# Screw in bulbs



## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

Well I'm a little stumped on this one. I'm lighting this 10 gallon all glass and the top that came with it is the 2 incadescent type. and it's just for culturing and maybe future shrimp hatching.

Well went and found two screw in Lights of America Sunlight Compacts, but they dont have spectrums but i assumed it had to be better than the actual aquarium ones which had ample blue and green but no red. the light has 6500k stamped on it. But so far it seems on most of these home lights they dont have spectrum graphs even on file at the company. anyone have any experience with them?

I also found this Phillips Natural Light Plus bulb that fits great it says it's 60 watts but doesnt look any less bright than the screw in compact 20w. It's a halogen screw in. says its 650 lumens not that that means aything useful, but the exact desription is they combined halogen technology with specially formulated glass to offer light remarkably <haha> similar to natural daylight. just wondering if anyone has any experience with these either.

ian


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

Coralife and All-Glass make screw in PC bulbs for incandescent fixtures as well as a few other companies. You won't find them stronger than 20 watts though. As far as the Halogen bulbs, forget them. The other bulbs work.........sorta. I found them effective over a 10 gallon tank but with a cost. The temp raised 2 full degrees in my tank due to the excessive heat they give off. Combined with the lousy metal reflectors that come in incan hoods, you might want to save the money and get a new fixture or go DIY. Good short term fix but I would use them over 6 months.


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

well coralifes are 10 and over local. and local is important. so that doesnt seem worth the effort. i already SAWEd... muahahaha... the hood up so no heat problems.

so your saying the sunlight pc's work well then? i hope so! cause i'm not prepared to spend the inflated costs. you know it's nothing that new or special and they pop the word aquarium on it and it's 2 times more expensive.

as to the halogens. they arent like average halogens, it's not like something i've seen before... i cant as easily dimiss them as everyone else seems to, if metal halides work then so do halogens. they are after all the exact same thing on a different scale, and at 60 watts really arent costing me that much. I just wondered if anyone had seen them actually grow plants better or worse than the pc's.


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

Halogen and Metal Halide are NOT the same. Not even close when it comes to efficiency, spread, spectrum, or penetration. Halogen are some of the most innefficient bulbs available.


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

Simpte 27 said:


> Halogen and Metal Halide are NOT the same. Not even close when it comes to efficiency, spread, spectrum, or penetration. Halogen are some of the most innefficient bulbs available.


  dont get upset
i just disagree. i sent youa pm as to why so i dont start a huge argument here, which seems inappropriate to me.

but look, the real point is that the price should be worth the product and the corallifes screw in PC's are inflated. it's a ten gallon, so a metal halide is just not happening. i was really just wondering if anyone had actually used one.


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## wolfbane (Aug 2, 2005)

Didn't Shalu use them over a 10 gal plant and shrimp tank?


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

I'm not upset. Not in any way. I used screw in bulbs over a 10 gallon tank. It was a good short term solution but the lights just wern't effecient enough for me. I switched to a pc fixture. The next fixture I get will be a t5. And the heat the screw in bulbs gave off was enoumous. The reflectors were awful. They also got extremely hot.


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

oh i must have misread the tone, it just seemed defensive to me,and i didnt want you to think i was a jerk face cause that was my intention.

oh man i know if ic ould bring myself to spend the money i'd go HO or VHO, but at this point I'd rather buy more tanks hahaha. i cant help it. my wife is making me build an additiont ot he house, but hey! i get my own addition for them.


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

You sound like me (and most of the other people here) MORE TANKS!!!!! The downside is if they are not set up right from the beginning, you'll kick yourself later dealing with algae, and replacing dead or decaying plants.


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

i mostly seem to have diatom problems and only at first. it never happened till i switched to high light tanks. must be free silicates in my tap water.

heck i'm considering doing a few bulk orders of certai things, buying some big plastic bins and starting a farm in my basement...

haha i'm a freak


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

does anyone know of any good scrw in compacts other than the high priced "aquarium" versions that work well for growing plants? info on these lights is hard to come by even on manufacturer websites


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## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

Screw ins....hmmm.

I use them alot. Look in my gallery, my 55 gallon is using them.Try looking at walmart, home depot, hardware stores. Lights of America makes varying wattages. I even found a 30 watt. Look for bulbs marked with daylight markings(usually 6500k). Also Commercial Electric Brand. I just bought 3 x 13w for $9. I also have a 65w outdoor yard light (LOA) modified over a 15 AGA designer tank 13x13x20in. works good!
Steve T.


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

I have used screw-ins on couple of 10 gallons, with decent results. They don't provide the best light distribution/coverage, but have high local intensity:

Lights over one tank, 2x15w quad-U shaped:


Another tank, 2x23w spirals, had some green water at the time:

Some plants get intense red coloration when close to light, like this mermaid weed:


Those bulbs are practically free for me, they are like 3 for $1 in asian supermarkets in SF bay area.


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

i looked on the lights of america website and they are part of the bright bulb series, only they are a sub category called sunlight and are rated 6500k it says on the bulb.

so that must be okay?

on this ten i have the incadescent hood, and as it's so small i have great spread and penetration the ay the bubls are orientated. much like your bright kit, it's the small size i think...

heres the pic


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## Sully (Nov 11, 2005)

How are the bulbs working out for you? Did you finally decided to upgrade?


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