# 29 Gallon Lighting



## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

it turns out wide spectrum is useless to us planted people.
full spectrum will elp but only nominally it's that photo syntheic action curve that makes all the difference


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

What brands of bulbs are you talking about? Please be a little more specific in your description. Your comment was just a little too general for me.


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

any brand bulb. the real issue is if the bulb maker is falsely advertising...
which many if not all, these days, do tend to falsify

full spectrum mean the light produces UVA, UVB, and Infrared things that can be important to both coral growth and plant growth but can also possibly be harmful to both you and livestock depending on intensity.

Wide Spectrum means the bulb is producing some, but not all of the visible wavelengths and no ultraviolet wavelengths.

if you look to the action spectrum for photosynthesis








you notice that plants so use some UV


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

urville said:


> you notice that plants so use some UV


"you notice that plants *so* use some UV"

What does this mean?

I know about the action spectrum for photosysthesis.

I don't know anyone that even pays any attention to the description "full spectrum" or "wide spectrum". It's just a marketing ploy. So, if your point is about a little false advertising, that's OK. Heck, the world is full of false advertising. Sometimes you just have to 'dig a little deeper' to get what your looking for.


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## urville (Sep 20, 2004)

well, your right it is a ploy... alot of companies started saying all their bulbs were full spectrum when they arent. this does happen
but some bulbs really are full spectrum.
this means that they put out some UV as well as light in all the colors.
Tri-Phophors three spikes in certain color ranges. i believe, but could be wrong, that all tri-phosphor bulbs are full spectrum. actually that probably isnt true now that i think of it.

wide spectrum. this i dont think is a lie most of the time. wide spectrums are always a second version of an exsisting bulb. for instance Sylvania makes a Gro-Lux bulb and it has spikes in the green/yellow, blue, and red areas if i remember right. the spikes are in the action spectrum though. there is a second version of the Gro-Lux which is the Wide Spectrum and all it means is that the spikes are widened in those same color areas. althoguh i have seen some makers state a bulb is a wide spectrum version and what it seems they have done is made the curve... uhh.. words are failing me here... they blunt the spikes of the curve.


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Like I said, I don't look for those particular terms, it's misleading. I just look at the bottom line. Heck, sometimes the color spectrum they show is a bit of a ploy.


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