Are Compact Flourescent bulbs good?

drab911

Hey everyone.. So I am at the point where I need to upgrade my lighting before I get my plants.. I just have a 16 Gallon tank... and right now it is a single 15 watt lamp... I had a look and I dont think I am going to have very good luck finding a higher wattage ballast for a 17" Tube... so I was thinking of wiring it up myself 2 standard sockets and then put in a couple of the compact flourescent lamps.. Has anyone had experience with these?? I know they grow regular plants good but does this give even light over the entire tank cause it wont be covering the whole top.. any info is appriciated thanks

Houseman · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 1:17 am Post subject:

Hi drab, I am new also, but I have a 30gal with flourescent bulbs and a 10 gal with two incandescant bulbs that I am going to get rid of. I find they heat the water wayyyyy uo if on for ant lenght of time. Would you be kind enough to PM me with what ever you find that works? I would really appreciate it! Smile

)compact flourescent would fit in my sockets I believe?

t_chelle16 · Moderator Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 3436

That's what I did for my 10 gallon and my 5 gallon. The 10 gallon has a standard hood that I modified by gutting it and adding a single fixture with 2 sockets. At the moment it has a 10w and a 20w, but I'm eventually going to change them to two 15w. On my 5 gallon I actually made the whole light fixture myself and it has a single 15w bulb.

I don't have a pic of the 10 gallon hood, but here's the 5 gallon.
Underside:

Back (I left the long open strip in the middle for ventillation so it doesn't overheat):

Front:

-Chelle

drab911 · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 7:41 am Post subject:

Chelle:

Hello.. that is exactly what I was thinking of doing...
Do you have live plants in your 10 Gallon tank? How do they like the lights..
do you find they give even light.. and do they give off too much heat?
I thought those bulbs come in like 30 watts.. im not sure im going to go and check the hardware store tommorow.. but thanks a lot for the pics gave me a good idea!

t_chelle16 · Moderator Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 3436

Yes, I have live plants in both tanks and they're all doing fine (they're all low light plants and I don't use CO2). The bubs do give off some heat, but not enough that I'm worried about burning or melting the housing.

Most of the compact flourescent bulbs like that (that fit in incandescent sockets) come in 13w or 15w. They generally aren't the right color temperature (kelvin) for plants and tend to give off more of a yellow color, but I just color the reflector or the glass with a blue sharpie and that does a good job of cancelling out the yellow and makes the tank look more like it has natural light. I'm not sure if it really affects the kelvin rating, but the plants are doing just fine with it.

-Chelle

drab911 · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 12:11 am Post subject:

Well I built my hood, and all I can say is that the old light is back in... the 2 daylight compact ones didnt do nearly as well as the stock flourescent tube I had... I have come to the conclusion that I am probably going to keep this light...
I am dreading the idea of fake plants.. so are there any real low level plants that will live with 1 watt per gallon?? I am willing to add CO2 if it would make a difference... thanks if anyone can help

Fish Addict · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 12:31 am Post subject:

i am in the process of making of making lighting for my 10 galllon tank i am putting 3 15 watt flourescents in a diy top ill post pics when i am finshed

t_chelle16 · Moderator Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 3436

Javamoss might survive with 1 watt/gallon, but I don't think it will grow & thrive too well.

Did the compact fluorescents not provide enough light?

-Chelle

drab911 · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 7:40 am Post subject:

No the compacts were not good enough I dont think.. The light was very patchy and it was if anything as good as what I have right now if not worse...
This is basically my first tank just to get used to it before I get another one.. so I guess I will just start out with some nice silk plants.. they will surely look better then a bunch of wilted and dieing live ones wouldnt you agree?

Houseman · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:16 am Post subject:

Just read your last post drab..hmmm...as i said, i have a 10gal that had 2 incandescent 15 watt bulbs..i change one fora 13 watt compact flourescent and it seems to give more than enough light..with one of each..in fact. i love it cos it provides kind of a "dark" end to my tank that my cichlid loves...it is the same type chelle used..the lkind curly one...was that what you used also?

drab911 · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:32 am Post subject:

Yeah I used the curly ones.. its alright man.. I am starting to think that maybe my stock light has enough lighht.. would somebody like to post a picture of their entire tank so I can kind of judge how bright it is..
Im going to wait until I get my large saltwater tank to really start playing with lots of plants.. so im gonna give it a shot and try to just grow a couple low light plants//