Noobish but urgent! 13w CFL bulb gives 60w of light?!

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biggie357

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Dec 18, 2008
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I was just having a conversation with my mother about aquarium lights and she mentioned to me that these 13w 5000k daylight screw-in CFL bulbs ACTUALLY give 60w of light EACH.

I have TWO of these on my planted 10g. do i have 12WPG?!!? I've recently had a small outbreak of cladophora and staghorn algae... is this whats causing it? Does anyone know much about the CFL bulbs for growing aquarium plants?

Also, If i were to transfer my plants into my 40g, would i only need these 2 cfl bulbs to grow my plants? I have red cabomba, java moss, ludwigia, wisteria, moneywort, and cardamine, all of which are exploding in my 10g (not enough room for them anymore!)
 
dixienut

dixienut

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Jun 15, 2006
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the 13 is it,.. plus smaller tanks have a whacky ratio with wpg anyway,.. but i have the same over my 10g also,.. the best tank i have for plants,..lol
 
calivivarium1

calivivarium1

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May 5, 2008
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yes, for plant growing purposes you have 26w over your tank. As for claudo algae, I had an outbreak of that crap in my 10gal(with 27w of PC lighting) before I added CO2. What kinds of plants do you have? I would consider fast growing plants and maybe some floaters to make use of that light. The algae could be from a lack of competition, too little nutrients in the water column, etc.
 
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biggie357

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Dec 18, 2008
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calivivarium1 said:
yes, for plant growing purposes you have 26w over your tank. As for claudo algae, I had an outbreak of that crap in my 10gal(with 27w of PC lighting) before I added CO2. What kinds of plants do you have? I would consider fast growing plants and maybe some floaters to make use of that light. The algae could be from a lack of competition, too little nutrients in the water column, etc.
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the tank is HEAVILY planted, it requires a trimming every few days. DIY c02 and 1/4 cap of excel per day. my cardamine grows an inch per day at least, but i didnt think of the floating plants idea... theres water lettuce at my LFS maybe ill go pick some up.
 
FSM

FSM

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Mar 30, 2008
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incandescent bulbs are hideously inefficient. Try unscrewing one just after it has been on for a few hours.
 
coach_z

coach_z

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Jan 12, 2009
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those watt comparisons on the CFLs are confusing because they are trying to help consumers understand what this new technology is. They are saying that "this 13W CFL looks as bright as a 60W incandescent" people have been trained for many years that a 40W bulb looks like this, 60W is brighter and 100W will burn out your retnas, consumers need to relearn this and acknowledge that 13W is the new 60.
 
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biggie357

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Dec 18, 2008
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thanks guys :) this has been burning a hole in my brain all day at work thinking ive got this outrageous amount of light in a tiny tank. Are CFL bulbs becoming more popular in the aquarium trade? i dont think I've ever seen a CFL bulb in any LFs ive been to. I have seen the long tube ones but no twisties.
 
DoctaQ

DoctaQ

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Dec 12, 2008
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cfls probably arent as popular in pet stores because there isnt much money to be made on them. the hardware store sells them for a couple dollars what is the pet store gonna charge?

youre on the verge of a high light tank, i would suggest you dose other ferts or get a nice algae eating crew
 
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