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RE:WalMart Fluorescent bulbs




> Hallie Ray wrote;
> 
> >I found some 36" fluorescent bulbs at WalMart today, about 
> >$6 each, that are "kitchen and bathroom" bulbs, which are
> >supposed to give a "more natural lighting." Anyone have 
> >any information on these as plant light bulbs?: 
> 
	Jim Spencer wrote;

> Based on my experience these lamps do a fine job of providing light
> for growing plants. That's all I used when I first began keeping a
> planted aquarium a few years ago and I had what I thought to be good
> plant growth. Since then I've switched to Sylvania Designer 860 series
> which is a daylight lamp.  The plant growth is no better, but I prefer
> the appearance that the daylight lamps give.
> 
> 
	I have a 10 gal tank I just play around with, which has 2 "kitchen
and bath" bulbs over it.  The color is terrible, very yellow, I would never
use it on a tank which other people could see.  But, the plants seem to grow
every bit as well as the plants in another tank with chroma 50's.

	The  "kitchen and bath" bulb has a color temp of 3000, which is one
of the lowest I've ever seen, and a CRI of 75.  Although none of this
explains why it seems to grow plants, it does explain why the light is so
yellow.

	So far, I have bought all my lamps from a company in Missouri,
called ATR Lighting.  Their homepage is http://www.atrltg.com.  They claim
to have every type of bulb that exists, and so far they've had everything
I've asked for.  The only problem is you need to know what you want when you
call them (i.e. part numbers), the sales people aren't at all knowledgeable
about the lamp specifications.  They do seem to have the best prices, even
when you include the shipping charges, of course if your only buying a
couple at a time, it may not be worth it.

	Personally, I like the full spectrum bulb (I think from Sylvania).
It is 5600k and 92 CRI.  It seems a little bluer than the chroma 50, which I
prefer, but to each his (or her) own.

	BTW, I was in K-Mart yesterday and noticed that they have GE 48"
5000k Sunshine bulbs for $6.00 each

	Bob Ashcraft
	Pittsburgh, PA (at least relatively close to it)