Home Depot lighting fixture vs LFS lighting fixture & bu

[TBarb]

In an attempt to keep the costs down, I am thinking of purchasing a strip light i.e. 48in shop lights (flurescent lighting fixture) from HD.

My understanding so far:
1. These fixtures do not have waterproof caps
2. Magnetic ballasts are better
3. There are a variety of light bulbs that will work in either HD or LFS light fixture depending of course on bulb size wattage, what you are aiming for plants/no plants type of fish etc.

Some questions:
1.  What is the difference between the HD Philips "Plant n Aquarium" & "Natural Sunlight" bulbs and those at LFS (I understand that there are different lights rated at different intensities e.g. Powerglow, flora glow etc. but are there any differences specific to these two bulbs mentioned above. (2700k and 5000k)

2. I plan on setting up a semi planted Angel tank. 75 gallons. The plants will probably of the popular type  and easy to grow (e.g. java moss, wisteria, swords etc.) I will have enough space for 4 x 48in 40 watt bulbs. What combination of bulbs would be ideal? Is this adequate?

3. Rule of thumb says 2-4 watts per gallon for a planted aquarium. Fluorescent are more efficient so I can't see why/how you could put more than 4-6 of these T12 bulbs in a canopy. Therefore, isn't this rule of thumb a bit scewed. Ie. is it more typical for regular bulbs? Regular bulbs vs fluorescent vs power compact fluorescents can't be the same lighting output?

4. Is the CRI factor important? (I believe that is what they call it - how real/ natural the output of the light is?

5. Anything else to know when making a custom lighting canopy?
(I'm going to experiment using a HD fixture and a Hagen Glomat 2 setup)

6. Is it true that F12 bulbs are no longer standard in the fish hobby?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[artw]

the home depot light is perfectly fine,  the type of bulb is what makes the difference,   one of the plant guys will help you out
if you want a cheap shop light you can have mine for $10  (is the home depot electonic ballast one)

if you want to do it right, forget Flouresent period fullstop -  get Compact Flourescent and save a lot of Headaches

or buy Dave Whittackers Halides

[TBarb]

Thanks for your input. What are the advantages of power compacts. The biggest disaadvantage I see is price!

[artw]

Total cost of ownership,  light output, size, temperature

Anubias?

[Anubias]

The following is the best site I've ever encountered with respect to lighting questions.

http://www.aquabotanic.com/lightcompare.htm

It will answer all of your questions.

Regards,

[BigDaddy]

To address some of your questions/comments

1.  Waterproof endcaps are not necessary if you have a glass top.  I've run my fluorescents and compacts without them for over a year and there is no buildup or corrosion.

2.  Electronic ballasts are the best, not magnetic.  Smaller, lighter and easier on the hydro bill and the bulbs lifespan.

3.  For growing plants, you typically want to look at bulbs above the 5000K range.  5,000K, 5,500K, 6,700K and 10,000K are the most typical Kelvin ratings you will find on aquatic plant lists...

4.  The wattts per gallon "rule" is more of a guideline.  And it relates to fluorescent, not incandescent wattage.  2 watts per gallon is a good start that will let you grow a good number of species.  Take note that the WPG rule breaks down on very small and very large tanks.

5.  Compact fluorescents (CF) are more energy effecient that normal output (NO) fluorescents.  They also deliver more energy than NO bulbs.  Use the same WPG rule on CF as you would NO...

On a 4 foot tank.... if you were only looking at 2 wpg, you could go NO or CF.  A 4 foot NO tube puts out 40 watts.  4 of 'em gives your 160 watts.  CF bulbs you'd end up with two 2 foot CF's lined end to end.  They would deliver 55 or 65W each... for a total of 110 or 130W.  The main difference.  The CF will provide a more light energy even at the lower wattage ... but the bulbs will be SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than NO.

The CF bulbs retail for around $40 bucks here in Ottawa.  An NO bulb will run you almost 10x less than that.

If cost is an issue, go with 4 NO tubes.  Otherwise, definately go with the CF tubes.

My 75 gallon has 4 x 55W CF.  I can grow anything in it, even high light requirement plants.

[Eirikre]

Please correct me if I am wrong.

