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Re: Replacing CF Lamps
I started with three 96 watt AH Supply kits on my 90 gallon. Way too much
light when you consider that they may be up to 160% more efficient than the
lamp setups that the 3 watts/gallon rule is based on. I'm now running one
lamp for eleven hours a day, and a second lamp for the middle three hours of
the photoperiod to simulate mid-day intensity. Some plants start pearling
before the second lamp comes on, the water looks like champagne for the
second half of the photoperiod. As these lamps age, I'll extend that mid-day
length by running the second lamp longer. I haven't tried this yet, but it
seems like it should work by compensating for the fall-off of lumens
provided by each lamp. By extending the mid-day, the 'total' lumens per day
can be kept the same as the lamps age. But I think a more important concern
is the effect of aging on the spectrum of light being provided. It's my
understanding that fluorescent lamps shift in spectrum toward a more purple
range which may be less useful to plants, and more useful to algae. BTW,
there are no 'filaments' in fluorescent lamps, do you mean the electrodes at
each end?
TW