Re: Schruz's Works
Westyggx sent me a pm asking about lamps I use. I thought its a good idea to post the convo here because someone else will definitely find it useful:
Westyggx said:
schruz said:
I use this, and I made a base for it so it can stand by itself it can bare 60 watts:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40370283/
And also this, baring 40 watts, though this is E14 type for which it is harder to find the right bulb:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00152461/
Glad I could help!
Cheers,
Andras
Thanks andras where do u buy the bulbs from and which ones should I buy? Thank you
Well I don't know about Britain mate
I buy small stuff like that here in Hungary from local retailers. First decide which lamp you want. The E27 or the E14 and decide the wattage. As I wrote in my journal, I am using daylight Power Compact (6000-6700K) bulbs. Actually I use these or their T5 HO counterparts on my planted tanks too with great results. Colour temperatures between 5000-8000K could work also but I dont have experience with those...
I would simply Google this up for instance: E27 6500K 30 watts power compact
Just change the values to whatever suits you better. If google shows up crap, thats because there is too much info you gave at the same time. In that case erase the wattage completely and do a new search.
When you look at the bulbs pay attention to their lumens output, as this is perhaps a more accurate value with modern bulbs than wattage. If its not listed, dont buy it im sure it isn't listed on purpose
After lengthy searches I managed to buy a very good E14 type bulb for my KVART IKEA lamps: 15W 6400K T2 spiral with 800lm
Aim at T2 spirals. Thats apparently the newest generation of compact fluorescents. 800lm for a 15W bulb is rather good. Its not a must to buy T2s. Im using many T5 CFLs with great results. T2s just apparently conserve even more power and provide even higher output.
There is an important difference between lighting plants above and under water. In water, light rays lose considerable amount of their power, the moment they reach the water surface, let alone when they reach greater depths. Evidently above water this is no problem, a greater amount of the bulb's light energy can be converted into "biological enregy" for photosynthesis, thus plants grow faster (also due to abundant CO2 levels). Keep in mind, I was never good at physics, but I believe the general idea went through...
Now, although its great to use high wattage/lumens bulbs, dont forget, that with greater wattage comes greater heat and thus greater evaporation. If you decide to use, say a 100W bulb place it far enought from the plants, so they dont dry out.