beachy Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Hey all i was just wondering if i can use normal flouro tubes in my light rather than fish ones? i dont have any plants only a bit of java fern. Would they be any good for enhancing fish colours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachy Posted April 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 oops suppost to put this in the technical section :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 No, you can't use normal flouros. If you do that you may end up not wasting your money on "aquarium lights" Then you'll spend the piles of money you saved on fish, overstock your tank and then have all kinds of problems. (In case you didn't catch my sarcasm, Yes, you can use normal fluoros) It usually looks better if you get 6500K ones, they're not as yellow. Usually sold as cool white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachy Posted April 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 great thanks ira,i have some normal ones under my house i will give a try, just being tight dont want to spend the $ :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 We use bright white or daylight tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachy Posted April 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 how good are they for colour inhancment, dont aquarium tubes have higher colour spectrums? or can i achieve the same with normal tubes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Beachy - There is lots of marketing with fish trade light bulbs. Lots of information on Advanced Aquairust Online about who re-badged what bulbs etc. The bottom line is ANY fluro within the 6000-7200 Kelvin light spectrum will be ideal. I personally use 6500k bulbs from Osram on my freshwater tank, the 4 footers cost about $9ea. There is no advantage to using the $30-$70 pet-store brands at all. Regardless of description 'daylight' 'dayglow' 'natural' 'evening' etc the most important factor is the KELVIN rating, 6000-7200 is where you need to be, NOTHING else is usefull (not really true, advanced plant keepers and people showing of certain fish colours may choose different lighting for this reason), stick to what i've said and you can't go wrong. Any electrical store will stock these bulbs, and if you ask them about Kelvins they will know exactly what your talking about. Piemania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachy Posted April 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Great thanks pies, will go check it out, i'm not sure what the ones under my house are, but hey 9$ isnt much compared to 30-40$. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Pies beat me to it!! If you can get the bulbs for trade (find an electrician mate) you can get the tubes Pies talks about even cheaper. Last time I got them they were $4.50ea +GST ($5.06ea). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 16, 2005 Report Share Posted April 16, 2005 We get ours from Mastertrade and, from memory, they were about $5 - 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted April 16, 2005 Report Share Posted April 16, 2005 Not my auction.. but topical I guess http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-indus ... 457638.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted April 16, 2005 Report Share Posted April 16, 2005 If you can get the bulbs for trade (find an electrician mate) you can get the tubes Pies talks about even cheaper. Last time I got them they were $4.50ea +GST ($5.06ea). You guys ar paying far too much :-) My rate is $2.50 each +gst /Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted April 16, 2005 Report Share Posted April 16, 2005 Do you share your sources? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 Pies, You've recommended 6000-7200K bulbs. What happens if you use others? You only really need lights for the plants. Of course, lighting can also make the tank look pretty. What's required for the plants? I'm using special 'ultra-white' 12V tungsten halogen bare bulbs (nominally 3500K for the bare bulb, but I've seen the sealed dichroic reflector versions advertised at 5000K) and my plants seem to growing ok. Since I've never seen anyone using these before (see my post under DIY light hoods) I was wondering about possible negative effects. Can anyone cast any light on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 Can't comment too much on the effect on the plants, but the normal problem with halogens is that they run too hot and are straight-out energy inefficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 Halogens emit red light which many have found their plants don't like much although swords seem to like it. The red end of the light spectrum is the low end 3000K and most people use as above the 6000-7200K hotter white type. 9000K is blue hot like light reflected off the blue sky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted April 30, 2005 Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 Robert Smith - Good question/s. As stated halogens are very inefficient lighting, not often used as there are many better options out there. In all honestly I have never used them, so only telling you what I have read, no experance myself. Kelvin/Colour spectrum - Negitive effects? Algae, poor/un-natural growth at a guess. Check something like the lighting articles on advancedaquairust online for more info on what the different spectrums provide for our tanks. All that aside, there is also the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' to throw in their too. Good luck! Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Smith Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 From what I've seen, 3500K might be a bit on the cool side, but 5000K sounds about right for tropicals. Shallow water species of plant and fish are used to light which is more like natural sunlight (5500K), rather than deeper water fish which is more blue. I didn't have any problems with algae until the sun got low enough (winter is upon us!) to reflect off a neighbour's window and cuts across part of the tank. At that spot I have algae. When summer was in full swing my apartment got up to 35oC (I'm in Oz) and the tank started to overheat. The lamps wouldn't have helped, but they don't pump out too much heat and it's hardly noticeable). I'll measure the air temperature above the glass cover with a thermometer. The big advantage is that it's very cheap, very easy, very safe (any idiot can wire up 12V) and very small (I had only 25mm clearance between my hood and the glass cover). It's also quite artistic with the ability to create spotlight effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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