What is the best flourescent bulb for GF?

I am reading lots and lots and just getting more bogged down and confused as I have no practical experience...

It seems that most hoods come standard with flourescent fixtures - other lights like metal halides and T-5 are more like specialty lighting, right? If you have a satandard hood fixture, you need to stick to the flourescent bulb within the wattage listed in the product information - is that right?

So, most of the fancy lightbulbs seem to be for reef tanks - a few specifically state good for FW and/or plant growth...

But what is actinic - and what is best in actinic (blue versus white) - as regards GF care?

How is that different than Tri-Chrome?

And are 50/50 bulbs (which I think are 50% actinic and 50% actinic?) worth it? Are they for single fixture hoods? So if you have two fixtures this kind of bulb is redundant?

How do you know if you are putting too much lighting for your fish?

THANKS! Very lost...

haha i actually just recently asked some of these same questions and i think the main question is, do you plan on having your tank planted?

here's the link to my thread btw.. it might help you out...
http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...topic=41037&hl=

ok, so if i remember correctly, unless you plan on having a planted tank, you can choose whatever type of lighting you want for your tank. you can choose according to your aesthetic tastes. certain color bulbs might bring out certain colors in your fish, or brighter makes them look more lively etc.



i think this all depends on what you want your tank to look like.



i'm not sure about metal halides, but T-5 i think just represents the size of the bulb... i think these bulbs are 1 in. and they are 28 watt bulbs. if you plan on having a planted tank, these are not for you.



yep... works just like a regular light you'd have at home. the only difference is they have different types of connecitons... square pin or straight pin... just make sure you have the right type and wattage and you're set.



the way i understand it, if you plan on having plants, you just want to make sure the output of the light is in the correct wavelenths for efficient photosynthesis. (red and blue). i'm guessing the actinic bulbs bring out the colors of SW fish and perhaps is the type of lighting needed for coral growth, but i'm not sure on this one. bak2it would know. but if you don't plan on having plants, these bulbs are ok. (i'm not sure if they are harmful to them...)



i have no idea what that is... but looking at the word, i'm guessing it covers 3 different wavelenghts?? not sure. haha.



i'm guessing 50/50 bulbs are for people who perhaps have either coral or plant growth, and they want two types of bulbs so they can cater to both the needs of the plant, and their aesthetic taste (ex. wanting their fish in a certain light to bring out their colors).



i don't know about this one either. i'm sure bak2it will see this eventually and give us more info.

hope this helped some!

Thanks Tinko! YES, that did help! I will check out your link - Here is an article I found helpful:
http://www.aquariumpros.com/faqpro/lighting_1.shtml

THe basics are pretty clear but I get lost trying to pick the right light at the store becuase they all have different desriptions for the same stuff - like brand names!

There is such a price difference between bulbs and it is hard to see how that manifests practically...

So, basically, if one is not going to grow plants - it does not matter which bulb one chooses - just according to personal preference?

I guess if you one has two fixtures, then 50/50 bulbs are not necessary? Or are 2 50/50 bulbs better so daylight can be better simulated - like a cloudy day versus a bright one - or end of day as the light wanes... ?

Funny how we work so hard to keep the tanks out of direct sunlight and then spend so much effort trying to simulate daylight!

PS - No plants for me! I am a total black thumb!

Tinkokeshi did a real good job at answering your questions, but let me see if I can fill in he gaps and maybe simplify some of this stuff.

The standard Linear fluorescent bulb can come in three different types: NO (normal output) HO (high output) and VHO (very high output).

The "T" in the name of a bulb only means how many 1/8ths of an inch that are in the diameter of the bulb. So a T-8 fluorescent bulb will be 1" in diameter. The standard sizers are T-5, T-6, T-8 and T-12.

Standard Linear fluorescent bulbs can have two different base (connector) styles, either Single Pin or Bi Pin

Then there's Power Compact Fluorescent bulbs. These have a higher output than the other three and use less electricity than the others. These bulbs come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. You can even by power compacts that will screw into a standard lamp in your home. Power Compact aquarium bulbs will normally have one of two base styles 4-Pin straight (German style) and 4-Pin Square (Japanese style)

Each of these types of bulb requires a ballast to run it. A ballast is just an electrical device the alters the power in your home into the power the bulb requires to operate. Ballasts are sized to the wattage of the bulb or bulbs they're going to run and come in two basic types: magnetic and electronic.

The color of a fluorescent bulb is described by a number followed by K. K stands for Kelvin. Kelvin is just a designator used to describe a color that has to do with a theoretical object called a "Blackbody". Let's forget about that. If you really want to know PM me.

The numbers represent the color, Low numbers are considered warm and will enhance red objects, dull blues, and add a yellow tint to white and green objects. Warm light is in the 2,000-3000K Range
High numbers are considered cool and and will enhance blue objects, dull reds, and add a bluish tint to white and green objects.
Cool light is in the 4,000K + range.

A good general "K" color for growing plants is 5,000-7,000K and is also a pretty good color for general aquarium viewing.

An Actinic bulb is rated at 7,100K and gets it's name from the coating on the inside of the bulb. It gives everything in the aquarium a REAL BLUE look.

A 10,000K bulb is about like trying to look straight into the sun in Jamaica at noon on a day in July. It's very white and seem to washout color. They might be good bulb for reef tanks, but I don't like the way a goldfish tank looks under a 10,00K bulb.

haha ok, so i was off on quite a few points... . at least now i know though... hehe. hopefully i'll retain that information. thanks for the clearification rick!

