Anybody used these bulbs for their aquariums?

Question

Anybody used this bulbs for their aquariums?

http://www.petco.com/product/11440/Coralife-Mini-Compact-Fluorescent-50-or-50-Bulb.aspx

Btw, what does 50/50 mean and what is the difference between this and the regular ones part from the price?

One more thing, what kind of hood would I need to house a couple of these bulbs. say... 5 of them

Whats the 10,000 K about? kelvin?

Answer 1

10,000 kelvin is correct. The 50/50 means it is 50% normal fluorescent ligh, 50% "special" light to give the plants an increased color spectrum. You would only need about 3 of those bulbs for your 15 gallon tank, but I'm sure Petco has the hood for it as well. If they don't you can ask the store manager to order it with their next shipment (they may request that you pay up front).

Nosoop4u

Answer 2

ok well 50/50 is saying its 50% 10k 50% true blue actinic. The compact PC lights are VHO lights (very high output). the kelvin scale is the overall spectrum of light and certain aquatic species are partially photsynthetic so you need to have more of the spectrum of visible light in your tank. Plants to are photosynthetic so having these bulbs would benefit you more so in a planted tank than a regular aquarium hood light. If you were to spend the money on keeping housing 5 of those lights i would reccomend something more on the line of these
http://www.bedding.com/product/aquarium/59815/coralife-aqualight-deluxe-series-double-strip-fixture.html
this will give you a true blue actinic light and a seperate 10k white light and still more wattage than 5 of those 10watt bulbs you showed.

Answer 3

they are coated specially to provide a specific bandwidth of light.
that is what the 10,000K and the actinic blue refer to, they are coated so that they put out light at 10,000K and actinic blue spectrums, unlike normal bulbs which often have a spectrum rating of around 3000K & no actinic blue. Full spectrum lights usually start around 5000K and approximate natural daylight.

Answer 4

Will if u don't have fish i would go to a story like wal-mart and get a stared kit for $30 i t come with every thing even food and light bulbs