Flourescent Strip Light - Why so expensive?

[Danyal]

<Did a little research and found out normal bulbs are not enough for plants.>
actually, NO bulbs are fine for a lot of plants, you just have to know which ones.
<So my next question is can VHO florescent bulbs be put into normal hoods>
nope, only NO bulbs can go into a NO hood. a NO ballast won't be able to fire a VHO.

 

[Wolf3101]

Gro light tubes however are adiquate for MOST aquarium plants and will go into a normal fixture. With a wide enough hood 2 twin tube units can be installed side by side. The waterproofing I mentioned earlier consists of sealing all of the electrical connections against corrusion with a liquid rubber compound and installing rubber sealed protection tubes over the bulbs. This generally makes the differance between years of trouble free servace and an anoying POS you have to smack on to get to work after the first three months.

 

[BIGgourami]

don't know about second question, still trying to figure that out myself.
the first point though is that they are "EXTREME" high output T-5's in a 48" bulb. 48's are harder to find and are more expensive, also i'mpretty sure that these are marketed towards reef tank and the price can be jacked-up a little for this reason ALONE!

 

[Wolf3101]

yes that's one of the reasons reef tanks are best described as a money pit surounded by glass walls...

A friend of mine was having a pre certification inspection on his new airplane. Everything passed but he learned he was required to have 'emergancy' rest room facilities on board. After a long web search he found and purchased an FAA approved system for....<pause for dramatic effect>
498.50

The box contained a funnel, a length of clear hose and a sport bottle with an emergancy use instruction sheet.......

 

[WyldFya]

Gro light tubes however are adiquate for MOST aquarium plants and will go into a normal fixture. With a wide enough hood 2 twin tube units can be installed side by side. The waterproofing I mentioned earlier consists of sealing all of the electrical connections against corrusion with a liquid rubber compound and installing rubber sealed protection tubes over the bulbs. This generally makes the differance between years of trouble free servace and an anoying POS you have to smack on to get to work after the first three months.

Not most... maybe half. They are fine for most commonly available plants, but a large portion of plant are seen in your common LFS.

 

[jungledriver]

Natural sunlight is 6,500 kelvins, but this spectrum is very yellow and undesirable to most aquarists. 10,000 kelvin, or higher is much whiter and better looking. You can go with lower kelvin rated bulbs (6,500) if you accent with blue actinics. The expensive fixtures are probably T-5's, or halides. For planted tanks, a lower kelvin bulb with actinic supplimentation would be best. Standard T-10's or T-12's should due.

 

[WyldFya]

Natural sunlight is 6,500 kelvins, but this spectrum is very yellow and undesirable to most aquarists. 10,000 kelvin, or higher is much whiter and better looking. You can go with lower kelvin rated bulbs (6,500) if you accent with blue actinics. The expensive fixtures are probably T-5's, or halides. For planted tanks, a lower kelvin bulb with actinic supplimentation would be best. Standard T-10's or T-12's should due.

I would recommend against doing the actinics as they promote alga growth, but not plant growth.

 

[sweeTang21]

my 36" t-5 HO fixture cost me less then 50.00 dollars!! i also read that they are very efficient as far as electrical consumption goes!!