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

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Higher color temp bulbs, as a rule of thumb tend to be a
bluer looking white light, *but* that's only a rule of
thumb.  It depends on the spectrum of the bulb (and
actually a couple of other details).  Fluorescents aren't
an even contiuous spectrum and peaks can be in diff places
in two diff bulbs and still yield the same overall color
temp rating.

It's not the those spiral bulbs don't work; they are just
not very efficient.

AHS will help you find the right kit for your setup, you
can email them and even get them on the phone, but they are
popular and so the phone might be a harder way to get
through.

If you tell them the kind of hood you have or it's
dimensions, they can tell you what will can fit.

Yes, the All-glass bulbs (and Marineland bulbs that come in
Eclipse hoods) look a bit bluer than most bulbs you can get
in Home Depot, excepting ordinary cool white bulbs.

The choice of color of the bulb's light is mostly a matter
of taste -- your plants won't mind much one way or the
other unless you have some especially finicky plants.

Scott H.

--- Cheryl Trine <ctrine at andrews_edu> wrote:
> 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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> Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
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