Why not shop at the Plant store?

[Empressrr]

I have been looking for a new lighting fixture for my 55 Gallon tank, which I now have a coralife fixture with 2 - 65 w atinic and 2- 65 w daylight bulbs. I have some soft coral and would like to give them a bit more without the heat of Metal halide as the room they are in gets hot enough in the summer months. I found this store locally..... and was wondering why I have never seen anything on buying Plant lighting............. any Ideas? Coral is a plant.......and why could some of the bulbs say on a 6 light fixture be substituted for atinic for a better color in the tank? Im still a newbie so any help would be appreciated, I would like to add more coral of different varieties. Thanks! Heres a link to the store I was talking about
http://www.wormsway.com/categories/lighting.asp

 

[CaptainAndy]

Coral is an animal. The colors do come from symbitoic microalgae. Why not go to the meeting tomorrow. Most of your questions will be happily answered there.

 

[Behrmon]

If you do a thread search for words like PAR, HPS (high pressure sodium), kelvin, halide etc. you will find some good explanations on the differences and requirements of reef tanks.

 

[redpaulhus]

I have seen reefers use fixtures (from police auctions) formerly used to grow "reefer" - but those were generic MH fixtures and the bulbs were swapped out for quality MH reef bulbs.

I think the t5 fixtures at Worms Way could be turned into reef fixtures, but they don't look any cheaper than reef fixtures to me (and you'd need to buy the correct bulbs).

 

[Empressrr]

Btter choice?

http://hellolights.com/hl244lamp.html so this for example choice? to improve over what I have?

 

[MAReefer1]

It really depends on what type of corals you want to keep, T5 are a great choice, you also have the option of MH. When you buy lighting, its important you buy the right fixture the first time. If you dont, you will most likely end up spending extra money later because you going to have to, or want to, upgrade fixtures.

 

[Empressrr]

Thanks! I bought the above light...

 

[RichConley]

Just a note about the above fixtures: T5s really should have active cooling. A small computer fan will do the job, but without that you'll get significantly less light, and significantly shorter bulb life.