I heard about vita lights that give you more WPG for a ten gallon aquarium. Can you guys give me a website where I can look at them?
Vita lights
- Thread starter WinterWind
- Start date
I've never heard of them, but I do know that power compact/compact flourescent lights give more light than their wattage suggests. I recently read somewhere that these lights could be considered about a third greater in intensity. All I know is that I have a CF Strip light and at 2.24 Watts/gallon I am growing Parrot's Feather, supposedly a medium high light plant in an average depth tank.
Vita lights are a full spectrum lighting source. They do not provide anymore wattage than a standard fluorescent bulb. Back in the day when these bulbs first came out (a long time ago) and planted tanks were far harder to keep than today, it was assumed that a full spectrum bulb (one that tries to mimic sunlight) would be good for planted tanks. The thing is plants don't use most of the light provided in such a bulb. You are better off going with a compact fluorescent fixture with a bulb that provides light in the 5000k to 10,000k range which is the spectrum that plants like.
Here is a link with some more info Vita Lights.
Here is a link with some more info Vita Lights.
Plants like any spectrum they can get, but that does not mean any old light will give equal results. Vita lights were an early triphospher tube, so provided a better balanced spectrum than many other tubes available back then. Most triphosper tubes will grow plants okay, but that doesn't mean it will be the most efficient or the best looking. Personally I think they look too yellow, and grassy plants with surface leaves such as Crinum and Vals tend to burn with Vita in my tanks.
What excactly is a compact/compact fluorescent, which gives a third more energy? How can I tell that they are such?
Because they have a compact flourescent bulb. They'll be labeled as such. Her's the one I use: Coralife 65 Watt Power Compact Freshwater Strip Light
Cp bulbs will have four pins instead of two. They will either be arranged in a square (called square pin) or a line (called straight pin). They don't fit into standard fluorescent fixtures, You either need to rewire you existing fixture or buy a new one.