Alternative Lighting

[loach boy]

Hi everyone - I'm new to the sight and this may have been asked before so apologies in advance.

My tank is currently lit with standard flourescent tubes and I've been thinking about alternatives in order to start growing plants under high lighting (at present I have approx 1.25wpg but want to increase it to 2+ and have limited room for extra tubes). Would it be feasible to use these new(ish) style energy saver bulbs you get to replace standard bulbs? As I understand it they are effectively a compact flourescent with an inbuild starter. If I rigged up say 5 of them into the appropriate light fittings (fitted direct to my hood side/rear panel - home made wooden lid so it is possible) they could plug direct into a standard plug socket with timer and i could do away with my bulky starters. Also how would I work out total wattage - actual wattage of the bulbs or the regular bulb equivalent?

At this stage this is purely hypothetical

thanks everyone.

 

[Dave Spencer]

I believe that your every day flourescent lighting is designed, obviously, with respect to the human eye. This means that the spectrum of the lights will be biased to the green, as opposed to red which is more beneficial to plants. Having said that, you could probably still get decent results from them. If things aren`t going well, you could always try to add one or two plant specific lamps. I often use daylight lighting alongside plant specific lamps to give an overall more pleasing colour rendition.

Can I assume you know what the implications of 2WPG are regarding upgrading your set up?

Dave.

 

[loach boy]

yes - I already have a pressurised co2 setup and understand requirements re ferts etc. Some of the energy saver bulbs I've seen are rated at 6400k, similar to the lifeglo's i currently have (6700k). I assume this means they will peak at the same parts of the spectrum but don't really understand the science behind kelvin ratings of bulbs.

 

[aaronc]

Lifeglos are supposed to be very poor. Most people seem to have success with Interpet Triplus Tropicals or Daylightplus, or a combination

 

[dizzied]

The thing about those bulbs is that most of them are small and are spiral-shaped, which doesn't cover a lot of space and causes a lot of restrike. You might also need to look at the lumen output, since it might not be at the same ratio as aquarium bulbs. If you find the right bulbs and use a reflector, it'd work out just fine though.

I actually use two of them (13w x2, 5500k) over a ten gallon and I've had excellent plant growth.

Use the bulb's actual wattage and not the equivalent.

 

[loach boy]

thanks for the responses guys. i think i'll probably upgrade my tubes to something else (any recommendations on on tubes or combos?)- thought life-glo's were a rated tube. I've measured up and reckon if i remove the reflectors from the 2 existing tubes I can fit 4 in instead. Would this be sensible or are 2 reflected tubes as good as 4 unreflected (all same wattage)

 

[ICEEGRL]

White paint reflects quite nicely and doesn't take up space.

 

[lljdma06]

White paint reflects quite nicely and doesn't take up space.

Wouldn't you be concerned about paint fumes or chips getting into the tank, especially with the build-up of moisture? That would be my concern, but perhaps I'm being overly cautious.

Let us know what you decide Loachboy, I'm curious to see your setup.

llj