1000w Grow bulb question

I had a grow room last winter as a hobby with a 1000W agrosun fixture. This winter it's my saltwater tank. I have a biocube with
36W 10K Daylight (16")
36W Actinic 03 Blue (16")

would it be a good or bad idea to put the 1000w fixture on the opposite wall about 12 feet away and turn it on when i'm not in the room. I wouldn't be able to leave it on a consistant schedule. Would this hurt more than help? I've been told if coral have dramatic light changes it will kill the coraline algea. Is that true?

 

I've read that the stock lights in the biocube are not sufficiant for reef life to thrive. I thought since i had this light already i might be able to incorporate it somehow. The bulb is attached to the balist so it has to be hung on the wall unless i get the cord to seperate the two. It would be nice to use what i have and not spend more money. 1000w for a 29 gallon has to be over kill. I was thinking if i put it 12 feet away on the wall facing the tank and turned it on when i wasn't in the room it might get things growing a little better. Could it hurt to try?

 

wouldn't hurt to try but i would probably just put it on the ceiling above it for a 5 foot gap and take the top off the aquarium. if you have a proper bulb

 

Not sure how beneficial this will be. If you want more growth, it would probably be better just to upgrade the lighting. Wastes less electricity as well (you would not need 1000w fixture in a biocube, for sure)

 

you could always buy a stock tank and put everything in it, then dump a bunch of play sand on your floor, some beach chairs and margaritas it will be like you at the beach with the 1000w bulb. yea i like that idea. lol

 

That's very true sostoudt!

Funny you should say that Sostoudt. Last year when i had my grow room it felt very much like you discribed. The light makes a low circulation room very warm. I looked at is as a way of escaping winter. I had the walls lined with plastic and shelved most of the wall space for the plants. 1000W will definitely give you a suntan if you're close enough. i had my chair next to the light so i could face the plants and not go blind when doing maintenance. So now i have this fixture in the closet and a tank that has less than ideal lighting. Should i put the big light up for additional light aimed at the front of the tank or sell it on ebay?

can a reef have to much light? Plants had to be 8 to 12 feet away from this light for maximum groth. When the lights were at this distance and switched to 12 hours on and 12 hours off every plant i had bloomed. I have an insident light meter if there is a proper exposure. in photography the sun is generally considered at it's brightest point when your exposure is iso 400, F16 at 500th/1 sec. When the plants were at 10 feet the exposure was consistant with the photography rule, is there somthing like that related to reef lighting?

 

It would probably make things worse honestly. What is the K value of the bulb? That value is entirely different for corals and plants. You don't want plants to start growing in the tank, because that means ALGAE!
Honestly, like others have said, just get a better aquarium light. You can check places like nanocustoms.com for mods, or just do it yourself. A 150W MH would be an awesome light on that tank

 

you probably would be better selling it one ebay then using the money you make to buy a reef light fixture. i don't know much about photography, but you lighting need to put out the right wavelength of light, plants tend to use different wavelengths of light then corals. i wouldn't say corals can have too much light(with in reason) provided they have time to adjust. they adjust by changing the amount of zooanthella in them. the problems with lighting you run into are not giving them enough time to adjust, and lighting putting out to much heat.

so yea sell the light and buy coral lighting.