
Read the below article. It will explain everything you need to know.
Basically the article says Quarts Halogen lights are great for show
and not for grow. They don't produce the right spectrum required for
coral growth and health. Plus they produce a lot of UV radiation.

Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/lightingags.htm

If it were that cheap we would all have $40 lighting...