Low Energy Lightbulbs

[Jer-]

So Arfie, did u get around to getting some of em bulbs?

Yea i agree, the greatest advantage of them is the ease of setting one up. Its so simple... A lighting fixture costs so little and the bulbs come with the ballast. plus they look bright even tho the wattage taken into account may not be as high. (if u know wot i mean...again). I love em. prefer them to anyother flurescents anyday.

Although i think fitting them into a hood may not be that easy... and there u mite want to use the long fluro tubes like T8 or T5s.... but for open tops (like mine) they are the bestest of the bestest.

 

[Arfie]

So Arfie, did u get around to getting some of em bulbs?

Not yet.

I can get 2 * 30 watt 6500K daylight) ones for £17.25 (delivered), but I need to pop into a DIY store and get fittings/wire etc, so I'll check out what they have. Though I may get just one or maybe 2 * 18 or 20 watt, not sure yet (only for a 20 gallon tank and I'm not going for CO2 just yet), I also need to check out how I'm gonna fit it into the lid I have and what to do regarding reflectors etc, but it will happen (just don't hold your breath )

Thanks you guys for all your experience and knowledge B)

Arfie

 

[fish-face]

noticed this thread a few days ago and its got me hooked starting my first ever tank and just ordered up 3 daylight lamps to fit in my hood,thought i`d give em a go and see what happens,hopefully the plants will like them.

 

[IovaykInD]

Keep us updated..we've discussed and concluded that it is right for planted tank. But no one has ever tried it and proved that it actually works.

 

[Jer-]

Keep us updated..we've discussed and concluded that it is right for planted tank. But no one has ever tried it and proved that it actually works.

IovaykInD youve forgotten about my replies...

I use it and have proved (to myself) that it does work very nicely.

now if only I had a camera.

 

[Ptarmigan]

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[KrayzieVanh]

First post! Nice to meet everyone!

I just got started with my new tank 3 weeks ago. Still learning. To save money I'm moslty DIY'ing everything I can.

I tried this last week and my plants have been doing great. I have a 37 gal. that came with a hood that could only do 20wat. I needed a cheap alternative so I gutted my 10 gal hood because it had the dual socket setup. I used cardboard, masking tape, and allumiumn foil to make the "modified" hood.

Before:

After:

The bulbs are 26 watts and I basically have:

26+26+20 (stock bulb) = 72, makes about 1.9 wpg.

I'm using a DIY CO2 setup diffusing it throught my Filter. The only fertilizer I am using is Leaf Zone.

 

[Rooster]

....first post - and WHAT a post !!!
Welcome to the board, and well done, please let us know how you get on with them, ie plant growth etc...

I am a little worried about the use of foil around electrics .... but I would recommend EVERYONE has an earth fault trip in their setups... do NOT rely on the distribution board doing its job - what is your life worth ?

 

[Arfie]

Genius

I was trying to work out how to mount 2 bulbs wit as little destruction to my tank lid as possible, now I know, do them back to back like that

For what they cost, I'll buy a normal reflector, though it'll not be needed in my tank.

Arfie

 

[superjalami30]

I've been using these bulbs in 3 of my aquariums for approx 6 months now.

A 30 gallon with 4 above(two light strips over a glass hood), a 10 gallon with two and a 5 gallon nano with two as well.

All the bulbs I use currently are "phillips daylight" with an 860 lumens.
The plants are doing quite well, as a matter of fact I grow duckweed as an additional source of food for my goldies and I have to throw TONNES of it away because it grows so fast.

They work and I would recommend anyone with an incandescent hood to try them out, especially if they're going to go the planted route.

One caution however, they do get a bit hot, so if your going to use them over a cold water tank you may want to use a PC fan to keep them cool so as to not raise the temp of the water.

 

[fish-face]

Had to build a hood for my hexagonal tank and went with the daylight lamps option,at the moment the tank is about 77 gal with 3-20 watt daylights and a 14 watt power glo which came with the tank when i bought it (second hand) still some room left to add some more light or upgrade existing but these were all i could get hold of at the time.

Lamps are not that easy to get hold of at the moment but wholesalers are starting to sell quite a lot of these which will only force the price down,cheaper lamps for us
. btw computers and photos a no no for me took me about a week to get these on here

Reflectors canablized from a 600x600 ceiling fitting.

 

[IovaykInD]

btw computers and photos a no no for me took me about a week to get these on here

The pictures don't seem to work still And sorry about forgetting..must have skipped over some threads while I was reading.

 

[fish-face]

damm i`ll try and sort later

 

[fish-face]

can u see these?

 

[Jer-]

Take a look at my setup. Not the best, but simple.

the middle one is turned off btw. All of the 3 on the wall have 5000K energy saving lamps, whereas the front Fluroscent has a Life-Glo.