In your case TBarb you are only partially planting the tank for Angels.  I asume that you plan to plant the back of your tank and leave the front essentially bare.  In such a case you would not need 2-4W per gallon over the whole tank but only over the back half or maybe 2 thirds so you should only need 2 40W bulbs over the back half of your Aquarium.  I am not an expert but seems to make sense to me.

[BigDaddy]

80 Watts over a 75 gallon tank will not be effective.  Here's why:

A 75 gallon tank is about 21 inches high.  That means that a very large portion of lumens will be lost as it travels down through the water.

For example:

At the surface... we can have a fixture that measures 20,000 lumen

Just below the surface, it drops to around 18,000 lumen (light refracting off the glass top and/or the water's surface

At 50% down the tank, lumens measure between 10,000-12,000 lumen.

At the base of the tank, you might only have 5,000 or 6,000 lumen.

Those are not specific numbers, but they are relatively proportional...

Now, we take those two 40W bulbs.  Maybe, if we are lucky, we are getting around 2250 lumens per bulb.

Now, think about how much of those 4,500 lumens (best case scenario) are going to reach the bottom of the tank.  Not a whole heck of a lot.

[Eirikre]

Will the lumens at the bottom of the tank be the same directly under the bulb as a foot away from the bulb.

[BigDaddy]

Will the lumens at the bottom of the tank be the same directly under the bulb as a foot away from the bulb.

No.

The simple answer is, the light gets less and less "powerful" as it penetrates further and further down through the water.

That's why most coral tanks need metal halide lighting.  It's the only type of lighting intense enough to penetrate down through 2 feet of water.

[BigDaddy]

Will the lumens at the bottom of the tank be the same directly under the bulb as a foot away from the bulb.

The Lux (lumens per square meter) rating will be the same.

There's a whole explanation on the web about lumens, lux, PAR, etc... and what is important in aquaria.  You could end up with a 10 page thread on it.

[TBarb]

Thanks BigDaddy.
I think I'll go with the NO solution for now. At HD, I got dual 48in fixture with Electonic ballast for $16!

Now, I have 4 bulbs to insert. So what do you think would be the best combination? Aquaglow, Floraglow, Sunglow (2)??

Thanks for the input.

[BigDaddy]

None of the above... just because you'll spend way too much money.

Go back to home depot and get a light that is rated as a daylight bulb.

On the bulb, you should see this

F40T12/D

F stands for fluorescent
40 is the wattage rating
T12 is the diameter in eighths of an inch (I'm assuming the 4 footers are T12... maybe they are T8

/D is daylight = 6,500K

/WW is warm white which I think is 4100K
/CW is cool white which I believe is 3000K

[gvv]

The simple answer is, the light gets less and less "powerful" as it penetrates further and further down through the water.

Just wanted to add that phisical and chemical water characteristics should also play the role. Simple example is to use the same light source with clear and cloudy water.

[donj]

Thanks BigDaddy.
I think I'll go with the NO solution for now. At HD, I got dual 48in fixture with Electonic ballast for $16!

Now, I have 4 bulbs to insert. So what do you think would be the best combination? Aquaglow, Floraglow, Sunglow (2)??

Thanks for the input.

Question.  If its a dual light fixture, why are there 4 bulbs to insert?  Shouldn't there be only 2 bulbs?

[TBarb]

Thanks BigDaddy. Will go with a Day / 6500k bulbs in both fixtures. So, all four should be the same?

It's funny how there is what the LFS have and sell, and what you can get away with and save money at the same time...

[BigDaddy]

Yup... all four daylights.

For lighting, the LFS sells to a particular niche.  The non-DIY'er.

Now, I admit, the commercial units have reflectors, some are cooled actively (which increases bulb life and total output), and the housings they are in are beautiful to look at.

But $500 for a Coralife 4 x 65W unit compared to the $260 I spent for my hardware is kinda hard for me to justify, no matter how pretty it looks.

[Anubias]

The best lamps by far are the Phillips Advantage 850. They are cheap. Too bad that you didn't read the post by Ivo Busko as I had suggested.

Regards,

[TBarb]

Thanks everyone for the help. I'm not looking for a sexy solution as the tank will be behind a wall.

Anubias: the article you provided is helpful. I still need time to go through it as it is a bit technical and want to make a good decision that isn't going to break the bank.

I haven't seen the Philips ADV 850. Are they readily available?