[Mr. Jingles]

Has anyone ever used these bulb or this type of bulb before? 105W SHO CFL My plan is to use a bell type reflector to light up the spots I am planting in. My whole tank isn't going to be planted just 2-3 big patches. I have way to many gallons to try and use the WPG rule. TIA

Edit:
Suppose I should mention the Tank is 600G 96"Lx48"Wx30"H Its mostly going to be Vallisneria gigantea, maybe a few other US native aquatic plants. Its in the wall so the only thing visible is the front of the tank, you have to go around the other side of the basement to get to the back of it.

 

[Mr. Jingles]

Anyone?

 

[Mr. Jingles]

So maybe switch from the bell shaped reflectors to some from AH Supply to reduce the restrike? And the biggest thing inhibiting me from MH is cost.

 

[Mr. Jingles]

Will do. I have till end of December when I get my Christmas bonus So I'll be researching till then.

 

[Mr. Jingles]

Gotcha, I understand better now Still seems to me a lot cheaper than buying a fixture and bulbs especially when almost all of them come with actinic sides to them. I'll go with the AH supply reflector as well to deal with some of the lost light on the other side of the bulb but AFAIK The spiral design is meant to reduce the restrike. Here is a link that got me really interested in the SHO CFL bulbs.
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html

 

[Mr. Jingles]

There is no hood over the lights so I dont think heat will be to much of an issue. Here is what the back of the tank looks like. I have a door up now but not finished the wall untill I'm happy with the lid on the tank.

Here is the tank from the front.

 

[Mr. Jingles]

Thanks hoppy I'll look into it. I actually do have a page I made on the build of the tank. Not sure if I want to copy and paste the whole thing here tho. Here is the link not exactly a professional page but maybe someday. 600 G Native Tank

 

[Mr. Jingles]

Something to think about, This is all hypothetical, 105 watt spiral, probably 50% loss to re-strike inside the tube. equivalent to 50 Watt tube with reflector.

105WCF $31.00 50 Watt with unknown cost reflector. $31.00 + reflector
Bulb replacement cost $31.00

32W T-8 $6.00 Replacement 4 tube ballast $18.00 4X overdriven t-8 ~50 Watts with fairly cheap reflector $24.00 + Reflector
Bulb replacement cost $6.00

The efficiency of the t-8 setup is better because you are not wasting 50W on re-strike so the cost of operation will be theoretically 1/2. None of these numbers are real they are for example only

This is why I gave up on my fixture with the big lights. I have 4 2X overdriven 32W T-8's and it puts out far more light than the two 100 W CF's I tried.

Brian

Thanks for that info. Like I said just researching everything atm but thats the kind of info I'm looking for. The tank is 30" deep

 

[Mr. Jingles]

Siphon attached to a pole to reach up front by the glass. I think I mentioned in the web page that I have a valve that I can open and it drains 30% of the water. And if I want to place any new rocks or anything else in the tank I have a 9 year old to climb in, and believe me I dont have to talk him into getting in his swim trunks to climb in! I'm also making a new site its a bit cleaner looking and I can add more content to it like videos which I have up of the tank on the Gallery page. New Site lots of cut and paste.

 

[Mr. Jingles]

:noidea: lol thanks for the info I'm looking more into the T8 ODNO