Tuesday, April 5, 2016

full spectrum light bulbs aquarium

The pet store employee that Lisa bought the plants for the aquarium from recommended that we get a "full spectrum" light to help them grow. Many aquariums have simple fluorescent tube lights for which it is a simple matter to buy the "full spectrum" tube. Our yard-sale 10 gallon tank however has two Edison-base incandescent bulbs instead that are unconventionally tube shaped. There were two options for replacing these bulbs.

GE makes a line of incandescent bulbs under the "Reveal" brand that they sometimes market as "full spectrum". They seem to be simple regular incandescents that have a special type of glass that filters out a lot of yellow. These can be bought either frosted or clear. Here are some links that could be used to order these:

https://www.lightbulbs.com/product/ge-48709/?source=GooglePPC-ProductAds&gclid=CJ683Yzb98sCFcNehgodNd4Ing

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Reveal-40-Watt-Incandescent-T10-Tubular-Clear-Light-Bulb-40T10RVL-CD1-TP6/100306393?keyword=GE+Reveal+T10

http://www.elightbulbs.com/GE-48707-40T10RVLCD1-Daylight-Full-Spectrum-Light-Bulb&replace=yes

Apparently this tube shape bulb is a type T10.

I bought a couple of the Reveal bulbs at Home Depot, and they got blisteringly hot and one burned out after three days.

Fortunately, there turns out to be a CFL version of the bulb, in a perfect T10 exact replacement package. The color spectrum is 65K which is advertised as "Daylight" which should be good for plants.

http://www.bulborama.com/7-WATT-TUBULAR-T10-CFL-65K-SUPRA-LIFE-COMPACT-FLUORESCENT-LIGHT-BULB-p963.html?AdID=13820cm00cm0F00102&gclid=CNu76Kzc98sCFcdehgodj-0Ouw
.

I got two from Bulborama and they are working great. The aquarium plants are growing like weeds under their light. Interestingly, this bulb can be bought from a variety of sources, and also comes in a "warm" 27K version.

Here it is at Amazon. Note the incredible array of alternate products also available in the T-10 shape, from LED to "vintage" incandescents: http://www.amazon.com/TUBULAR-DAYLIGHT-FLUORESCENT-INCANDESCENT-REPLACEMENT/dp/B00171OTU8