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Re: 36 inch lighting
John writes:
>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?<snip>>
It is set up for two 30-watt bulbs. The difference is the diameter. The T-8
is one inch across. The T-12 is an inch and a half. Almost all 30-watt, 36
inch flourescent tubes are now T-8. This is okay, because the output per
watt is significantly higher with the narrower bulbs. I'm using Tritons in
mine. My local Home Depot carries a limited selection of cool whites and
plant bulbs in 36", 30 watt. All of them are T-8.
Speaking of which, that confuses me. When folks started talking t-8, the
idea was that you could get more light with the same power consumption. Now
that 48" t-8s are everywhere, they are reduced to 32 watts. They do put out
a little more light than a standard T-12, but I have been told I have to
re-ballast my fixtures to run them. What kind of deal is that? Why can't we
get 40-watt T-8s and get even more lumens per bulb? The Philips Advantage50
used to be a T-10, and was brighter than a Chroma50, but their marketing
research showed that the T-10 designation confused the customers, so they
switched to T-12, and now the output is about the same as the GE. What is
the point?
Bob Dixon
Cichlid Trader List Administrator
http://cichlidtrader.listbot.com