# does HPS benefit aquarium plants?



## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

hello, i have installed a 400w metal halide into a custom hood for a 180 gallon tank about a month ago, i noticed that even this was not enough light for my large tank so i just purchased a 400w high pressure sodium ballast kit on ebay right before i posted this thread giving my tank a total of 800w once the hps arrives and is installed. my question is, i noticed that most high end light fixtures focus around metal halides and high output T5's but there are not many (or any) aquarium hoods that include HPS, is this because aquatic plants react differently to hps than non aquatic? I have read that Metal halide is for the vegetative state and that high pressure sodium is for the flowering state but do aquatic plants have a flowering state? will my plants (mostly my hc and riccia) benefit from the addition of a 400w high pressure sodium light? or am i better off just adding more T5's to increase the light intensity? any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you, kyle

this is the bulb i am going to use:
http://www.specialty-lights.com/9980.html


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## MemphisBob (Mar 20, 2007)

I'll give this a shot. Here goes.

HPS is a useful light but it is mostly red light. MH is by design a bluer light. I tried a HPS in my early days of planted tanks and it was horribly yellow. Seemed to grow algae especially well but as I said I was a noob.

I think you would be much better off if you got either 2 250watt MH's or 3 150's so you can get good light distribution. I don't think you'll be happy with a "red" side and a "blue" side and I don't think you'll be able to light the tank evenly having both bulbs at the center of the tank.


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

ok, thank you very much for your advice, i decided to buy a MH conversion bulb for the HPS ballast, so ill have 2 400w MH setups running, one on either side of the tank


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