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room lighting

fishgeek

Member
Joined
9 Jul 2007
Messages
117
Location
west sussex
I am in the process of building a fish house and was after some advice on lighting options

I was wanting to light the room with standard flourescents
Does anyone know whether end caps/lamp holders can be purchased that are water proof without having to be specialised hobby one's ... and if so could they provide a link to the cheapest solution

If i am using just lamps do i need to have them ina fitting or is just having the lamp clipped in place enough if using weatherproof end caps

I can source weatherproof housings , maybe that is the best solution?

Does anyone know how many lamps can be driven off a single electronic high frequency ballast unit? for both linear T% tubes and compact options?

I have though about metal halide options if i do a larger planted tank, and whilst browsing lamp sites noticed that halogen floodlights for exterior use are much cheaper than halide options, would these be suitable over a planted tank?

Any other input greatly appreciated
Andrew
 
halogens are basically inefficient convertors of energy to light from what i can find

much of the energy ends up as heat rather than visible light

scientific papers on horticultural lights suggest high pressure sodium lamp provide best plant growth(marginally better than metal halide) and are very efficient light units
from what i have read the colour of sodium lamps is slightly yellow, whereas HQI metal halide bulbs can be colour corrected and therefore are more aesthetically pleasing to us as aquarist

so plan is simple t5 units on roof
and maybe add on halides at a latter date
 
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