On Dec 25, 12:13*pm, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:
"AquariumFatasies" wrote in message

...



The *Rated Life of a bulb, as supplied by the manufacturer, is an
average of how long the bulb will light. * About 2% light for 180% of
the rated life, about 2% light for 20% of the rated life, though by
far the vast majority fall close to the manufacturers' averages. The
rated life of most tri-phosphor compact fluorescent bulbs is 8000 to
12000 hours. *For an aquarium application, the effective life is
usually about 12 to 14 months -- or longer if your total lighting is
high relative to the needs of the species in your tank, especially for
freshwater setups.

I don't have compact fluorescent bulbs on the 55s, only on the 10g tanks. *I
have the regular long T12's over the 55s.

I know you have regular T12;'s on yuor tanks, but same applies to CF
as well

The Color Rendering Index (CRI) for all *5500K bulbs is 91-92. *That's
"excellent" in CRI talk. All other bulbs in the 6700K to 10000K range
have a good CRI in the low 80's. *A common Cool White fluorescent bulb
usually has a CRI in the low 70's.

There are two cool white bulbs and two warm white bulbs over each 55g tank..
I remember a biologist friend telling me years ago that wherever there is
light and nutrients algae will grow. *I know of no lights that prevent or
stop their growth except those UV lights used on ponds which kills algae as
it passes through the unit, but it has to be free floating in the water.
I'm not growing high-light plants in my tanks.

*That's considered "fair." *CRI's

below 70 are considered "poor." * Note that CRI is irrelevant for
marine setups when the aim is to simulate the appearance under many
feet of water rather than to simulate the appearance of colors under
full spectrum light. *Blue actinic bulbs used on marine setups usually
have a CRI in the 20's or 30's.

None of my plants are high light. None of my tanks are marine set-ups.

I know yu do not have marine tanks, but the same principals apply to
FW ior Marine, and I have a lot more light problems that I have dealt
with with marine, but same principals apply with the exception that
marine tanks (reef type) require much more intense light and the
spectrum is more critical..............

The difference between CRI 92 and CRI 84, for instance, doesn't mean
that all colors are rendered with 8% less accuracy with CRI 84. * It
only means that certain colors that depend on the wavelengths that the
CRI 84 bulb is lowest in will be rendered somewhat less accurately.
It is likely that the CRI 84 bulb will supply all the wavelengths
necessary to render all colors you are interested in very well.
That's why a CRI in the 80's is considered "good."

The colors they render are immaterial to me. The fish look good under these
lights.
The colors that may be rendered may be inmaterial to you, but its
apparent that they are not to the plants yuor having trouble with or
the growth of algae. There are wave lengths rendered by lights yu can
not see...........but plants need or on some plants it willkill
them.such as UVC type lights................Thwere is wave lengths
produced by certain bulbs that are stonger inthe mid range than bottom
or top etc etc, and a human would never notice but are so important
for plants etc..........

A lumen is essentially a measurement of brightness to the human eye
and is therefore very heavily weighted to the middle wavelengths of
light that the human eye responds to most readily. *As such, this
measurement is not very helpful for aquarium applications since the
middle wavelengths are the least important to aquarium inhabitants.
To focus on lumens can be very misleading. *For instance, the 55W
5500K bulb in the chart above has 4200 lumens while the 55W 6700K bulb
has 4600 lumens. *Yet these bulbs have the same total light output.
The 6700K bulb simply has a little more of its output in the middle
wavelengths.

Very interesting..... but how is it related to suppressing or getting rid of
algae? *???

Lumen along qwith proper temp (Kelvin) is 99% of the algae and
florishing plant battle. The other percentage is excess nutrients. You
can have a 7500 bulb with specturm in the upper or a bulb with it in
the lower...its mainly the phospors in the bulb that determine the K
factor and where in that range its at.............even if a "shop
light is say 7500K " where does the proper wave lengths it gives off
in light lay.top bottom middle or????????? thats one other thing that
is different in proper bulbs to grow plants and eliminate algae than
just a common bulb from Wally World....as well as the quality of the
phospors, in how long they last and give off that desired temperature
you need.





Bulbs with a Color Temperature of 5500K through 7800K are appropriate
for freshwater planted aquariums. *There is no practical difference
regarding plant growth, but there is an appearance difference. *Bulbs
around 5500K have a warmer daylight appearance similar to early
morning light. *Bulbs around 6700K have an appearance more like
daylight in the middle of the afternoon under a clear blue sky. The
7800K bulb are just slightly bluer than the 6700K but maintain a
balanced, daylight spectrum.

See above ...............7800K can give off a truer balanced spectrum.
and plants need a certain spectrum, and some plants can not tolerate
certain specturms.

