# Tubular to CFL or LED lighting



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Just set up the 10gal tank. Its hood comes with two 25w tubular bulbs.



















They were alright I guess, but I would prefer a 6500k-6700k daylight-ish look like what coralife t5ho bulbs generate.

So, I went to Rona, Canadian Tire, and Walmart. The best I can find is a 13watt 5000k CFL and a 4100k LED. I'll post the pics of them in a sec. 
Is there no 6500k+ CFL or LED bulb?

These were the ones I found:


















A woman at Rona advised against using the CFL in the hood. She said that they will explode if they get wet. 
A man at Canadian Tire said there are a few CFLs that are silicone wrapped or covered. 
Have you guys found something that works? Any other advice?


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

There are a lot of places that sell Phillips Daylight 6500k bulbs. Use them all the time. HomeDepot, London Drugs & Wal-Mart are just three places I've bought them from around Burnaby.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

i also used 6500K phillips CFls, for a 10 gallon, be careful on wattage with two bulbs, try the 9W bulbs if you are going planted, otherwise get even less wattage.

LEDs that close to the tank bottom will give quite the spot light effect (if you use the bulb base provided)


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## Algae Beater (Apr 21, 2010)

i have used 2 x 13 watt CFL in that style setup MANY times. with great success i might add. LED wise I would look for something a little more directional such as

E27 6W 8000K 96-LED White Light Lamp Bulb - Grey (DC 12V) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

it might take some rigging to get them to lay flat once screwed in, but they do work well.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

That's a huge help regarding the CFL. You just use the 5000k ones?
I'm considering LEDs because of heat. The hood places the bulbs pretty close to the water and even the tubular ones heat the water to 84.



Algae Beater said:


> i have used 2 x 13 watt CFL in that style setup MANY times. with great success i might add. LED wise I would look for something a little more directional such as
> 
> E27 6W 8000K 96-LED White Light Lamp Bulb - Grey (DC 12V) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme
> 
> it might take some rigging to get them to lay flat once screwed in, but they do work well.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Algae Beater said:


> i have used 2 x 13 watt CFL in that style setup MANY times. with great success i might add. LED wise I would look for something a little more directional such as
> 
> E27 6W 8000K 96-LED White Light Lamp Bulb - Grey (DC 12V) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme
> 
> it might take some rigging to get them to lay flat once screwed in, but they do work well.


i've had success aswell with 13 watt cfls (60W incandescent equivalent, sometimes they are 11W), but my fixture wasn't just a on the rim tank hood, it was off set from the tank and things grew pretty fast, which is something i dont like to much


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Bought two Phillips 6500k 9watt CFL bulbs (rated at equivalent to 40watt standard candescent) in a $9.95 pack at London Drugs. 
I decided to play safe and bought these bulbs instead of ordering the panel style LEDs online which I wasn't sure would fit under the hood and also would've come out to double the price (I know, I know the energy savings would make up for them eventually) 
Funny, out of all the places I went to London Drugs has the largest selection of bulbs at 6500k.
I posted a picture on my tank journal. The tank looks MUCH better and I think more importantly the CFLs generate less heat. The water in the 10gal is a nice balmy 84 degs F.
Thanks for all your advice!


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

*LED update*

I ordered an LED bulb from dealextreme here: E27 1210 6W 84-LED 588-Lumen 6500K Light Bulb - White (85~265V AC) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme to see what they were like. They are quite a bit more expensive than the standard CFL

3 weeks later I received it in the mail. Here are the results:

CFLS lit in hood









LED in hood









Lighting with CFL









CFL + LED lit in hood









Lighting with LED on right side









From the pictures you will see the the one with 2 cfls lighting the tank is "brighter;" however the picture showing the LED lighting the tank seems to show greater intensity from the LED. I'm not a camera/photographer but I'm pretty surethat the darker 2nd pic is due to the camera compensating for what is more light from the LED. In person I think the LED is brighter, but not by a whole bunch. I suspect the LED bulb may not actually be brighter but perhaps more efficient due to its shape, as opposed to the cylindrical cfl which requires reflectors to be most effective. Both seem to generate similar heat.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

I've used both with great success. In fact, I have a whole bunch of extra LEDs to use eventually to upgrade my PC to LED.


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## bcorchidguy (Jan 14, 2011)

Didn't even know the LED version was out, way cool, thanks for posting

Douglas


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Thanks for putting this thread up. I like the look of the led one. How much did you pay for them?


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I'm happy to contribute.
$12.xx shipped, so compared to london drugs CFLs about $7 more per bulb... Worth it? Maybe yes if this led bulb + ikea desk lamp is used as an alternative to the expensive aquatic nano tank lamps sold in some LFS.


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