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Fluorescent Tubes Specs



    I went down to the local fish shop with the intention of purchasing a 40
watt Triton bulb. As is usual, the package was lacking any of the
specifications we aquaria types need to compare bulbs. The package did however
get my attention when I saw the price of $46 OUCH! Before I paid that much for
a bulb, I wanted to get some more 'usable' information. After a relatively
unsuccessful web search, I made some calls. I noticed the G.E. logo on the
bulb so I called their 800 lighting number. G.E. said they've had inquiries on
the Triton before, but that they don't make it and know nothing about it.
Apparently G.E. in England purchased Thorn (the actual manufacturer) and
G.E./USA has no connection. So I called Aquarium Products who sells it in the
U.S. Finally I got connected with someone who had the tech data. The 40 watt
Triton specs out as 5700 Kelvin, 91 CRI, and 2000 lumens - I expected a higher
output than this so I asked again, still 2000. The "tech" person couldn't tell
me if this was initial or average lumens. Either way, I can't see how they can
advertise the Triton as "TWICE AS BRIGHT" unless the data they gave me is
incorrect, any thoughts? I also asked about the "Blue Moon" and "Beauty Light"
for which they told me they had no data. 
     While I was at it, I made more calls to get data on some other well known
bulbs (40 watts, I assume the smaller bulbs are proportionally similar), and
again I assume the following is initial lumens:

                         Kelvin Temp     Lumens        CRI
Aquarium Products
  Triton T12                5700          2000?        91
  Blue Moon                 No Data
  Beauty Light              No Data

Coralife/Energy Savers
(without internal reflector)
  Trichromatic T12          6500          3125         92
  50/50 T12                 7000          2600         92

Duro-Test
  Vita-Lite T12             5500          2180         91
  Vita-Lite
    Power-Twist T12         5500          2340         91
  Vita-Lite Plus T10        5500          2750         91
  Vita-Lite Plus
    Power-Twist T10         5500          2900         91
  Aurora V T10              5000          3450         85

Phillips Ultralume T12      5000          3280         85

GE F40SXL/SPX50 T12         5000          3350         82

Of course this is only a few of many, please correct or add any data.

Mark.