lighting help

aquaman66

aquaman66

i do alot of web stuff
Oct 11, 2008
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Kitchener, Ontario
aquatichobby.net
I'm planning on upgrading my CFL light fixture to this one:

Current USA Satellite 20" 40 Watt Power Compact Fixture-Single Strip W/Lunar Light

I have a 10gallon planted aquarium, I'm pretty sure that wattage is sufficient for my plants to grow, however it says on the description that it is a combo bulb comprised of 10,000K and 460nm Actinic. And I've read somewhere in this forum that Actinic encourages Algae growth :S.

Will this fixture/bulb going to be ok or do I need to replace the bulb that only have 10,000k colour temp (minus the 460nm actinic)?

Thanks for the info in advance =)
 
thanks Riiz ... it would probably cost more or less the same as per $ conversion and shipping...

I've found some discussion on the other forum and my worries are somewhat clear now lol... might as well share this to future readers of this thread =)

Click here to read the discussion
 
Aquaman
I bought the same hood from Pet Mountain for my 16 gallon.
They would not switch out the actinic tube. The way the factory packages the hood & lamps makes it impossible to sub the actinic.
When it came in I used both tubes for awhile. The actinic gave the water a nice cooler glow which the family liked. I later bought a dual Sunpak 6700/10000k lamp for a spare...
That hood has a switch on both lamps. You can control both tubes.
Running one lamp will give you 4 WPG which is enough for a planted tank.
I really like the hood. It is high quality and the tubes can be changed very easily. It also has an LED moonlight.
The only thing negative about it is there are 4 cords feeding the hood. One for each tube, one small one for the fan and another small one for the LED. I bought some spiral wrap tubing from Radio Shack to bundle the wires together.
Again it's a fine high quality hood.
Charles
 
Thanks CBWMN! Glad to hear good comment about this light fixture.

I've been looking for replacement bulb for the Single fixture and found this, it seems to have the same specs (width/pins/wattage) as the 10000k/actinic bulb that comes with the fixture:

link to the blub (6500k/1000k)

will this bulb going to work on a Current USA 40w 20" single fixture? Thanks again.
 
Aquaman
Sorry, I just looked at the Current Satelite hood you inidcated.
It does not have two lamps in it. Just one lamp that is dual daylight and actinic. I would be afraid to use that for a long time on a FW tank. Why dont you order dthe Sunpak dual daylight tube seperately? I don't think Big Als will (can) open the package to switch out the lamps.

Charles
 
Yeah that's what I've thought as well.

I'm thinking of probably use the combo bulb (10000k/actinic) for 6 months, then replace it with the 40w Dual Daylight (6500k/10000k), will that be a wise thing to do? Because it's kind of a waste if I don't use the included bulb.

I will check with my LFS (big als branch as well) if it's possible to replace the bulb included with the fixture with the dual daylight.

Thanks!
 
You should like the color effect on your tank. I used the actinic and the regular daylight for 6 months. I got cloudy water once so I decided to get another dual daylight lamp. I am now gdiving my 16 G a two hour "burst" in the middle of the day. I can't see any change other than more light. Runiing both lamps = 5 WPG, a bit too much.
If you have a Big Als close they may switch the lamp for you.

Good luck
Charles

BTW, you are online early this morning. I think it's 6:45 in Ontario. It's 4:45 in El Paso. My 6 YO G-son slept here last night. And he is not used to sleeping alone. But he kicked all night, so I'm up early also.
 
cools ... yeah I have one here pretty near ... a few mins drive only.

there's something baffles me though about the moonlight led, how does it work? coz if there's only one switch, how will i switch on the LED, while the main bulb is off.

Thanks again =)
 
The LED is always on. AThe fan and LED both have independent power supplies. Current should have engineered them so they use the same power. You could unplug the LED in the daytime.
I don't bother because I read that the life of an LED is 30,000 hours or so.
Remember, that was one thing I didn't like about the fisture.
Mine has four wires feeding the hood.

Charles
 
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