Compact FLourescent

[C-Dub]

Is there a chart that anyone knows of that compares what compact flourescent lamp wattages are worth vs regular flourescent lamp wattages??

When someone says they have "2wpg" if they are talking about compact flourescent wouldn't that be worth more Watts than if they had reg flourescents? I've always wondered about this. Basically what im trying to figure out is if I have low, med, or high light in my tank.

The fixture I have on a timer has two twin-tube lamps, this comes on at 5pm and goes off at 3am, 10hours. Each of the lamps are marked "Sunpaq 32w Dual Daylight- 6,700k & 10,000k in one twin tube lamp". So Total in this fixture would be 64watts.

I also have a 1 lamp fixture that I arbitrarilly use for a few hours at a clip. The lamp is marked "Sunpaq 65w twin tube lamp- 460nm actinic & 10,000k daylight. So when both fixtures are on im running about 130watts, the tank is a 54 gal corner. In other words I'm always at least running 64w, and once a day I turn on the other 65w for about 3-4 hours.

My question is do I really need to run the 2nd fixture? If so should I get another timer and make it come on simultaneously with the oher one? Should I get rid of the lamp with half actinic and just get another dual daylight? What are the actinic lamps used for?? Is Actinic used in freshwater applications ever??

Ahh I'm confused, help!

I'm sorry for all the q's, any help will be greatly appreciated

[Fishguy2727]

Yes, more intense lights are worth more. I try and go by lumens (a measure of the units of light, not wattage or color). Unfortunately most bulbs don't seem to list lumens.

With multple fixtures like that ideally you have them offset. That second one could come on after and turn off before the first one, simulating the intense midday sun. Or you can stagger them, each only on for 6 hours or something like that with an overlap in the middle, again simulating midday intensity.

Yes, when discussing wpg it is important to note what type of light those watts are coming from.

[coachfraley]

As far as I know, actinics are just used for corals. I don't think they have any FW application aside from changing the color of your display.

[C-Dub]

So are the lamps im using good light? I'm going to replace the daylight/actinic with daylight/daylight. My buddy who I got the lights from had a reef tank. Is there anthing that actinic light can be doing to cause harm to my freshwater tank? other than algae

[Wild Turkey]

CPLS work great, but i would have trouble telling you exactly how many watts you are really getting, especially since CPLs are designed to give more watts while using less watts. For example, i have around 28 watts of cpls in one ten gallon....but those two bulbs claim to use 28 watts and put off much more than 100 together...so who knows. But they do work well for live plants, and i like the look of them.

[coachfraley]

I don't think the actinic causes any harm, nor does it promote excess algae growth. The actinic just doesn't promote plant growth, so most people who have planted tanks would consider that to be "wasted" watts.

If you have enough "usable" wattage, and you like the colors the actinic is giving off, you could just continue to use it.

[Fishguy2727]

How do you know they are using more than 100 watts of electricity?

Actinic can help balance the overall color. I usually use 50/50s (half 6500K and half actinic in one bulb), but do have regular shop lights and actinics on my 150. Most lights are quite red and the actinic helps bring the overall color to a more balanced white.

They are usually used in reef tanks because may corals have pigments that will react to the actinic (actinic is like a blacklight). So the actinics help the colors on the corals stand out even more.

[Wild Turkey]

How do you know they are using more than 100 watts of electricity?


Me? If yes then

I dont, thats why i said they "claim to" use only 28 but give off 100+ "worth" of wattage. that was the whole point of the post is i dont know and its hard to tell, but regardless, they work well.

Read slower fish ;) lol

[Fishguy2727]

If they use 28 they use 28. I don't know what you mean by that. They can give off more light than an incandescent of the same wattage, but that is exactly what is being discussed, more powerful types of lights giving off more light per watt.

[Wild Turkey]

If they use 28 they use 28. I don't know what you mean by that. They can give off more light than an incandescent of the same wattage, but that is exactly what is being discussed, more powerful types of lights giving off more light per watt.

YES ! LOL Fishguy you are the hardest guy to agree with i know. The point was they work better than regular bulbs of the same wattage because they are designed to put off more light with the same wattage.

(SO, because its not measurable (the difference) i cannot say exactly (with numbers) how much light i am actually getting. Im sure theres an expensive meter, but i definitely dont have one.)

[C-Dub]

I think both of u guys are getting at the same point, no need to argue. Basically there isn't really any way of precisely measuring how much extra light im getting out of each watt by using cfl's. Although if anyone is still interested i found on the box that the lamps came in, in very small font, 3x more powerful than standard flourescents. What that means exactly, IDK, lol.

ohh, And yes the lamp that is half actinic does bring a whiter appearance and seeing that the other half is a daylight im only wasting half the 65watts. Consequently bringing me to the grand total of about 96 watts of either 6700 or 10000k daylight, and 32w of "wasted" actinic light, which to me mixed with the daylight lamps does appear to give off a nice color. So I guess as the ol' saying goes if it aint broke don't fix it. I will leave the lighting as is for now. I also will get a picture tonight with both fixtures on so I can get your guys opinions on if you like it.