Light information

[Guest]

I emailed Marineland to get the specs of my common 15 watt 18" T8 "Eclipse Natural Light" bulb. These come standard in a lot of dual hood 55g set-ups, such as the Top-Fin 55g combo one they sell everywhere. Here they are:

750 Lumens
5200K Kelvins
69 CRI

By comparison, here are the coral-life 50/50 bulbs I ordered:

1100 lumens
92 CRI

Since this info is for just one of the two bulbs in the set-up, I'm expecting a pretty good increase in light. Hope this helps someone. BTW, can someone let me know what CRI is?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You haven't gotten the 50/50 lights in yet? Wait, didn't you order them without reflectors and had to change it to with reflectors? When do they come in?

 

[bzbee]

BTW, can someone let me know what CRI is?

http://lightingdesignlab.com/articles/cri/cri.htm

 

[Guest]

You haven't gotten the 50/50 lights in yet? Wait, didn't you order them without reflectors and had to change it to with reflectors? When do they come in?

Yeah, the without came yesterday and I'll be sending them back today. The with will come next week.

 

[Guest]

BTW, can someone let me know what CRI is?

http://lightingdesignlab.com/articles/cri/cri.htm

Thanks for the great link. I really am making a big upgrade then!

 

[bzbee]

Actually I think they screwed up the picture on the right side of the page. The CRI 85 chart looks worse than the CRI 70 chart.

 

[Guest]

I got the 50/50 bulbs today and they are really dim. I am going to return them, they made my tank look worse, not better. I ordered this setup instead, I think the double 48" bulbs are going to really make my tank look much better than the two little 18" I'm using now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&ed=1117814822000&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOTB:US:6

 

[BillD]

The CRI is the Colour Rendition Index, which tells you how close to natural colour things will look under that particular light. Natural sunlight would be 100. It seems that most people want a light that suits their eye rather than one that makes everything look natural. Two 48" tubes will obviously give you much more light. The other adavantage to 48" tubes is that there is a ton of choices as far as types of tubes available, and they tend to be cheaper.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Tony- Big Al's sells that light strip without the glass canopy for $78.99. I think someone on this site said they bought the glass canopy for $20. It might be something to look into.

 

[Guest]

Tony- Big Al's sells that light strip without the glass canopy for $78.99. I think someone on this site said they bought the glass canopy for $20. It might be something to look into.

I saw the same glass top but for a 10 gallon tank at PetCo for 24.99. I'm not holding my breath about finding the glass top for a 55 gallon for cheaper somewhere.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

They were charging $25?! That's way too expensive. Have you looked around at other places? The lfs (besides Petco or Petsmart?) Our 150 gal tank came with 2 glass hoods, but they were selling them for something like $15 at the lfs. Just a thought. If you can't get them cheaper elsewhere, then I'd say go with the lighting. And it's true, the bulbs for a 48 inch strip are practically the same price as the smaller ones.

 

[krap101]

at my petsmart for a 29 gallon tank was 20$ and 2 of those so its 40$... if thats what you mean

 

[Guest]

They were charging $25?! That's way too expensive. Have you looked around at other places? The lfs (besides Petco or Petsmart?) Our 150 gal tank came with 2 glass hoods, but they were selling them for something like $15 at the lfs. Just a thought. If you can't get them cheaper elsewhere, then I'd say go with the lighting. And it's true, the bulbs for a 48 inch strip are practically the same price as the smaller ones.

Have I mentioned that I hate lighting? My 55g tank has a protruding center bar that I'm 95% sure will make that hood not fit my tank. Now I have to try to get a refund on Ebay I think really my only option is the strongest natural daylight bulbs I can fit in my current fixture. I guess my nanocube will have to be my only well-lit tank, too bad.

 

[krap101]

thats what i meant. a normal 55 fits 2 29 gallon hoods i think

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If there is an issue with it fitting (being too large), you can always have the glass cut or shaved down.

 

[Guest]

no, there is a beam running right in the middle of my tank that is higher than the lip of the tank. I would have to do some pretty major modifications to get it to fit. I think Krap has the better idea of getting two glass hoods, but I think I am just going to skip it altogether at this point. Thanks for the concern though everyone

 

[Fishyfanatic]

That's what I meant Tony, getting two hoods. I think all 55 gal tanks have that center strip for support. The main issue that I see, would be the light strip sitting on the top of the tank if the lip is too high. Then again, you could just cut the light strip where the strip would go across it. Only on the plastic of course. It could be a really cool DIY project.