sigh... another lighting question :)

H

Hebdizzle

playswithsquirrels
Mar 8, 2003
421
0
16
I just bought the perfecto incandescent hood that holds two lightbulbs for my 10 gallon. I am going to use screw in compact flourescents. Which wattage should I get? (2) 4 watt 5100 kelvin bulbs? = 50 watt Incandescent equivalence, or (2) 2 watt 5100 kelvin bulbs = 30 watt Incandescent equivalence?

I will be trying to grow live plants and using the Hagen natural co2 system.

thanks
hebdizzle
 
Ignor the incandescent equivalents. With the 2 x 4 watts you will only have 8 watts total over a 10 gallon. That is on the low side for even low light plants.
 
the difference between watts used and incandescent equivalent doesnt count? my house has 13 watt flour. screw in bulbs that are the equivalent of 55watts.. that doesnt translate to aquarium wattage?
 
The figure given for watts per gallon for planted aquaria is for flourescents. Incandescents are a different and less efficient animal. The equivalent amounts of incandescent light is irrelevant -- you're using X watts of flourescent.

Most of what I've read about it says that smaller tanks need stronger light than larger tanks, so that even 2 wpg (flourescent) is on the low side of the coin.
 
They look good, 6500k. They'd be my pick for that setup.

You might also want to think about making sure the inside of the hood is as reflective as possible, even if it just means lining the inside with aluminum foil. (Lots of other options, check DIY, search function). The one thing I don't like about the curly CFs is the curl. It seems to me that a lot of the light generated is being sent up or in. Lots of restrike, etc. A little care to refocus as much as possible down and into the water could help alleviate this.

HTH
 
Thanks for all the help everyone! Those are what I'm going to get. Do you think they carry them at Home Depot or Lowes?

The hood has a decent reflector, but I will probably end up doing the rest with aluminum foil. Thanks for the idea for that too.

aaron
 
I have a single screw in comp. flour and my plants are doing great witha once a week fertilizer addition. (Mostly water sprite).
 
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