"aquarium" flourescents vs. ordinary ones
- Thread starter yehoshua
- Start date
On paper, the aquarium specific tubes provide more light in the red spectrum, which is good for plants. However, once installed, you probably won't notice anything different and your plants probably won't either. A good daylight bulb will be pretty much the same thing as a good "freshwater plant" bulb to your eyes.
In my opinion, its just a company buying normal bulbs from the manufacturer and sticking them in boxes to be sold at pet stores for 10x+ the original cost.
In my opinion, its just a company buying normal bulbs from the manufacturer and sticking them in boxes to be sold at pet stores for 10x+ the original cost.
Well, first I have to say that Superior has no idea what they are talking about and should not be spouting out false information when they clearly have no experience in this area. Please disregard what has been said so far.
There is actually a big difference in the 'normal' flourescent bulbs versus ones made for the plants/aquariums. It has to do with the phosphors used and where the color spectrum of the light is. 'Normal' lights are the 'warm' lights thats make everything have a yellowy 'warm' look to it. These bulbs are usually in the 2,500 K to 3,000 K color rating. Plant or aquarium bulbs come in lots of different rating, but most will try to mimic natural sunlight in some form or another. The higher the K (Kelvin) rating, the more 'white' the light looks to the human eye, but then, we don't see too many color spectrums too well. Many of the lights specific to growing plants actually 'look' lees bright because they are stronger in the red and blue color specturms were our eyes don't see too good. They are not as strong in the greens where our eyes tend to see the best. That is because plants don't use the green color spectrum much.
As far as advantages or disadvantages... kinda depends on what you are using the bulbs for. You didn't say what you would be using them for so kinda hard to answer that question. In aquaria, if you are growing plants in your tanks, then you will need bulbs with the correct color spectrums in order for the plants to grow. You will also need the proper amount of lighting as well. If you are not growing plants, then getting a bulb that looks good to you may be all that's important to you. In either case, I like bulbs with a 6,500 K to 8,500 K rating for both growing plants and making the fish's color's stand out more.
Hope that helps a little... if you can provide more info on what you are doing, we can be a lot more help!
Good luck,
There is actually a big difference in the 'normal' flourescent bulbs versus ones made for the plants/aquariums. It has to do with the phosphors used and where the color spectrum of the light is. 'Normal' lights are the 'warm' lights thats make everything have a yellowy 'warm' look to it. These bulbs are usually in the 2,500 K to 3,000 K color rating. Plant or aquarium bulbs come in lots of different rating, but most will try to mimic natural sunlight in some form or another. The higher the K (Kelvin) rating, the more 'white' the light looks to the human eye, but then, we don't see too many color spectrums too well. Many of the lights specific to growing plants actually 'look' lees bright because they are stronger in the red and blue color specturms were our eyes don't see too good. They are not as strong in the greens where our eyes tend to see the best. That is because plants don't use the green color spectrum much.
As far as advantages or disadvantages... kinda depends on what you are using the bulbs for. You didn't say what you would be using them for so kinda hard to answer that question. In aquaria, if you are growing plants in your tanks, then you will need bulbs with the correct color spectrums in order for the plants to grow. You will also need the proper amount of lighting as well. If you are not growing plants, then getting a bulb that looks good to you may be all that's important to you. In either case, I like bulbs with a 6,500 K to 8,500 K rating for both growing plants and making the fish's color's stand out more.
Hope that helps a little... if you can provide more info on what you are doing, we can be a lot more help!
Good luck,
I stand corrected. My lack of experience in the aquarium hobby is always growing.
I won't get into nit-picking over specifics. All of what Dwarfnut has said is valid.
I won't get into nit-picking over specifics. All of what Dwarfnut has said is valid.
It sounds like dwarfnut is putting too much emphasis on the K rating and spectrums and how much they will affect growth. People use all kinds of different fluorescents with good results. Everything from the basic cool and warm whites to high-end aquarium tubes.
I personally think a good bulb does make a difference but not significant. I usually buy Daylight Deluxe bulbs from home depot for cheap. T8 or T5 (thinner bulbs) will definitely make a difference too.
I personally think a good bulb does make a difference but not significant. I usually buy Daylight Deluxe bulbs from home depot for cheap. T8 or T5 (thinner bulbs) will definitely make a difference too.
I have used Kelvin ranges from 3500K to 5000K. The lower end ones are more yellowy but they do not affect my plant growth to any significant level. In fact the tank that uses 3500K bulbs see the greatest plant growth.
As for their appearance in the tank, well after a couple of days it is really hard to tell the differenc unless you have something to compare it to.
As for their appearance in the tank, well after a couple of days it is really hard to tell the differenc unless you have something to compare it to.
Muck of the "look" is very closely tied to the K-rating and the phosphors used in a tube. My preference is the no-longer available Triton tubes, another of the expensive (but long-lasting) triphosphor aquarium speciality tubes, but I can grow plants almost as well with Phillips' Daylight Deluxe (also a triphosphor tube, but 6500K general-use and not expensive tube, not aquarium specific), they just do not look quite as good and the plants are not quite as vigorous or colorful under the same wattage of light and fertilizer dosage. Pretty much any tri-phosphor tube (aka "full spectrum") will work, but the appearence will vary a lot, and the keeper's aesthetic choice is to me a big thing.
A fluorescent bulb that I have found to be somewhat similar to the Triton is the GE aqua rays Fresh/Saltwater. It is also about half of what a Triton costs.
how about some experimental proof?
In the book "The Planted Aquarium" by Diane Walstad, she cites an experiment which determined that aquatic plants actually grew better with 'regular' cool white bulbs than with the expensive 'aquarium' bulbs. She makes the point that while red light and blue light might be better for terrestial plants, the dissolved organic carbon and water itself absorbs these spectrums in nature. Therefore aquatic plants have probably developed the ability to utilize the more green light produced by cool white bulbs.
"Aquarium bulbs" are not useless though..the best plant growth was achieved by a combination of both bulbs. However I think this proves that they are highly overrated (and overpriced).
In the book "The Planted Aquarium" by Diane Walstad, she cites an experiment which determined that aquatic plants actually grew better with 'regular' cool white bulbs than with the expensive 'aquarium' bulbs. She makes the point that while red light and blue light might be better for terrestial plants, the dissolved organic carbon and water itself absorbs these spectrums in nature. Therefore aquatic plants have probably developed the ability to utilize the more green light produced by cool white bulbs.
"Aquarium bulbs" are not useless though..the best plant growth was achieved by a combination of both bulbs. However I think this proves that they are highly overrated (and overpriced).
Advantages of normal lights: They are much cheaper.
Disadvantages: They look way to yellow in my opinion. The only thing I can suggest is you buy one and use it. If you like the color, go for it because when you get down to it there is no difference other than color.
Disadvantages: They look way to yellow in my opinion. The only thing I can suggest is you buy one and use it. If you like the color, go for it because when you get down to it there is no difference other than color.