# This kind of lighting upgrade I can afford!



## teija (Sep 30, 2010)

Last night when I was at London Drugs I bought one of those new CFL screw-type bulbs with a fitting that I hoped would fit into my incandescent bulb slot on my betta tank... I can't leave the light on in that tank as it gets too hot so was hoping this would be a suitable alternative.

I must say I am VERY impressed and pleased with my $3.25 spend.  Not only is it beautiful and bright in there now (I'd better be careful for algae!!), it doesn't get too hot and my betta is LOVING showing off all his colours in a fuller spectrum. It is also MUCH easier to take photos of him with my phone - before, the light was so low that all photos with him moving were blurred. Now the photo is taken as soon as I click and he isn't blurred - thanks to the better light.

Normally I am not a fan of CFL's around the house, but the tank sure looks good now!


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## djamm (Sep 25, 2010)

Nice, now if only I could find a lighting mod for my Betta in his Fluval CHI...

Cheers


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I did the same in my brother's 10 gallon tank, I was worried about the heat but it's fine.


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## ncutler (Apr 26, 2010)

What colour spectrum did you get? Daylight is the closest to midday sun. There's also bright white too. I'd be curious if there's a "best" bulb for plant growth.

My favourite is buying two dollar store cfl's for old 10G hoods $2 and it becomes way brighter!


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

ncutler said:


> What colour spectrum did you get? Daylight is the closest to midday sun. There's also bright white too. I'd be curious if there's a "best" bulb for plant growth.
> 
> My favourite is buying two dollar store cfl's for old 10G hoods $2 and it becomes way brighter!


i think if you could get a light that looked like a cool blue it would be best, plants like blue + red spectrum from what ive read and learned in bio

im gonna go run to london drugs and pick some of these up now, thanks for the idea 
i want an algae explosion for my shrimp and pleco to eat anyways lol

edit: hooly crap it makes a huge difference
i just got 2x 13w bright whites, (they were out of daylight unless i stepped down to 9w)
its now brighter than my top tank lol, grow xmas moss grow


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## teija (Sep 30, 2010)

Mferko: Glad yours has worked!

I saw "daylight" ones as well, but they only came in a double-pack, plus with my tank being so small and having low light requirements I figured I'd go with "bright white" (I think that's what it is). Good thing I did cuz when I got home and plugged it in it was so bright that anything brighter might blind my poor betta! lol


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

I use daylight compact florescent on my small tanks, 5 to 9 watts if I remember right. Plants do great and they're cheap like cabbage to run.


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## teija (Sep 30, 2010)

Just keep in mind that we have to make sure there is adequate protection from the water as these lights are still electrical. 
My betta tank has an acrylic cover and the light housing sits on top of that.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

teija said:


> Just keep in mind that we have to make sure there is adequate protection from the water as these lights are still electrical.
> My betta tank has an acrylic cover and the light housing sits on top of that.


ya, whats wierd is my incandescent ones have no problem getting wet from the sponge filters bubbles, but when a lifeglo one from the LFS was in the same place it popped im guessing due to the moisture or temperature difference
after replacing i had another one pop just while turning it on in the morning, maybe the moisture on the bulb?

i placed the sponge filter directly in the middle of the tank now so the bit of splashing is in between the two lights and not too close to either and so far no problems, if one pops i'll try saran wrapping the canopy


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## Loach (Nov 16, 2010)

I wrote an article on this type of lighting on my blog. I'm from down south in the GSAS club. I just found your guy's forum.

Lighting. You are doing it wrong. | TankGeek.com

I'm sad I missed you guy's auction last weekend


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

Loach said:


> I wrote an article on this type of lighting on my blog. I'm from down south in the GSAS club. I just found your guy's forum.
> 
> Lighting. You are doing it wrong. | TankGeek.com
> 
> I'm sad I missed you guy's auction last weekend


just read it and my only question is would daylight or bright white have a higher color temperature?


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## Loach (Nov 16, 2010)

Mferko said:


> just read it and my only question is would daylight or bright white have a higher color temperature?


It's hard to say. It depends how they're marketing the bulb. But in general I've found that bulbs marketed as "sunlight" are the orange low temp range. Bulbs marketed as "daylight" tend to be a whiter bright light that grows plants well in the 6500k range.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

im wondering if its safe to assume that "daylight" is a tad more yellow than the bright white? sun being yellow and whatnot...

hopefully i'll notice alot more growth over the next few days compared to my 2x 15w incandescents, the fish/shrimp definitely look better already


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

daylight is more white/blue. First thing I did when I setup my tanks was install CFL. 15w in my 5 gallon betta tank. It was overkill, algae bloom in a few days. Switched to a 9w and it's been good ever since.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

my bulb that was on the side without the little plastic guard (it broke off) didnt light up this morning, i went and replaced it with an outdoor one but they only had em in 15W soft white, if this one doesnt last im going to use those clear plastic report covers and duct tape em to the bottom of my canopy and put in 2 9W daylight ones...
im saving the receipt for the first ones too so i can take em back and replace em


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

Daylight is 6500k
Cool white is 4100k
Warm White is 3000k


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

EDGE said:


> Daylight is 6500k
> Cool white is 4100k
> Warm White is 3000k


your the man, thx
just went and exchanged my bright whites incl the popped one for daylight and sealed the canopy off with a report divider and ofc, duct tape


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

Your welcome.

Bright white I think is 5000k. 

The classification is iffy at best because the kelvin range can vary by 500 points i.e. 6000 to 6500k. Kelvin is how we human perceives the color and not the plant. 

I prefer the go by color spectrum chart or if none available, kelvin for approx color spectrum peaks.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

well these daylight definately look more blue than the bright white so i think your close


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