See for yourself

Click here

I have always felt that trichromatic is best in the goldfish tank as it brings out almost every color possible. By the way trichromatic bulbs contain three different rare earth phosphors (most flourescent bulbs contain only one phosphor) and simulate daylight very effectively.

Kevin

THANKS! You guys all really helped a lot! I think I am figuring it out!

As far as I can tell, most standard hoods take only flourescent lighting - the ballast type determines how much is the maximum wattage for that set-up (how much it is wired to handle). So a standard 24" bulb for the standard installation would basically be a 20W T-12 flourescent bulb... 40W for 48", etc. And these would all be flourescent lights in the NO range...

So, power compact bulbs can be ruled out unless one has specialized fixutre (the bulb is different completley), and I,m not sure but a T-5 could work in a standard hood but only if the ballast was augmented for the size of the bulb... these seem to handle HO and VHO wattages -

HO and VHO have outputs that are too high for standard hood ballasts, right?
Prolly cook the fish so, those bulbs are out -

So then we get into K's - the light wavelength generated by the bulb (and not determined by or dependant upon wattage) - so lower K lights having slower light waves so they demonstrate the red end of the spectrum while the white bulbs are faster and range closer to the bluer end of the range, and the blue bulbs are just that, light waves moving at the rate to display purely blue end of the spectrum -

so the trichromes are called full-spectrums becasue they can reflect a range of the spectrum - and then there is some fine tuning there with phosphors - but one or three the basic principle is that they elicit the broadest range - which is most like natural sunlight...

So in the end, unless one has a specialised set-up, basically a flourescent light inthe 5-7K range - without reflectors - is the best choice for GF - higher if one has plants, and lower for unplanted tanks to enhance natural color ...

Actinic - the pure blues - and the white lights are really too strong, I surmise, for GF. And 50/50 are not really necessary either as they are 50% white and 50% blue. Unless one really prefers this and of course has the right set-up for it.

I wish I had found this article sooner!
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article....pt_id=0&aid=354

Phew - Now I think I can wade through the different brands and actaully pick a bulb! THANKS!

PS - I still wonder what the large price ranges mean for bulbs of the same K and same watts? The same one can run 3-4 bucks by one company to 15-17 by another!?!?!

After all that - I think I am gonna go with a trichrome, too - thanks G!

You've got it

As far as price ranges go.... it's the same as most products out there. Let's use cars as an example. You pay much more for a Lexus or BMW than you do a Ford or a Chevy. While they are essentially the same thing (a motor and four wheels) the more expensive ones have a better reputation as quality automobiles because of how they are made or the special items they offer.

Think of the bulbs the same way. Things like gold plated prongs, rare earth phospors, quality of materials used to produce the tube. All of these things will affect the price of the bulb.

Drs. Foster and Smith have some of the best introductory articles to fishkeeping I have ever read. Subscribe to their free catalog its a great thing to have laying around.

Kevin

Why do I always miss these threads?

I did loads of this kind of research for when I set up my marine tank, and then used my goldfish lights

Just get the cheapest full-spectrums. More expensive tubes may claim to maintain output for longer, but you'll need some fancy equipment to measure the degradation. (If there is a difference)

Slugger

It's OK Slugger - I still have plenty of questions for yoU!

I just came form the Hardware store - aka the "aquarium" store, they get such a kick over there that I use it as my aquarium store - and I saw GE Plant and Aquarium bulbs! Cool - that makes life a lot easier for me thatn getting the bulbs in the mail!

BUT the packeage said, 24 inches, OK - 20W, ok - 90 CRI, OK - T-12, OK - but it said 750 lumens?!
Does that mean 7,500 Kelvins? THe bulb cost ten bucks and is available around the corner - I will buy that if I can sort out the intensity. THanks!

I found this that may help: http://www.led.net/pages/tech4.htm

I don't think that is the same as Kelvin. Do the bulbs say anything about their spectrum?

Slugger

No Graham... Lumens are a measure of light intensity. They have nothing to do with color.

That CRI (Color Rendering Index) number represents how a light source makes the color of an object appear to the human eye. The higher the number the closer to REAL things will look. 90 CRI is pretty good for a fluorescent bulb.

from www.led.net



from Wikipedia

So, a lumen is a mechanical measure of wattage output.

And kelvin is an expression of spectral intensity expressed in temperature.

This article was really helpful:
http://www.electrical-online.com/howtoarti...ng/Glossary.htm

(Check out the interesting notes at the the end for fun facts)!

This article explains as part of the definition of lumens:


So there is some relationship between lumens and kelvin, but it is not a direct one. Color temperature is constant and wattatge is contrived, but a certain amount of wattage will be required to make color apparent to the human eye, which is why the lumen is a mechanical measure.

Basically, unless I know the color temperature for that GE bulb, it is useless to me when I have a specific range requirement in mind - as the lumens will not yield any direct information about that. (Although it may very well be what I want - they have written "for aquarium and plant use" on the package, implying they have produced this lightbulb to meet those standards... I will look it up out of interest).
I wonder why they do not put it on the package?

I ordered a Zoo-Med Ultra-Sun and a Coralife Trichrome to compare.
THANKS everyone for all your help! My fish are most grateful to you!