# Compact Fluorescent Spiral Lamp



## djlen (Sep 14, 2003)

I'll be interested in the replies on this one. 
I just inherited a 5 gal. myself and was thinking of the same type of lighting. 
If what you're talking about is the screw in(to an incandescent fixture type) that comes in at about 15-18 watts, it should work fine.
They make these horn shaped fixtures that you can clip to the top of the tank. I'm going to try one of those.

Len


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

I'm using a pair of the 6500K 19w bulbs from Home Depot on top of a 15 gallon tall show tank and getting red growth out of Sunset Hygro. Not bad!


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## mpneuman (Dec 1, 2003)

GulfCoastAquarian said:


> I'm using a pair of the 6500K 19w bulbs from Home Depot on top of a 15 gallon tall show tank and getting red growth out of Sunset Hygro. Not bad!



Same bulb I am using from home depot. I have some Sunset Hygro and some polysperma everything seems to be doing well so far. Thaks for the replies

Michael


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

I am using a pair of 10W straight CF's with good reflectors over my 10 gal and the Glosso is doing fine :mrgreen:


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## Rabbit (Nov 14, 2003)

Ive been using CF for almost a year now (cheapest ones I could get too) and they work great.


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## putty (Nov 19, 2003)

I am setting up a 15 gallon that is going to be a Christmas present for my GF's mom. Now I have a 15 watt fluorescent on it now, but want to convert to the CFs (I have another incadescent fixture that I will be putting these in).

Here is where my problem lies. I have been looking at local lighting and HW stores, and the highest color temperature I have been able to find is approx 3000K. Now that seems like the light will be quite yellow. 

I know someone on here posted a picture of the Wal-Mart aquarium specific CFs, but the local Wal-Mart does not have them. Does anyone know a if a higher K CF is available from any HW store?

Does Home Depot in Canada carry them, as they seem to in the US of A?>

Thanks, in advance.


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## mpneuman (Dec 1, 2003)

Not sure of the availability at HD in Canada but I have also seen these bulbs in 6700K at Target stores. 

Michael


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## putty (Nov 19, 2003)

Thank Michael, 

We don't have target in Kanada either, but it sounds like the 6500K beast does exitst, I just have to look harder.


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## putty (Nov 19, 2003)

I found some Philips Daylight 23 Watters at Home Depot in Vancouver. They were 10 bucks a piece, and look pretty nice. I think they are around the 6500K range.

I have two of these over the 15g. Looks pretty good.


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## 05dr (Nov 28, 2003)

i set up 3 of the 19W home depot bulbs with 6" wide parabolic relfectors over my 125 gallon hoping to get some "ripple" effect and add supplemental lighting to my primary lighting. 
1. no "ripple" effect
2. very yellow appearing
3. unimpressive output for 60W of well reflected compact flourescent bulbs

they were very cheap to set up though with each bulb being $8 (similar bulbs can be found cheaper online), water resistant outdoor endcaps $2, reflector material for all three was $9 which equals roughly $39 total. i could see them being good in smaller/shallower tanks but i would not use them again considering how cheaply one can set up t8's or just go with ahsupply compacts.


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## Proost (Dec 12, 2003)

I use the 19w DAYLIGHT(5100K) twist compacts from HD and they work great(2 on a ten). 


> i set up 3 of the 19W home depot bulbs...... 2. very yellow appearing


I think you bought the regular 19W bulbs. I did the same thing. There is a seperate bulb that is listed as the DAYLIGHT bulb which is a little more expensive and they usually only have a few, instead of the large dispaly of regular ones.



> I'm using a pair of the 6500K 19w bulbs from Home Depot on top of a 15 gallon tall show tank and getting red growth out of Sunset Hygro. Not bad!


Are you sure they are 6500K? the ones I buy are 5100K, but work great for plant growth. I have never seen a 6500K twist at Home Depot around here. Or any 6500K power compact at Home Depot at all.

A good place to find screw-in twist 6500K power copmacts all the way up to 42 watts is here: www.1000bulbs.com
The only thing I don't understand is they seem to list the "full-spectrum" ones seperately. The regular 6500K's work great and they are very inexpensive. In fact I am always looking for used incandescent hoods since it is the cheapest way to light a tank.


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## 05dr (Nov 28, 2003)

they say 6500k on the base of the bulb. here is a pic:
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/6500Kspiralbulb.jpg

i have never actually seen a 5000k-6500k bulb that is not yellow and these are no exeption. i have a preference for the "white" light look though...


