Re: Fluorex Lights

["Wayne J" <w.jones at sympatico_ca>]

Giancarlo Podio wrote:
Wayne, I'm guessing you haven't seen this light yet, if you see it 'on' you
may feel different about it's value and perhaps use for aquaria.
We'll wait and see what the exact specs on the bulb are however I would see
it before putting it down too much, I think for the price you're getting a
lot of light and the compact nature of it would allow you to closely pack a
few of these to light up deep tanks with ease or even open tanks from above.
Apparently a similar model exists from the same company with metal reflector
instead of the white reflector but I have not seen it yet.
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I am certainly open to the idea that I could be wrong but so far I haven't
seen anything that would change my opinion. I have heard many complaints
about those fixtures over the past few years. If I actually had one of those
light fixtures I would not be able to easily test it myself without a lot of
work. That sort of data should be supplied by the fixture manufacturer and
the lamp manufacturer. The fact that they don't provide it is rather
telling.

It is a certainty though that a 65 watt fluorescent lamp does not produce
8000 lumens. It is also certain that no fluorescent lamp is more efficient
than HPS as LOA claims. LOA has been around for quite a while. IMO they
consistantly make very low cost and poor light fixtures and exagerated and
misleading claims about their products.  I am not really inclined to cut
them a lot of slack. I do own a couple of their shoplights which, after
throwing out the existing primitive ballast and putting in a good one, I
like very much. Good paint finish, nice and compact and light but what they
say about their own products I take with a grain of salt.

Wayne