Im a bit cofused!

1115 Views 11 Replies 3 Participants Last post by weluvbettas, Oct 29, 2010

weluvbettas

Discussion Starter · Oct 29, 2010

I have a desk lamp that is the light for my 4 gal nano , It has 9 watts over it and its a flouresent bulb. The kelvin rating is 2700. Is this enough?. I cant find any bulbs with a higher kelvin rating. Will it be ok? will it be enough for my plants?

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isu712

· #2 · Oct 29, 2010

Probably not. What type of tank are you going for? High light, medium light, low light? You're going to need to find a bulb that has a kelvin rating around 6500, they're typically called daylight bulbs in stores on this side of the pond, but I'm not sure what they're called over there. They may be called the same thing, they may be called something different. Hopefully somebody else will chime in and tell you where you can find them.

If you can find OttLite products, something like this should be great:

OttLite CFL

I've seen them at Lowes and also arts & craft stores like Hobby Lobby

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weluvbettas

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 29, 2010

I have one like that . It just does not have not the right kelvin rating. Im going for a low light / medium-ish light.

also i spelt confused wrong sorry ha ha.

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OverStocked

· #4 · Oct 29, 2010

For the record.... 2700k will likely grow plants. Kelvin rating is much more about what is pleasing to OUR eyes than what plants need. What kind of bulb? Flourescent? 9 watts is not a lot.

Isu712, I just noticed you too are in Sioux Falls. I am actually based in Brandon, but work VERY close to Minicritters.

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isu712

· #5 · Oct 29, 2010

over_stocked said:
For the record.... 2700k will likely grow plants. Kelvin rating is much more about what is pleasing to OUR eyes than what plants need. What kind of bulb? Flourescent? 9 watts is not a lot.

You may be right, but here's my understanding.

The chlorophyll in plants absorb light at particular wavelengths, with wavelengths in the blue portion of the spectrum the best and red portion second best with the greens in the middle of the spectrum being the worst (that's why leaves are green). The Kelvin rating for bluish colors is going to be 5000K or more. The colors around 2700K are going to be more of your reds with green somewhere in the middle (remember ROY G. BIV). You're right that a 2700K will grow plants, but it won't grow them as well as the 6500K.

Search Wikipedia for chlorophyll and color temperature if you want to do a little more reading.

over_stocked said:
Isu712, I just noticed you too are in Sioux Falls. I am actually based in Brandon, but work VERY close to Minicritters.

Nice, I've been to Minicritters a lot over the last month or so as I've just set up a reef tank and have been going there to slowly build up my CUC

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weluvbettas

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 29, 2010

I know its not alot im currently trying to find one with more watts. It is a flouresent . One of the 3 pin ones. So im glad to know that it will grow plants.

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isu712

· #7 · Oct 29, 2010

weluvbettas said:
I know its not alot im currently trying to find one with more watts. It is a flouresent . One of the 3 pin ones. So im glad to know that it will grow plants.

Wait, earlier you said you had one like the bulb that I linked to (a screw in CFL), but now you're saying it's a 3 pin. Now I'm the one that's confused.

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OverStocked

· #8 · Oct 29, 2010

isu712 said:
You may be right, but here's my understanding.

The chlorophyll in plants absorb light at particular wavelengths, with wavelengths in the blue portion of the spectrum the best and red portion second best with the greens in the middle of the spectrum being the worst (that's why leaves are green). The Kelvin rating for bluish colors is going to be 5000K or more. The colors around 2700K are going to be more of your reds with green somewhere in the middle (remember ROY G. BIV). You're right that a 2700K will grow plants, but it won't grow them as well as the 6500K.

Search Wikipedia for chlorophyll and color temperature if you want to do a little more reading.

Nice, I've been to Minicritters a lot over the last month or so as I've just set up a reef tank and have been going there to slowly build up my CUC

The trouble is Kelvin rating is based on what the human eye sees. Not what the actual color output of the bulb is. TO make matters worse, it is very subjective and manufacturers seem to put whatever they want on them. For instance... the 8356(or whatever)K bulbs... Not a chance they are exactly that. If you look at some commercial bulbs with light output charts, it will show that even a 2700k bulb has plenty of blue and red light for plant growth.

I have grown tanks side by side with 3000ish K bulbs, 10000k bulbs, and even 14,000k bulbs. They all grew plants just fine.

The problem is simple, the bulbs are rated to sell. Cheap bulbs in particular are much less likely to have a precise kelvin rating. And again, kelvin rating is about what the eye sees, not what the plant gets. I haven't used a 6700k bulb inyears. I hate them. They are way toooooo yellow for me. I use 10,000k and 8,000k bulbs. Many people are in this same boat. Yet we all have outstanding growth.

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OverStocked

· #9 · Oct 29, 2010

weluvbettas said:
I know its not alot im currently trying to find one with more watts. It is a flouresent . One of the 3 pin ones. So im glad to know that it will grow plants.

If it is a 3 pin bulb, you need to replace the fixture. The ballast of the fixture determines wattage, not the bulb(like in an incandescent fixture). So you could put a 20 watt bulb in(if it fits) and still only get 9 watts.

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weluvbettas

Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 29, 2010

Sorry I typed it wrong I had a 3 pin bulb before I do have a screw In one now sorry guys. So is this kelvin rating ok to use in the long term ?

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isu712

· #11 · Oct 29, 2010

weluvbettas said:
Sorry I typed it wrong I had a 3 pin bulb before I do have a screw In one now sorry guys. So is this kelvin rating ok to use in the long term ?

Well it sounds like you just have two differing opinions. If over_stocked has used them in the past and had good luck then I say go for it. I've just always gone with at least a 6500K bulb because in theory they're supposed to be better.

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weluvbettas

Discussion Starter · #12 · Oct 29, 2010

Thanks im just gonna go ahead with it. I dont mind the yellow -ey colour they give off as overstocked said its all about what It looks like to the eye.

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