Lighting

Hi guys I am on the hunt for a second set of lights for my 40L tank 60cm long, or at least the ballists, does some one have one lying around?

Please let me know

 

Have you thought about maybe using CFLs? They are cheap and easy to install, I have 2 x 15watt in my 2 foot tank and they work great.

 

I would agree with the above.. I have two 20watt ballasts with 10000k tubes (cost me about R300 for the lot) and i have two 20watt 6500K CFL's and its actually to much for my tank so i only turn on the 1set of lights.. In my opinion i prefer to use the CFL's because i find they promote better plant growth. Dont waste your money on the ballasts etc, i dont think its worth it. Go spend R50 on some wire, switch, plug, light, fitting and bolt it into your hood..

 

I would believe you are getting better growth out of your CFL's because they are at 6,500K which is better suited for plant growth. If your tube was 6,500K instead of 10,000k you would get the same growth... with less wattage.

20W tube vs 2 x 15w CFL= pay more for electricity on the CFL as apposed to using proper tube.

 

What make CFL's are they? might need a few myself

 

That might be true, but the tubes i brought are ment to be PLANT GROWTH tubes... The other problem is i cant find 6500k tubes, the closest ive found is either lower or higher, in which case it gives off a YELLOW colour which makes i look like someone took a leak in the water... Thus i would rather just stick to my CFLs, and they are ment to be pretty energy Efficient!!

Im not to sure on the brand, i found them at a builder express after looking far and wide.. You dont find many DAYLIGHT(6500k) lights.. All you get is coolwhite or warmwhite. But just look/phone around see who has what.

 

I get all my 6500k globes from spar! They are 18w and made by eveready. Click link in my sig for pics. I have one above my 70L and its more than enough. I'm even running a small nano marine tank with two of these cfls!

PS: Lower K rating than 6500k would be more yellow - whereas higher would be whiter/bluer... not yellower!

Yes, would use more electricity than the tube, but thats cause 2x15 = 30. As opposed to one 20w tube. Thus also higher output. I'm not sure which has the more efficient ballast, but it would be interesting to see which one comes out tops. CFLs are just twisted florescent tubes, although from what I hear the thinner diameter tubes are more efficient...

 

I'm in the process of reading through a lighting article for aquariums. It's very interesting, but get's VERY laboursome reading through all the technical jargon.

Basically what the article is saying is that in order to get goo plant growth, you need to have a balance between our kelvin ratings. a 10,000k only will give you great light, but you need to balance it out with a 6,500k light for the plant growth. I haven't read the entire article, but basically from what I understand, you need to take into accound the Kelvin rating, the NM, the PAR, and some other stuff I haven't got to yet. Basically they are saying the LAST thing we should take into consideration is the Watts, and that the Watts per gallon/litre rule is as old a rule as under gravel filters are.

The guy in the article was saying that you can have a 10W tube of the correct "stuff", and a 200W cfl of something completely wrong... and the 10W will work 100 times better... even to the point that the 200 Watt tank might die... (not from too much light of heat, but because it's the wrong light.)

Again I say you might be getting better growth from the CFL route because you are using a 6,500 CFL. I personally find that the 10,000k light, altho rated as a growth tube, outperforms compared to the 6,500k.

I recently had 3 x 10,000k. I took out 1 and changed it for a 5,500... which gives a very slight red haze... but this is overcome by the 10,000k. And I replaced another 10,000k with a 6,500k and plants are doing GREAT

On a side note... guys, if you are buying the CFL route... check the Kelvin rating on them. I was in Builder's waterhouse yesterday, and out of interest I was going through the K rating on all the globes. (My boss was on his phone, so I had 10 minutes in that isle to kill)

90% of the globes in the CLF range were rated between 4,200k and 5,500K. Only a few were rated at 6,500k. So make sure you check. Last thing you want is a 4,200k globe and land up with a yellow tank.