Awesome find at Wal-Mart

[ozziegt]

So my mother has an old 10g with those old fashioned hoods that hold 2 15w, narrow incadescent bulbs. She wanted to go planted and I have been seeing these compact flourescents around lately so I thought I would see what I could find.

Lowe's has these 13w "daylight" bulbs but they are only 3500k. I bought these thinking they will be ok. They were $6.00 each. They aren't much wider than the narrow incadescent bulbs already in the tank.

But then I went to wal-mart and they have these 20w "sunlight bulbs" in their hardware department. They are 20w 6500k. A pair of bulbs is $9. They barely fit (about 1.5x as wide as the normal narrow bulb) but they DID fit. And they look great. I am going to leave it on for a couple hours and make sure the fixture isn't getting hot or anything. But 40w of 6500k lighting for <$10 can't be beat.

I can't stop staring at the tank. The tank looks AMAZING even though it's so dirty.

BTW: the plants at my local wal-mart look really great. 10x better than the pet stores and only $4 a plant (potted plants)

 

[sloshy]

I know I've read many times not to use a bulb that wasn't made for an aqaurium in one. I've read they can corrode, and the actual light output is alot lower than an actual aqaurium bulb. Anyone?

 

[spinjector]

Watch out for pond snails on Walmart plants... All you need is one... And then you have 10... And then you have 100... Keep adding zeros... So dip those plants before you put them in your tank!

 

[TetraFreak]

My Wallmart has a 13 Watt Compact Flour to replace the incandeants. It was in the fish department, designed for aquarium use and was like $5. so now I for 13 Watts to my Eclipse 5 Hex!

 

[schiejr]

I know I've read many times not to use a bulb that wasn't made for an aqaurium in one. I've read they can corrode, and the actual light output is alot lower than an actual aqaurium bulb. Anyone?

I have used many different bulbs on my tanks, designed for aquariums or not, mostly not. Main concerns being lumens and spectrum and price. Output depends on the bulbs-Aquarilux used to bring out colors good but be very dim. All depends on the bulbs. For general lighting, standard bulbs work just fine.

 

[djlen]

All lighting benefits greatly from having a glass top between the water surface and the electronics. If you have a glass top, the type of bulbs you refer to (20watt/6500K) are an outstanding choice. Stock up!!

Len

 

[Lady G]

So my mother has an old 10g with those old fashioned hoods that hold 2 15w, narrow incadescent bulbs. She wanted to go planted and I have been seeing these compact flourescents around lately so I thought I would see what I could find.

Lowe's has these 13w "daylight" bulbs but they are only 3500k. I bought these thinking they will be ok. They were $6.00 each. They aren't much wider than the narrow incadescent bulbs already in the tank.

But then I went to wal-mart and they have these 20w "sunlight bulbs" in their hardware department. They are 20w 6500k. A pair of bulbs is $9. They barely fit (about 1.5x as wide as the normal narrow bulb) but they DID fit. And they look great. I am going to leave it on for a couple hours and make sure the fixture isn't getting hot or anything. But 40w of 6500k lighting for <$10 can't be beat.

I can't stop staring at the tank. The tank looks AMAZING even though it's so dirty.

BTW: the plants at my local wal-mart look really great. 10x better than the pet stores and only $4 a plant (potted plants)

That must be great, Wal-Mart is the ONLY place here with plants and theirs is always covered with BBA!!! Wish mine would get some good ones in :mad2: