Could I Just Use A Household Lamp For A Planted Tank?

[Sumo2000]

Now that you can buy fluorescent bulbs all over the place that fit standard fixtures, could you use a 3-4 light lamp fitted with them to provide enough light for a planted tank? I have 2 of these bulbs in my bathroom and they're bright asall get out and I have a 3 bulb adjustable lamp that could shine down into the tank with all three bulbs (this lamp is bright enough to brightly light an entire room). Would that work for a tank? or maybe just two bulbs?

How about some similar setup using a couple of desk lamps? Consicering the cost of some tank light setups this seems like a really cheap alternative.

 

[three-fingers]

Short answer - yes, as long as the plants are getting enough light, it doesnt matter what type of fixture it's from or what K rated it is (to an extent).

But I'm not really sure what type of light you are talking about from your description, your best finding out what type of bulb it is and what wattage, and also list tank size .

 

[Sumo2000]

It's for a 29 Gallon tank and I could use 3 of these:
Home Depot Lightbulbs

They're only 14 watt but they say 60w incandescent equivalent. I can have three of these mounted right above the tank.

ETA: I just tried the ones from the bathroom and while they were only 14 watt the color temp was a bit warm for the tank and not that bright. I can get 27w bulbs of the same type though. What options besides spending a couple hundred on a hood do you suggest?

ETA 2: I just found these at Walmart GE Flourescents

They are 26 watts (100 watt equivalent) though I'm not sure if they're full spectrum or what. They're 6500 K and the light seems pretty good color for my tank. I can fit at least 4 if I like by using clip-on desk lamps mounted to the back of the tank for each one.

Opinions?

 

[three-fingers]

Ah, those ones.

You can use them, but they work out a lot less efficient than linear florescent tubes.

You would get the equivalent affect of 1wpg or lower depending on how you mount them and if you use any reflectors IMO.

You would be better off with one florescent tube (try a "cool white" or "daylight") spanning the length of the tank. This would give much more evenly spread lighting.

If you wanted to be able to grow most plants, 2 florescent tubes spanning the length of the tank would be excellent, and you could mix "cool white" and "daylight" tubes to represent more colours accuratlely.

Florescent fixtures can be bought cheap from DIY stores, I even found one in a skip once.

 

[nosoup4you]

I use the regular household CFLs in my tank though I am not sure how they would do on a tank larger than mine. I have a 10 gallon and I use 2 x 13W daylight CFLs.