# screw in cf



## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

are those as good as the tubes lighting wise? and do those need ballasts?


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## acuaman (Dec 11, 2004)

hello

they don`t need ballast, they already have it,, but I never used before as a tank lighitng sys

a c u a m a n


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I got 4 spiral CF's over this 18 gal. tank - 2x13 and 2X19 watts. They are mounted in a tin reflector and are about 1 inch above the water surface.

Although technically I have about 3.4 wpg over that tank I don't think that that's really the number. The glosso on the bottom of that tank stretches a bit as if there isn't enough light.

The bulbs run hot enough to probably pose a problem if retrofitted in a plastic light hood like the ones that come standard with most tanks.

A cheaper or at least comparable alternative bulb choice would be Home Depot's 5,500K fluorescent bulbs (called SunLight if I'm not mistaken). They are about $8 for the 18", 15 watt bulb and run with a regular ballast. I'm assuming actual light intensity from those bulbs would be better than the spiral CF's which suffer from considerable light loss due to the spiral design and the light restriking inside the spiral shaped tube. Rex Grigg mentioned somewhere that the loss is about 40%.

--Nikolay


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I run two screw ins over my ten gallon. They are in an incandescent hood. Got the lights from walmart in the pet section. They work great.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

what k is that? niko


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## cS (Jan 27, 2004)

Stay away from these bulbs if you can. They are inefficient and burn out relatively quickly. The replacement cost quickly adds up and you'll soon realize that it's better to invest in a good quality light setup. However, if you have them already, then by all means, use it.

When I made my first foray into planted tanks, I bought a bunch of these bulbs: Commercial Electric's Daylight Spiral Lamp (19W, 6500K). ](*,) I hooked them up to my canopy. As soon as they all burn out, I am going to replace them with a proper lighting fixture. Here is a picture of the fixture as it currently is:



















That being said, they are really neat for small odd-size tanks where lighting options are quite limited. Soon, I'll post a journal of my 2.5G nano tank using these bulbs. Gathering data/photos at the moment. Gosh, I love this "Save as draft" feature. [smilie=w:


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

ok


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

cS, I am looking SPECIFICALLY for lighting options (inexpensive or CHEAP) for 1 gallon, 2.5 gallon or basically fish / Betta Bowl size tanks to light up. The bulbs I understand are easy to find and cheap/affordable. 

For me the hard part is finding an attractive option for the light fixture 
again (inexpensive or CHEAP). 

I would love to see your journal and / or suggestions. 

I also wish there were a thread JUST for 1, 2, 2.5 NANOS with lots of photos, journals, and or posts.


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Hey, wow I can't believe you dug this thread up. The screw in bulbs work fine, I got a 19watt bulb over a 1 g.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Turtlehead, thank you, but



> For me the hard part is finding an attractive option for the light fixture
> again (inexpensive or CHEAP).
> 
> I would love to see your journal and / or suggestions.
> ...


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Looks nice, good progress and in time it will all grow in.


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