Re: T-8 lighting constr., part II

• To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
• Subject: Re: T-8 lighting constr., part II
• From: George Booth <booth at hpmtlgb1_lvld.hp.com>
• Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 08:34:08 -0700
• In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 19 Feb 1997 03:39:03 EST." <199702190839.DAA03604 at looney_actwin.com>

> From: MMacG1167 at aol_com
> Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 23:24:37 -0500 (EST)
> 
> Secondly, I did some measurements with the hood I got for my 55 gallon
> tank and found that I could stick as many as 9 T-8's in it and still
> have them all directly over the water. I doubt I'll put in 9 lights if
> for no other reason than that I'd have to buy a third ballast, but
> would 8 or 7 or 6 T-8's on a 55 be overkill, or perhaps even a bad
> thing?

IMHO, more than 4 over a 55g tank would be overkill unless you are
targetting algae as the main tank inhabitant. 

Also, if you pack the bulbs in side by side, you are wasting lumens.
FL bulbs emit light from all around their circumference. A proper
reflector will direct the light coming from the top half back down to
the water surface, adding to the effective lumens.  If the bulbs are
cheek-to-jowl, there is no way for the reflected light to get to the
water.  You will, in effect, have the same lame concept that Corallife
has with their extra cost "reflector" bulbs - half the lumens
disappear.

George

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