Aquarium Dude Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 I have 4 5ft light tubes in my tank, they are 6500k, I have heard somewhere that a combination of two different types of light can work really well, has anyone heard of this? Ps. I dropped one of the tubes and so need to get a new one anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Different people tend to use different lights depending on the effect they want and the type of fish they have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 30 odd years ago us old fellas were right up there with the latest up to date info from Germany. This was that a combination of growlux and cool white with 1/10 of the wattage in incandescent was the go. I built a tank in a cabinet about then which has 2 x 3 foot tubes and 2 x 15 watt bulbs on dimmers that run 24/7. The tubes go for 17 hours/day. If I was doing it again today I would use 4 x 3ft tubes (4ft wont fit). I tried daylight (6500k) for a year but have reverted to the old set up. If you put a growlux in the front it enhances the red and blue colours of fish. You pays your money and takes your pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquarium Dude Posted February 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 I have only ever seen 4ft tubes in the fish shop never 5ft, instead of buying "Gro-lux" can you get a normal tube with a particular kelvin rating? what kelvin rating is "cool white"? The tank is heavily planted tropical. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 This thread has some info about lights http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/calcul ... 27516.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 I think growlux is around 10000k and cool white is around 4000k. Have sent you a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Some reference data: For 40W tubes Lamp Color : Color Temperature : Minimum Acceptable Lumens : Best Available Lumens Warm White : 3,000K to 3,500K : 2,880 : 3,300 Cool White : 4,100K to 4,200K : 2,880 : 3,300 Full Spectrum : 4,800K to 5,500K : 2,950 : 3,250 Daylight : 6,000K to 7,000K : 2,000 : 2,180 I've seen GroLux rated at 6500K, but... I've also read that Kelvin rating can be misleading for fluorescent tubes because they emit in narrow spikes of light rather than broad intensity. The Kelvin rating is only reliable for what the human eye perceives, not what plants receive. Perhaps this is why Sylvania don't list a Kelvin rating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Growlux is high in UV which the human eye doesn't see. The K rating is also about a peak but that is not the only light emitted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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