Lighting Question (WPG vs Lumens)

[Mettle]

Oh wow. I just read through this entire thread and now my head's hurting.  :?  Yet another thing to learn about, I guess!

[darkdep]

Well, I'm still teetering back and forth.  I went to walmart last night (the sale on the lights at CdnTire is over) and saw shoplights with electronic ballasts that will hold 2xT8's for $16.99.  So, I could, in theory, build a 4 tube setup for about $55 before tax.  

I was gonna do it.  I had them in my hand.  But there was no reflector, and I just felt bad.  Yes, it was cheap, but...

I couldn't do it.  I put em back.  It just seems so wasteful to me to use a bulb without a good reflector.  

I'm still lightless.

[TBarb]

I think if you are looking at lumens only, it is difficult to compare as well because T8's vary. For example

ALTO® Advantage™ T8 F32 offer 3100 lumens which would be the equivalent watt per lumen amount of the F5 in your example BigD. They also don't need any fancy ballast so the $20 CT special will do.

I guess it depends on what your goal is and how much you want to pay for it. I think the T8's at this time offer excellent lumens/watt/startup cost for those with the average planted tank. Now, if you want to grow high lighted plants of all sorts of colours then yes, you'll need to spend the extra bucks.

[darkdep]

If I could locate either:

- A cheap fixture with a good metal reflector
- A cheap good metal reflector and bulb mounting hardware
- Figure out how to make a good reflector
- Find waterproof T8 endcaps/standoffs

I'd go the T8 route.  I just looked at the price of T5 bulbs again and almost threw up.

[TBarb]

I offer my thoughts only to take as a grain of sand... here it goes...
My setup consists of a T8F32 watt bulbs / double fixture mounted to a custom canopy (plywood painted white) over my 75 gallon tank. Admitting the fixtures don't have the best reflectors, I'm hoping any lost light will be re-reflected by the white canopy. I am cheap and so went with the cheapest F32T8 fixture with electronic ballast. Lumens are very good and my plants grow with almost 2 watts per gallon and I have lowered my overall watts on the tank, saving even more money on electricity. Given I don't have any fancy plants but what I do have do well. Every night I can see the roots of some plants grow another 1/2 inch or more, longer and longer along side the glass and some ontop of the tank. THis all to say is that in the end, light is light and plants need them. How much you spend will change the ratio of watt/lumen/gallon/$ ratio. What ratio are you comfortable with?

Well, I'm still teetering back and forth.  I went to walmart last night (the sale on the lights at CdnTire is over) and saw shoplights with electronic ballasts that will hold 2xT8's for $16.99.  So, I could, in theory, build a 4 tube setup for about $55 before tax.  

I was gonna do it.  I had them in my hand.  But there was no reflector, and I just felt bad.  Yes, it was cheap, but...

I couldn't do it.  I put em back.  It just seems so wasteful to me to use a bulb without a good reflector.  

I'm still lightless.

[darkdep]

Now I'm back to the T8's.  My brain hurts.  X=)

How does a white reflector compare to polished aluminum?

Where can you get the Alto bulbs and how much are they?

[TBarb]

correction to above post ... "roots can be seen growing on top of the GRAVEL" not the tanks!

My fixtures are open faced. That is there is ne acylic lense and the fixture is built in  white reflector. Now, going back to my comment on watts/lumens/gallon/$ ratio, it you get into polished reflectors then (IMO) you are looking at a higher end type setup. But I guess if you are handy you can retrofit a Rona fixture to accept a polished reflector. I know that in my setup I lose a lot of light because I don't have the fancy lights and reflectors but as mentioned I'm CHEAP. (This hobbly does get expensive!)

[TBarb]

One more thing, if you are worried about going with the cheap cf setup then deciding to go with a more sophisticated  setup, you can always a) sell them b) install them in your garage or workshop!

I don't want to sound 1 sided so if you are comfortable in spending $200 for the HO setup your plants will love it. - will your pocket book love it though?

[darkdep]

Will my pocketbook love it?  No.  X=)

Ok, after reading some more, I think I want to custom build a T8 setup with polished reflectors.  Anyone know where you can find parts for this sort of thing?

[gator]

http://www.aquariumlight.com/product_info.asp?dbid=127

Try these guys - their prices are pretty good.

[BigDaddy]

You should still be able to use the reflector you saw at Aquaria Canada.

[TBarb]

Pretty good price but when you add the $230 plus the light bulbs you are way over $300. That blows the watt/lumens/gallon$ ratio

:-)