Question about CFL lights.

Jellymolly44

Jellymolly44

Handsome Fella
Jun 14, 2008
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I may have asked this before, but. It says that a 23w bulb puts out at least 120w of light. What is the big idea here? I'd think Three 23w bulbs would be good over a 30 gallon hex for java moss. I need some opinions here.
 
Where does it say that?
 
On the bulb packages, it will say that a 15W compact flourescent it equal to 60W from a typical incadescent bulb.
I figure it using actual wattages though, not by the comparison.

I do think that 3 23W watt CFL should be more than plenty to grow java moss!!!
 
jeninok said:
On the bulb packages, it will say that a 15W compact flourescent it equal to 60W from a typical incadescent bulb.
I figure it using actual wattages though, not by the comparison.

I do think that 3 23W watt CFL should be more than plenty to grow java moss!!!
Click to expand...

Could I just use two? That would be 46w. One watt over 1.5 watts.
 
Watts are watts. 3- 23watt CF is equal to 69watts.
 
Okay. So I guess yer saying that the incandescent equivalent doesn't matter. If I were to put a 120 incadescent that would be a better choice?
 
120 watts is a little high, unless you have a tall tank.

PS--120 watts would be hot too.
 
Yeah. I guess yer right. But my tank is 24 inches tall though. I just wanted to know if cfl lights would be best for a 24 inch deep hexagon tank.
 
Lumens is what your more interested in here. Look at how many lumens the 120w incandescent bulb puts out & compare that to one 23w CFL, it will be about the same. That is what is meant by equivalent light output. Watts is the measurement of electrical power to generate that same amount of light. Example : If the 120w incandescent = lets say 500 lumens, one 23w CFL = 500 lumens also. You are just spending less energy to achieve that level of light. So 3 23w CFL's would = 1500 lumens but you would only be using 69w to get that. Whereas to get the same amount of light (lumens) from the incandescent you have to use 360w. Does that make sense ?
If you are interested in learning a lot about light & how it affect plants, I would highly recommend reading this post I found some time ago.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/lighting/38014-lighting-spectrum-photosythesis.html
Hope that helps
 
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