RE: [APD] Spiral and multiple-tube small fluorescents.

[Cheryl Trine <ctrine at andrews_edu>]

I've been following this thread with great interest because I am a newbie and have been using the All-Glass Spiral compacts that are 6500K.  Since I started using them  a month ago, my plants have not been dying on me (at least not as rapidly ;-), and I get a little pearling in the evening.  Before that I was using the spiral fluorescents you can get a Home Depot--I understand their color temp is somewhere in the range of 3000-4500K.  Algae was fluorishing, plants not doing to well.  Personally, I preferred the appearance using the  Home Depot lights, the All-Glass light appears bluish to me, and doesn't seem as bright (I felt I could see the fish much better in the yellower
lights).

I have some questions:

First, do all 6500K lights have that same bluish appearance, or does it vary by brand, and type of light PC vs. CF vs Normal fluorescent?

Second, when I looked at AH Supply retrofits, I got the impression these were made to replace normal fluorescent fixtures.  Normal fluorescent fixtures are mounted differently in the hood than incandescents, so will their kit retrofit into a hood that was previously incandescent? (I have a a 10-gallon hood with the dual incandescent fixture mounted in the middle of the hood.)

Third, should I bother retrofitting if the plants aren't dying and algae isn't growing furiously?

Thanks for helping me.

Cheri

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