[APD] Re: Mini CF bulbs

[Kyle Williams <amomum1 at yahoo_com>]

I had the same problem a couple years ago.  I bought a 10 gal. setup and didn't even think to look at the light fixtures until I got it home.  Not wanting to let petsmart outsmart me I went the screw in CF route and have been very happy with the results.

Regular CF bulbs aren't very good because they make your tank look too yellow.  The Coralife bulbs are probably ok, but if they are like their other bulbs they are probably pretty expensive (the "say it is for the aquarium" and charge 2x or more for it rule probably applies).  I would suggest ordering bulbs online from a site that specializes in light bulbs.  It doesn't need to be a special "aquarium light" or "plant light", just get ones with a 5000k or 6700k rating (I assume this is for a freshwater planted tank).  I forget where I found mine, but a quick google search gave me bulbs.com and they had a good selection of bulbs in the $4-5 range.  They give a warning that it is not for enclosed fixtures, but I think that is just to escape liability.  I think that if the fixture can handle the heat of incandescent bulbs then CFs should be no problem.  The bulbs I have (4 total, for 2 different tanks) have worked great.  Just pay attention to the size of the bulbs, if they are !
 too big
 they won't fit in the enclosure properly.  But a couple 15w bulbs should fit and give you plenty of light.

-Kyle


Message: 10
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 17:23:19 -0800 (PST)
From: NYCMags 
Subject: [APD] Re: Mini CF bulbs
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com

I've seen a couple of brands of mini CF bulbs
avertised lately, between 20 and 25w each. One is
called Colormax by Coralife.

I am wondering if these would fit and work in a All
Glass 10 gallon incandescent light strip. They are
apparently self-ballasted and look light they might
screw in, but never having seen them, I have no idea.

Anyone used these with an incandescent light fixture?

Valerie



			
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