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Re: 36 inch lighting
John_P_Bonin at eFunds_Com wrote:
> I have a 36 inch double light fixture, and I'm finding out that some of the
> popular success bulbs that have been mentioned lately are not available in
> 36 inch lengths, or if they are some only come in T12 or T8.
>
> Can someone first tell me if my double strip light by All Glass Aquarium is
> most likely T12 or T8?
Most likely it's T12.
> And does anyone use an SPX50 or equivalent, or chroma 50 or 75 or
> equivalent, in 36 inches? (is it T12 or T8)? What kind of price did you
> pay?
I use C50s in 36" length. T12. Search the Yellow Pages for commercial
ligthing suppliers, under "lighting" or "fluorescent" or the like. I buy
mine at a commercial supplier, $6.50 apiece.
> Finally, I have a deep tank (24 inches) and I suspect that the light
> intensity is minimal at that depth, even with clean glass tops, new
> ballasts, etc. So when I look at lumens and I see some bulbs at 2300
> lumens and some are 1300 lumens (spx50 versus chroma50), is it obvious to
> you as well that I should go with the 2300 lumens, seeing that the other
> specs are similar (CRI, kelvin, etc)?
The lumen spec is not relevant for plants, as far as normal output fluorescents
go. Plants are sensitive to a much broader spectral range than our eyes.
Most normal output fluorescents emit about the same total amount of energy in
this broad wavelength band, so plants will *see* about the same amount of
energy coming out from any of these bulbs.
The lumen spec *is* relevant for you though. The spx50 will make your
tank *look* brigther than the C50. Plants would probably not care.
- Ivo Busko
Baltimore, MD