Differences between fluorescent and incandescent lights in aquarium?

Question

I was wondering if one was better for plants?

The hood that I was thinking about buying has a "screw fixture" - the end you plug the lightbulb into is shaped like a the end of a regular lamp lightbulb - and it will take a 15 watt incandescent bulb, or a 10 watt flourscent bulb...the package says that the 10 watt flourscent is equivelent to a 50 watt incandscent.

Can anyone clarify this?
Thanks a bunch

Answer 1

Incandescent lighting is pretty much useless for growing plants... Their spectrum is only near 3,000K (ideal plant spectrum is between 6,500K and 6,700K or 10,000K), which is mostly unusable by plants. Not only are fluorescents much better for plants, they provide more color for your fish and last MUCH longer than incandescent. I had an incandescent light last about 4 months on one of my tanks, while my tube fluorescents last well over 6 months, and cost less to operate. Incandescent lighting often makes tanks look very yellow or pink, while standard fluorescent lighting will cast a crisp, white light on your tank, fish, and plants (and even cheap fluorescent bulbs are more effective for growing plants than incandescent, but the $10 spectrum specific bulbs are far superior). Depending on the depth of your tank, it may be best to just scrap your current canopy all together and replace it with a hood that will hold one or more fluorescent TUBE lights (tubes illuminate the tank equally while compact fluorescents can be spottier). Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Soop Nazi

Answer 2

In electrical terms, fluorescent , sodium and metal halide lamps are marginally more efficient than LEDs, but require a high voltage to start them, so they need a heavy coil called a ballast, and have to be better insulated. The main advantages of LEDs are 1. Last much longer than other types. 2. Are more robust because they have no glass. 3. They need no ballast or bulb, so are smaller and lighter. 4. Because they operate at low voltages they can more easily be immersed in water, and don't need leads to be heavily insulated. They do use a control circuit called a Driver but this is much smaller than a ballast and may be incorporated in an external mains adapter. To compare the light from different lamp types, the best thing is to go somewhere you can see them all in action, like a public aquarium or aquarium supplies showroom.

Answer 3

I put compact fluorescents in my canopy and they work great. For the cost of operating 13w of light you get 50 to 60 w of light. Get a warm white fluorescent to get a nicer look. You can get fluorescent grow light bulbs too but they have a distinctly pink/purple look to the light which doesn't always go well with some aquarium decorations.

I bought the compact fluorescents that are like 2 long fingers looped instead of the spiral shape because I thought they would fit better.

Answer 4

You have an incandescent light canopy. The difference between that and a fluorescent light is the spectrum of light. Fluorescent mimics sunlight better, thereby providing better lights for plants. I tried growing plants under an incandescent light and it doesn't work.

You may want to make sure you are buying fluorescent bulbs from a fish store, to make sure it is the right type for your plants.

Answer 5

Go with the Flourecent, if its rated for 15w use a 15w Flourecent, incandecent are very inefficent and have a terrible light spectrum. also flourecent are generaly brighter per watt read this also http://www.howstuffworks.com/question236.htm maybe you cant use a 15w flourecent beacaue it wont fit phisicaly

Answer 6

fluorescent lights not only grow plants better but they also make your fish look better. When I switched to fluorescents my fish just sparkled.

Answer 7

try this....