5000K screw in for planted tank - DIY Canopy

Hi,

Philips is now producing a 5000k "daylight" screw-in built-in-ballast bulb.
Is this anygood for planted tanks?

What is the common practive for protecting ballast/caps/wire connectors from
moisture issues in a DIY Canopy

Many thanks

Actually, there are several companies now offering these bulbs.

I built a DIY replacement for my singble bulb flourescent with 4
double bulb incandescent sockets and use these 'daylight' bulbs.

total wattage is now 8 X 24 watts, and while I am sure there is some
light loss due to the twist of the bulb, my plants have 'thanked' me
very much. I kept getting plant melt-down from too low a wattage but
my plants are now doing much better. In fact, plants that were always
either covered with algae or just plain dying have now reached the top
of the tank since they are growing so well.

Note: the only other change to the tank was a DIY Co2, but this would
not even count without having enough light to overdrive the plants.

Just be carefull of heat. Those screw in style bulbs come in multiple
wattages and anything over the 23-25 watt "equal to 75-90 watt
incandescent" will melt any plastic it comes to close too. If you are
building a wooden hood, then the heat won't be as much of a problem,
but you will have to have a glass hood underneath, and sufficient
ventillation to release the combined heat for the bulbs.

Also note: I also did this with a 10 gallon hood that was originally
incandescent... just added 2 25 watt bulbs... almost too much light on
the tank now... VERY good and accellerated plant growth.
Fortuneately, this hood had a built in metal replector and a bulit in
glass hood underneath... no heat problems on this one at all since it
was designed to handle up to 2 40 watt incandescents, so the heat is
now lower.


On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 09:17:18 -0500, "C-FYMP"
wrote:

Hi,

Philips is now producing a 5000k "daylight" screw-in built-in-ballast bulb.
Is this anygood for planted tanks?

What is the common practive for protecting ballast/caps/wire connectors from
moisture issues in a DIY Canopy

Many thanks

Thanks JP

"jp" wrote in message
...
Actually, there are several companies now offering these bulbs.

I built a DIY replacement for my singble bulb flourescent with 4
double bulb incandescent sockets and use these 'daylight' bulbs.

...