While this data is pointed primarily at CF types of bulbs it also
applies to the NO florescent tubes as well, which is what your using.
Its easy to see that a common "shop" type bulb is in the CRI or below
rating and inappropriate to use for a planated aquariaum since it is
more than likely going to be less than a CRI of 70..and its this CRI
where plants gets it needed light energy from.

BTW *in case yu did not know
NO means Normal Output
VHO....Very High Output
HO......High Output.

Magnetic ballasts..dirt cheap and usualy found on big box store shop
lights and cheap aquarium strip lights etc
Electronic ballasts more expensive and much better overall and last
and run cooler than magnetic

Just to show how important the right bulb and ballasts are its not
uncommon in a reef tank setup for a ballast that drives 2 or 3 *of the
40 watt tubes to cost $300+ bucks but fortunately FW setups are not as
demanding on light sources as a reef tank is.and we can therefore get
by on proper bulbs and *reflectors and use shop light ballasts and
sockets..........

So which bulbs suppress or prevent green and red algae?

There is no magic bulb...........but using proper bulbs with spec'd K
temps and ouotput is certainly a step in the right direction, over
general warm sun or daylight household shop bulbs in your war against
algae and having good looking aquarium plants.

Since you *have typical *NO ballasts you need to stay with a tube that
is meant for use with a NO ballast......Even though a VHO or even a
HO *tube may light up inthe fixture the ballast is not sufficient to
drive the light at the proper cyles so you will loose not gain any
advantage in doing so.........VHO and HO ballasts are typically
electronic types where most shop light ballasts are magnetic, and run
much hotter and do not have the proper output to fire up and get full
advantage of VHO and HO tubes. You can get proper bulbs for FW planted
tanks in NO, VHO and HO so thats not a problem.

I can get 7600k bulbs at Wal*Mart. *How do they kill or suppress algae?
Algae loves bright light. Replacing the old cools and warms is when this
algae attack started a few weeks back.

All 7600K bulbs are not created equal................been there done
that, got a T shirt and a heap of bulbs to show for it.

The lunar lights does nothing for a fish or plants or any thing other
than who is on the outside looking in as its merely
aesthetics............You'll hear some folks swear that lunar or moon
lights mekaes such and such do better, but thats a crock of bull$hit,
as unless a proper spectrum of light is used and the duration and
scheduling of the light is the same as the lunar cyle is, its not
gonna mean a thing.........and while some fokls have electronic
devices to simulate lunar cycle its still an iffy situaiton and really
not needed in sal****er or freshwater setups, however, adding a single
lunar (moon) light does make a very *neat look to most any aquarium be
it freshwater or sal****er.

I have no idea what a "moon light" is.

Its just a aesthetic light to provide folks a chance to view a fish
under more of a night time scenerio, and gives the tank a noticeable
effect like a night light or so. Moreso in a SW setup but still
seeable in a FW setup that is matured, is there is all kind sof tiny
aquatic life that comes out at night, whjich can be very interesting.
For example, my one deep substarte bed in my souith american cichlid
tank has a ton of tiny hair like worms that pop out of the substate at
night, which my neons love to snack on.............but without moon
lights I never would have seen that..as just turning on a regular
light or usinig a flash light and they retract in to the substrate in
a flash............

NOrmallay folks use a white moon light in

Freshwater tanks and Blue moon lights for Reef or SW tanks......as
those colors more or less replicate what is seen underwater in each
catagory..............plus in a sal****er tank things floresce so the
blue makes it jump out na dbe very noticeable.......where its rare for
anyhting to "glow" in a freshwater setup except perhaps painted tank
decorations that have florescent paint on them.............but these
lunar lights do provide sufficieint light to observe fish at night
doing the fish thing......and its amazing whats some do at night,
without being disturbed by the main aquarium lights......YOu can get a
coralife clipon Moon light from Big Als for under $15 that * is blue
and will work just fine *or buy some blue or white auto accessory LEDs
sold in Wally World *in the auto accessories dept that some folks
stick here and there inside their cars and they will provide the same
effect as well at about half the price.....

My only interest is getting rid of this red and green algae and water
changes and gravel vacuuming isn't working nor is Flourish Excel. Nor are
the algae eaters. *So what do I try next? *Brighter lights? *I can't
understand how they would suppress algae when algae thrives in everything
from open sunlight to near darkness. *The information you provided is very
interesting but doesn't seem related to getting rid of algae.

Its simple RM.Proper bulbs + proper reflectors + correct lighting
schedule+ proper water parameters = better aquatic plants and less
algae.

For plants to thrive a nd flourish, they need a given spectrum of
light,, algae for the most part as you stated can thrive in most any
light condition. .but a plant can not. Provide that plant with proper
parameters and light, and it makes less of everything else available
to grow algae............youjust have to find the right combination of
each to fit your tanks situation........but starting with lights and
reflectors is the first step I would go for.
--

RM....
Zone 6. *Middle TN USA
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