halide question

any differince in the halide at the pet store and the hardware store?

 

Halides and any other reef light must be full-spectrum light bulbs

 

usually the ones at the hardware store do not list the proper details and specifications.

like spectrum and so on. Order online and save yourself the headache.

reefgeek.com is my fav place right now for lighting

 

halides are made with different components like mercury vapor, phosphor coating, high pressure sodium with either a quartz or alumina tube using iodides and bromides. so to make a long story short, buy a mh bulb from an aquarium store.

 

Yes, like the others above said. Not worth the risk. Reputable aqua lighting manufacturers make the bulbs to a tighter tolerance than regular parking lot halide lighting. The bulbs are made to specific Kelvin ratings for aquariums. I get mine through Hamilton lighting btw.

 

The Metal halide lamps used in commercial lighting (sold at hardware stores, home depot etc) are usually 6700K Lamps that is the spectrum (color) These would look really yellow on a tank and are not the proper K rating You want something between 10k and 20k with 20k being the Blue deep water color.