shop lights?

[mark h]

i was going to buy 2 strip lights at home depot each holding 2 24" flourescent tubes. can i use any of the bulbs that home depot sells or should i order uri's. they have a freshwater plant bulb and a sunlight bulb. i figured that these would have a descent spectrum for reefs but was wondering if anyone knew for sure.

 

[Anonymous]

Depends what you're trying to do. If you're mostly interested in cultivating mushrooms and growing out coralline algae, you can use two shop lights. If you're thinking of keeping anything else except for maybe some creatures that don't need light like feather dusters, etc., forget it and save your pennies for VHO or metal halide lighting.

Anyway, the bulbs you need are called "50/50". Neither of the bulbs you mention are of any use in this application. Go to a pet store and get the right bulbs. Good luck!

john

 

[sandmanrieast]

I tryed usuing shop lights...they rust terribly
watch out ...

 

[bashcraft]

As was stated, any exposed metal will rust... quickly.

Forget about the plant bulbs. Wrong color for a reef. Get the daylight bulbs and an actinic.

Bob