CFL Question

S

Seasand

Sean
Apr 26, 2008
80
0
0
Millport, Scotland
:help2:I`m wanting to change my light system in my DIY hood.At present I have an Arcadia Original Tropical FO36 (48" T8 ).
I have tried to keep plants without any success as they keep dying on me.Spent too much money to watch compost being made!!!:rolleyes:
My tank is 54"L x 12"W x 18" H which equates to just over 50 US gal or 42 UK gal with a pea gravel substrate. Filter is a Tetratec 600.
I want to go for CFL`s but don`t know how many and at what wattage and again what plants to go for?
Looking for Idea`s please!!! :wall:
 
You probably aren't going to get just one answer on this. The "watts per gallon" rule of thumb is starting to break down since it was designed for T-8 bulbs which almost nobody uses anymore. For plants though, it's a combination of distance from the light, intensity of the light, spectrum of the light, fertilizers (substrate and in the water), and CO2. I'm running a 2X54W T-5HO on my standard 55 gallon (US) aquarium and everything seems to be doing fine (I need to add CO2 since I'm getting algae). For CFLs, I believe you need the actual wattage of the bulb to be around 1.5-2.5 watts per gallon (US again) depending on what you need to grow with the temperature somewhere between 5700K and 7500K. There's a lot of debate also about the temperature ratings, but it's the best there is to gauge the general spectrum of the bulb and to make sure it's putting out light at a frequency that the plants can use.

Additionally, make sure that there are nutrients in the water for the plants to absorb. If you have root feeding plants (like Amazon Sword), slipping a root tablet underneath them can really help, while leaf-feeding plants will really benefit from an aquatic nutrient like Flourish. I've heard of mixed results with Pea gravel on plants, particularly the heavy root feeders, so you may wish to consider a different substrate, or primarily growing plants that are not big root feeders.
 
You could get by with a minimum of one 96W bulb for low light plants. I am currently running one on a 58 gallon along with a pink T-8 bulb for color. I have decided to go with a T-5 for my 55 gallon, currently under assembly, FWIW the CFL puts out an awful lot of heat when operating. Expect the T-5 to be cooler based upon what has been shared on AC. Good luck.
 
sorberj said:
You probably aren't going to get just one answer on this. The "watts per gallon" rule of thumb is starting to break down since it was designed for T-12 bulbs which almost nobody uses anymore. For plants though, it's a combination of distance from the light, intensity of the light, spectrum of the light, fertilizers (substrate and in the water), and CO2. I'm running a 2X54W T-5HO on my standard 55 gallon (US) aquarium and everything seems to be doing fine (I need to add CO2 since I'm getting algae). For CFLs, I believe you need the actual wattage of the bulb to be around 1.5-2.5 watts per gallon (US again) depending on what you need to grow with the temperature somewhere between 5700K and 7500K. There's a lot of debate also about the temperature ratings, but it's the best there is to gauge the general spectrum of the bulb and to make sure it's putting out light at a frequency that the plants can use.

Additionally, make sure that there are nutrients in the water for the plants to absorb. If you have root feeding plants (like Amazon Sword), slipping a root tablet underneath them can really help, while leaf-feeding plants will really benefit from an aquatic nutrient like Flourish. I've heard of mixed results with Pea gravel on plants, particularly the heavy root feeders, so you may wish to consider a different substrate, or primarily growing plants that are not big root feeders.
Click to expand...
correction in red, the WPG rule was made for T-12 bulbs, and are we talking about the bulbs that go in to a Incandescent fixture, or are we talking the long tubes like a flourscent?
 
Seasand said:
I was lead to believe that CFL`s produced little heat compared to T8`s. Is this wrong then?
Click to expand...

I read wrongly you are correct. What I have in use a PC, but did go to T-5. Sorry for my mistake. Good luck in spite of me.:huh:
I know you can get some 'higher power' CFL bulbs. Will look and see if I can find a site with some info to correct my bad response from earlier.
 
whoops about the t-12 thing..thanks for the correction! There was a good discussion about the different bulbs a ways back. I can't seem to find it now. I did a review on the fishneedit fixture that I got. Mine had a few quirks, but I do really like it. The thread for that review is at http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216598. I have a lot more plants in there now thanks to Turbosaurus and the classifieds
 
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