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I have been considering buying a incadescent hood for 12$ this would solve 2 issues for me.
A. I get a full hood allowing me to keep inverts
B. I could put in compact florescent bulbs to increase my light

The reason I think this would work great is they sell cf bulbs that fit in incadescant sockets up to 26 watts.

My problem is that they only sell the aquarium bulbs up to 20 watts and these are 10000K and the only 6,700K are in 10 watt this would give my 10 gallon assuming a 2 bulb fixture aproxamatly 2 wpg, but if I could put in higher wattage/lumen bulbs then I could hit my target range of 3-4 wpg. I know WPG is not very accurate but the only other form I have heard of LSI I dont know how to calculate.

My question is Could I use these higher wattage/lumens non aquarium bulbs???


"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

Walmart sells 25w sunlight bulbs that work great for most incandescent hoods. They don't fit in the hood on my 5g hex but walmart also sells 15w sunlight bulbs. A hardware store should also sell some sunlight or daylight bulbs. As long as they say sunlight or daylight they should work to grow plants.


Last edited by sham at 21-Nov-2005 18:43

Thanks for the help!

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

[link=These bulbs]http://www.all-glass.com/products/lighting/lighting.html" style="COLOR: #FFFF00[/link]
are meant for aquarium use as well. They're probably more expensive than a bulb you'd pick up in a hardware store that are comparable, but it's just another option

Also remember that fluorescent bulb is much more efficient, so a 10w bulb will put out much more light than an incandescent. You'll notice the difference even if you can't cram a whole bunch of watts in there. Half the light on the bulb isn't even making into your tank anyway

I was doing some looking around and found out that practicly no bulbs list kelvin values on them. Anyway thank you for the help.

Also Fallout I think you may have misinterpreted my post. I apologize if I wasnt clear enough on it.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

The bulbs I've seen sold specifically for aquariums all list kelvin ratins or have a picture showing what coloring they contain. The ones I buy at walmart or hardware stores rarely list kelvin rating but if they say sunlight or daylight they are in the 6,500-6,700k range and will grow plants just fine. The warm white, soft white, and so on bulbs will not work because they contain very little if any red or blue.

Also Fallout I think you may have misinterpreted my post. I apologize if I wasnt clear enough on it.

i thought you were debating weather or not to pick up an incandescent hood for cheap and load it with fluorescent bulbs?