[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #933



George Booth writes:
> 
> MH are much brighter and more efficient than FL.

Actually, though they are "brighter" per bulb, their efficiency is the
same or lower than fluorescents, depending on the bulb and ballast.  The
most cheap and efficient setup still seems to be the T-8... $25 for a
4-tube ballast, and $4-6 per tube at a commercial lighting distributor =
under $50 for a setup that can do quite well for a 55 gallon tank.
And, as was reported by Karen & others a few months back, Sylvania now has
6500K T-8's!

The two advantages I see to MH's are the appearance (as mentioned by
George) and the concentrated source... You definitely can get MORE light
with MH pendants over a 75 than you can by cramming in fluorescent tubes,
and the appearance is more of a sunny ("point source") day as opposed to
an overcast ("diffused plane source") one.

  - Erik

---
Erik Olson				Come see my stupid animated GIF
eriko at wrq_com	    http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Krib/Plants/CO2