grow lights and reef lights

[brad ellington]

hey guys and girls i would like to know if there is a differences in Metal Halide and t5 grow light fixtures over the one sold for the reef tanks other that just bulbs. i am wanting to grow coral along side my hydroponics set up. most of the grow light look to use a 6500k t5 and or a 2100k mh 400w. are these the same fixtures will they work for reef tanks with the right bulbs..

http://www.virtualsunhydroponics.com...ights/kits.asp

[thelizardkin]

they should and 65-67k is very good for shallow water corals it just doesen't look very good

[reeferstace]

6500K works great for terrestrial plants but typically looks very yellow in a reef tank. The light intensity works for shallow corals like thelizardkin mentioned. I have a 400w fixture over my classroom tank that was made for plants. It works fine but the light seems a bit harsh and there is absolutely no blue whatsoever. I dig the blue look.

[brad ellington]

Thanks I love the blue look too.. I plan on building greenhouse to grow my plants and coral in year round. But for right now I am going to start small. And use part of my fabrication shop as an indor grow room.. maybe by this tim next year I will have some frags to sale..along with strawberry

[jeff@zina.com]

Following along on the T5 aspect though, couldn't you just swap the bulbs for ones better suited for a reef? Pull out the 6500K grow lights and use ATI Blues or the like? Are there reflector or ballast differences that would prevent this?

Jeff