Showing posts with label Aquarium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aquarium. Show all posts

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
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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