View Full Version : cheap lights?
bboy aqua
06/14/2006, 10:31 PM
does anyone know of any cheap light fixtures,sockets or anything that is just plug in and play from homedepot,lowes or city mill that can be used to grow green gracilaria(ogo)?
bluenassarius
06/15/2006, 03:22 AM
the brand i recommend is from "commercial electric" in a baby blue packaging at home depot. the 27w bulb is roughly 7 bucks. you'll need to get a clamp on reflector which is 5-6 bucks i believe. it's well worth your bucks and puts out some serious light.
bboy aqua
06/15/2006, 03:43 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7564381#post7564381 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bluenassarius
the brand i recommend is from "commercial electric" in a baby blue packaging at home depot. the 27w bulb is roughly 7 bucks. you'll need to get a clamp on reflector which is 5-6 bucks i believe. it's well worth your bucks and puts out some serious light.
can i get the clamp on reflector at Home Depot?
after I get both of these items its ready to plug in and use?
so the total cost for everything is $12-$13?
Samala
06/15/2006, 11:02 AM
I'm pretty sure the clamp on reflector, once you've got the bulb in, is pure plug and play. A little ugly, lol, but effective and cheap. I've been known to use desk lights from IKEA that will take incandescent bulbs, switch those out for the above mentioned screw-in CFs and work it that way.
>Sarah
Jon770
06/18/2006, 11:45 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7564381#post7564381 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bluenassarius
the brand i recommend is from "commercial electric" in a baby blue packaging at home depot. the 27w bulb is roughly 7 bucks. you'll need to get a clamp on reflector which is 5-6 bucks i believe. it's well worth your bucks and puts out some serious light. Hi, I tried to find this bulb at home depot and couldn't. Below is the closest thing I could find...
It was less watts (19w vs. 27w), and was the spiral shape vs. a floodlight, which is what I expected. Is this what you were talking about (only less watts), or did you find one of these in the floodlight form? Do you think this would work on cheato?
http://images1.snapfish.com/347388848%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3233%3E759%3E%3B%3B5%3E2324759%3C%3A67%3A3ot1lsi
bluenassarius
06/18/2006, 02:47 PM
yes that is the brand. the 19w and 27w are the same price i believe. it is an excellent bulb for growing macros. it gives off a crisp white light unlike most daylight bulbs that are yellow. it is equally effective in growing macro imo.
bboyaqua, yes you can get the clamp on reflector at HD. i used 2 of these bulbs to grow coral a few months back. it worked well :D
jgreen1025
06/20/2006, 10:19 AM
There's a thread where several people have instead used a PC floodlight and gotten better macroalgae growth. I don't remember where the thread is but here's the guy's website (http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html) where he details his results. The particular bulb he uses has to be special ordered but I found several PC floodlight bulbs at the Do-It Center near where I work in the 5000-6000k range.
John
Jon770
06/20/2006, 10:31 AM
Is there really a difference between the floodlight and the bulb above? If you look in the PC floodlight you can see the same spiral bulb inside....Assuming you are using the clamp-on reflector with the regular bulb, it seems that it would have the same effect.
Jon770
06/20/2006, 10:33 AM
BTW - I found the 27w bulb at a different HD. You are right - the same exact price...
jgreen1025
06/20/2006, 11:38 AM
The only difference I can see is that the floodlight has an internal reflector and costs a couple bucks more. Melev's website says: This bulb was sealed and looked very easy to wipe off when necessary. Plus, I could remove the metal reflector I was currently using. By doing that, I removed the trapped heat that occasionally caused the old bulb to overheat and shut down.
It seems that his intital comparison of bulbs was between the exposed 6500k coil and a 2700k floodlight, and he says the 2700k floodlight produced better growth. He later switched to a 5100k floodlight and says it produced better growth than the 2700k bulb. I think there's a link there somewhere to the thread where several others tried the bulbs as well and reported better growth, too. (Disclaimer: I haven't tried any of them yet). Good luck!
John
bluenassarius
06/20/2006, 02:30 PM
from my experience, that bulb above worked well overall in growing green, red, brown algaes. i tried the 2700k bulbs over brown macros and it would make them turn yellow. however, my green macros seemed to flourish under the 2700k bulb. what i really like about that bulb is the color. nice crisp white color w/ a blue hue- it is very pleasing to the eye in comparison to the yellow bulbs.
i believe melev has his light in a aquarium stand. the bulb does produce alot of heat. i can see why he would say it would wear down the life of the bulb. my set up wasn't in a enclosed area so heat from the bulb wasn't an issue.
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