Another lighting question

[BigQFan]

Just wondering if I made an improvement or not. I have two cfl's on a 20 long, with clamp lights. I had 2 10 watts with 550 lumens. Not sure of the K rating but it was real bright. Today I bought 2 23 watt, 1600 lumens, 2700K.
These bulbs are physically much bigger, but give off a "warmer", more "orangy" glow.
I am looking to increase the lighting, did I do that?
I know there are soooo many threads on lighting but jeez do they confuse the tar outta me
Thanks


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[Brian_Nano12g]

IMO, this is very had to gauge how much light you increased it to, and if it's an improvement or not. More light can cause issues if you're not prepared to supplement the needs of a higher light tank. What are your goals specifically? What plants are you trying to grow?

Especially, when your method of light increase are fairly unconventional, along the lines of DIY, is where it's hard to chime in on improvement. Most hobbyists can probably attest to specific models of lighting like LED or T5HO fixtures due to posted data like PAR values or specific reflectors and threads dedicated to posting such results and measurements of effectiveness. I'd say, generally speaking, if it looks notably brighter, then yes you increased the lighting. To what extent? it's hard to say.

In your case, maybe the old method of WPG can give you a rough estimate. So maybe you're like at 2 to 3 WPG depending on how much light is overlapping and where; considering this is a 20g with a long footprint. So moderate lighting in which you'll need to be careful to not run the lights too long and end up growing algae. Might need to consider dosing excel and/or co2 injection (DIY or pressurized). Comprehensive ferts.

If you can rent a PAR meter from a LFS, then you'll know for sure where you're at in terms of lighting (i.e. low, medium, vs. high light). Otherwise, observe and make adjustments to photoperiod. Then observe again over the course of weeks.. repeat and dial in until you have things balanced.

 

[BigQFan]

Great answer. Yea, I'm kinda goin on a crapshoot here. I do dose excel(metricide) daily. It's a dirted tank capped with Eco complete, but both are at least 18 mos-2 years old, so I use root tabs(just started DIY Oscomote tabs this week, API before that).
I have a sword that shoots out 1 or 2 new leaves a week, but the older leaves yellow and rot rather quickly. I have dwarf sag which has stopped spreading and some various other plants that I thought would benefit from some extra light.
I haven't had an algae problem yet and I hope I'm not asking for one.
Thanks for your response


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[ScaryFatKidGT]

if its really that much more lumens then yeah

 

[Coursair]

Just FYI I typically use bulbs near 6,500K as that is closest to natural sunlight. Lower and higher Kelvin bulbs work, but may look too red or too blue.

Just make sure your lights are on a timer. 6-8hrs is plenty.


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[BigQFan]

So, I continue to do research on this VERY confusing subject(for me anyway) and last night I came across t-2 bulbs and cfl-ho lighting. Anyone using these yet?
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquariumbulb.html



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[BillD]

A colour temp of 2700K is very yellow, much like an incandescent bulb. Not a good choice for plant growth. the colour temp of sunlight, at the equator, at noon is around 5500K. The so called "daylight" bulbs/tubes that are 6500K are already shifting towards blue. While I have some 6500K tubes, I have had better luck growing plants under 5000K. However, there are other factors that need to be considered, such as how much of the correct wavelengths of red and blue light are available. While a colour temp will give you an idea of the general appearance of a lamp, it won't tell you all the wavelengths used to make up that colour.

 

[BigQFan]

Yes, I found them to be very yellow as well(although more pleasing to my eye), but I thought the bump in wattage might benefit me. I'll go back to my old ones for now, but I am really intrigued by these T-2 lamps. And at only 32 bucks, I can't believe more people aren't talking about them. Makes me wonder why


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