Philips Genie 18w CFL daylight energy saver

Hi guys
I have been looking for a bit of extra lighting for 2 of my tanks and lighting for a 3tf tank.So not know alot about lights and didnt feel like getting ripped of at the LFS i started doing abit of resurch and found out how hectic it is to try rap my head around . I didnt have the spare cash for T5 lighting which would be ideal. I found a daylight CFL energy saver that philips makes:

Philips Genie 18w CFL daylight energy saver
18w
6500K
1040Lumens
58lm/w
Price: R37

I know this isnt ideal lighting for plants but my plants are thriving now. I put 3 bulbs into my 3ft with the intentions to put a 4th in but i dont think its needed. The nice thing about this light is that it doesnt need a ballast , you just ned a R3 connection . For R40 you can get something that is almost T5 quality ,as far as i can tell . Has anyone used them before?

 

Reafer, that is the million dollar question!! Do you choose your lighting (non-aquarium usage) according to watts, lumens or kelvin? Which is the dominating factor or do you try to find a happy medium? So far, when it comes to fluorescent tubing, I have been told to go 1 watt per 2 litre average. But I have also heard that when you go LED, the wattage per litre apparantly does not apply anymore. So that leaves lumen and kelvin as the dominating factors, or have I got it wrong? I am trying to design my own lighting system that is energy efficient and affordable, but am getting conflicting design requirements.

 

from what i have worked out i think please some correct me if i am wrong, is that u cant really go by wats per litre anymore so u are looking for kelvin rateing because the K rate tells you that the light spectrum is like and i think for growing plants u need a light spectrum between 400nm-600nm and i think 6500k falls in the middle of that spectrum . when it comes to lumens i think its the intencity of the light so for a deeper tank you would need more lumens per wat or i could be mistakn and have it all wrong

 

Carping - There is far too much Specmanship in the lighting game, where aquariums are concerned.. Lumens, FootCandles, Watts per litre, Kelvin etc. etc. Put in a standard flourescent or two and your plants grow.. Put in some LED's and your plants grow... Put in T5's and your plants grow..

If we went by specs my 2m would need 8x T5's 54W. I have 2 in there with a standard 4 foot flourescent and haveto cut the plants back every two weeks..

Forget the specs - put some lights in and see the growth - if not enough growth, add another one..

If it helps - I get good light in a 200mm radius from 8 SBrite LED's, in a 450 deep tank.

 

Thanks, that's a great help. Trial by error learning.. Only way to go it seems,, with any newbie!!!

 

I agree about trial and error, the problem is that it often turns out being a costly affair by the time you become wiser.

Reafer, are those Phillips CFL's hard to find or are they very common?

 

most good lighting shops should get it for you if they dont have , i believe if PE has it anywere else should

 

you are paying more for the CF than what i am paying for Salvania T5s.....

 

OK here is a quick rundown of the important points:

1. Kelvin rating is overrated. The photosynthesis curves you find on the web are all related to vegetables and other garden plants. I doubt they apply to aquatic plants. We know water filters light and some parts of the spectrum will be filtered out quite quickly. Blue penetrates the best. That is why everything under 3ft looks blue. So perhaps aquatic plants have adapted to use different light spectra?
2. Don't believe the rubbish you read on the web that if a plant is green it is because it reflects green light and must prefer to absorb red and blue light. It has been shown that algae prefers green light and most algae I ever had was green...
3. If you get a bulb with high K, then the light is pretty white, almost blueish. Red plants and red fish don't show very well. If you get a 3200K bulb or a 4100K bulb, there is more green and red in the light. I find combining 6500K and 4000K gives good results. In the end, choose what looks good to you. Your plants will grow if the intensity is high enough.
4. Lumens is for humans, not plants, but it says something about the intensity of the light, which is important for plants.
5. The most common quick-fix measure these days is lumens per square inch. You want to be around 15-20 for a medium high to high light setup. But this changes depending on the light. HID penetrates much better, so if you want to grow carpet plants well in a deep tank, get HID.
6. Watts per gallon is still relevant to a certain extent. If you are using T8 or T5, then multiply your watts by 1.3 to get a real watts per gallon value. There was a study done that I read recently with conversion values. I don't have the link anymore.

That is a quick summary. I can put together something more detailed in the future.

Regards
L

But he doesn't have to buy a ballast...

 

These are them... using two in my little 60L planted

 

Excuse the Noob question. but can these be used in conjunction with a current ballast bought at a LFS?

 

Ruan, the answer would depend on what light you are refering too...

 

Well I currently have a normal el-cheapo 25w Ballast and Tube, would it be advantageous to add, say, 2 more of these aswell? Or, should I chuck the 25W ballast and get a dual T5 setup?
Thanks.

 

Ruan, the thread is actually about Energy Saver Bulbs, but if you are comparing el-cheapo tubes with T5's, the T5's are the best way to go if you are prepared to fork out some serious money.

 

LOL, thats why I'm asking. I dont really want to fork out the cash in the first place.:embarrest::embarrest:

 

Yes the tubes are cheapish for T5 but remember the CFL dont need ballasts so for a quick fix it is cheaper because i dont think u can get a ballast and tube for R37 , also T5 tubes also have a 1 year lifespan roughly and a CFL has a 3 year lifespan . Idealy T5 lighting is the best option but i dont have the money to spend on ballasts and tubes so for me it was better to go for the CFL and henk do u pay wholesale? because most of us dont

 

Awesome, answers! :bigsmile:
Where in PE do you get them Reafer?

 

T5s are not that expensive if you avoid buying them at LFS and rather shop at lighting retailers. But you have to do your homework and know what you want, since they can't offer advice on aquarium bulbs.

I have a plant growing out tank which is a 3ft with 4 x CFLs. They are Osram 21W which I bought at Builders Express. They put out 1200l each. Trust me, it's bloody bright and the plants grow...

The bulbs are 4000K, so not the ideal spectrum, but the plants still grow.

 

Thanx Laure, I'll check it out this afternoon.

 

The problem is i havent found anyone that stocks them on there shelves but if you give Anthony at DIY Electrical a call he can get them same day for you, just need to give him a call a few hours before u go