MH lamp for chaeto?

[mojo]

Does anyone here use a MH lamp for their chaeto? I have my chaeto in a 60g cube tank, and need more light on it. I'm afraid with the size, I'd need 10 fluorescent spotlight bulbs that I'm using now.

I'm thinking about a 175w, 6500k bulb, but wanted to know if anyone had any experience...

 

[weaglereefer]

You going with the Iwasaki 6500k?

 

[mojo]

au01st;405329 wrote: You going with the Iwasaki 6500k?

Not sure - it just seems reasonable to go with a very yellow bulb, to encourage growth.

dawgdude;405331 wrote: I threw a 250w Iwasaki 6500k over my sump once and the cheato growth exploded. However there wasn't a noticeable drop in other algae growth and nitrates didn't move. I allege that it moved to more photosynthetic. I took it off and used the fixture for another tank.

Interesting... the sole purpose of the chaeto ball is for nitrate reduction, so if there's no drop, then there's no point in upping the wattage. However, if there's increase in growth, and nitrates are required for growth, then it stands to reason that there should be a drop in nitrates...

 

[jaustin]

Mojo you should give the plusrite 10K bulbs a shot. They are cheap and if they live up to their cheapness they color spectrum should shift and provide excellent cheato growth.

 

[acroholic]

Chris,
I would use that bulb. The Iwasaki 6500K bulb is considered the best halide light for planted tanks. I just switched my fuge light out from a Coralife 2 x 9 watt 10K CF to a Coralife 96 watt 65K Quad Tube CF fixture because I couldn't keep macros alive if I tried. I want to make sure it isn't due to lack of light.
Dave

 

[smoothie]

JAustin;405429 wrote: Mojo you should give the plusrite 10K bulbs a shot. They are cheap and if they live up to their cheapness they color spectrum should shift and provide excellent cheato growth.

I have used extras of this same bulb in 175 if you want me to send them to you to try out. Free of charge of course. Just PM me

 

[mojo]

Smoothie;405555 wrote: I have used extras of this same bulb in 175 if you want me to send them to you to try out. Free of charge of course. Just PM me

That'd be perfect- I'm not terribly concerned about color spectrum for my chaeto, so used is good. Sending PM.

 

[smoothie]

The 10k will grow the mess out of some algae. That's the problem with using them a display. They go downhill quick after the 3-4mo mark. So the savings are not really there. For a deep fuge though I would use them all day long.
I will see how many I have at work and pm you back. I don't mind just shipping them to ya.