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## putty (Nov 19, 2003)

I did a quick comparison between the standard screw ins and the Daylights that I got from HD. Screwed the daylight into one side of my hood and the standard into the other side. The difference is phenomenal. The daylight is not yellow at all. While I cannot positively say that it is a 6500K, it is IMO sufficient for good color rendering (I am assuming with the higher K come higher CRI values), and the plants are doing quite well.

I don't believe that K values from 5000 - 6500 should yield a yellow light. 

05dr, are you sure that you are using the "daylight" kind? 

I think they are much too small for a 125, I am running 2 on a 15. I also think it is nearly impossible to get ripples with anything but MH. But I could be wrong.

Overall I am quite happy with these. 33 bucks for 46 watts of light on a 15g is a good deal IMO.


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## 05dr (Nov 28, 2003)

> I did a quick comparison between the standard screw ins and the Daylights that I got from HD. Screwed the daylight into one side of my hood and the standard into the other side. The difference is phenomenal.


compared to a standard bulb the difference should be phenomenal. i think see how yellow the standard was could play an optical trick on you that made the 6500k not seem as yellow as they are. 



> I don't believe that K values from 5000 - 6500 should yield a yellow light.


i have looked at tons of both commercial and aquarium specific bulbs (t12/t8/t5/linear pc/spiral pc/metal halide) in this range of k values and outside of some of the tri-phosphor daylight bulbs (not truly "6500k") they all look yellow to me. i think this effect is minimized in a heavily planted tank with green plants, driftwood, dark substrate, and tanin's in the water. in a cichlid tank with hundreds of pounds of white rock it is painfully obvious. i am not even trying to say true daylight doesn't have a yellow hue, just that i don't like it and since i am the "god" of my tank i get to choose what kind of sun my fish see :twisted: 



> 05dr, are you sure that you are using the "daylight" kind?


did you click the link above? the package has "daylight" in bold in two places and has 6500k written on the actual bulb. 



> (I am assuming with the higher K come higher CRI values)


you are assuming incorectly. both actinic bulbs (somewhere above 7000k, cri <50) and the GE 9325k bulbs (cri 67, every one loves these for they great color and high PAR) are just a few examples. for these spiral bulbs the cri is either 82 or 84, i can't remember but i looked it up when i bought the bulbs. 



> I also think it is nearly impossible to get ripples with anything but MH. But I could be wrong.


HPS, incandescent, halogen and many others can do it. the problem is that they either don't last long, aren't efficient, or don't come in k values over ~4000k. my spirals do it somewhat when the other lights are off but they are washed out completely when other bulbs are on.

i have three of these bulbs bulbs, all three are as yellow as can be. not compared to a standard bulb, but something like a 10k bulb. it is really a matter of personel preference. 



> Overall I am quite happy with these. 33 bucks for 46 watts of light on a 15g is a good deal IMO.


you should be. it is a good price and if you like the bulbs, truly a matter of personel preference, then it is a steal. i will probably use mine on a smaller tank when i remove them from my hood. it won't be to a show tank though because my personel preference is otherwise.

for a million different pictures of bulbs and a ton of info on how to compare them check this thread which has a bunch of links to differnt bulb comparisions. 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=29064
let me know if you don't think 6500k looks yellow after checking the link.


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## Proost (Dec 12, 2003)

05dr - I think you said it your self:


> i have looked at tons of both commercial and aquarium specific bulbs (t12/t8/t5/linear pc/spiral pc/metal halide) in this range of k values and outside of some of the tri-phosphor daylight bulbs (not truly "6500k") *they all look yellow to me*.


Even thought they may more look yellow to you than a "bluer" bulb (10000K), I don't think it is fair for you to call it a "yellow" light. 6500K is approximately the color temp of the sun at the equator at noon. So, most people generally consider that a "white" light. There are a lot of us that prefer to see our plants or fish under a color light that is closer to nature. To me, the "blue" bulbs you prefer look unnatural, especially in a plant tank. It definitely is a matter of preference, but for ease of discussion sake we consider light that is close to the sun as white light. In fact many lighting companies list the 6500k twist bulbs as a "white light with a blue tint". So, basically, if you prefer more bluer light that is fine, many people do. But, I think we should call them that so that we are all on the same page when we describe the color of the light.

On CRI - Of course if a bulb has a spectrum that is very differnet than the sun the CRI is going to be lower. CRI = color rendering index, which is how closely a light renders color to the sun.

I see you do have the "Daylight bulbs", i apologize. The ones at my Home depot are from a different manufacturer. Interesting, I will see if I can get the info off mine when I get home.


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