Hello Folks,
I recently bought an Apogee SQ-420 Par Meter and have been putting it to use figuring out what levels my aquariums are at. Its been an enlightening experience......................
Anyway, one thing I have been wondering for a while is whether I can use regular light bulbs to give me high light levels in a high tech tank. The reasoning for this is that am planning to go DIY for lighting but I also want the final result to look good. The tank I want to use this on will be in the living room/entry to my house and thus will be one of the first things anyone coming to my home will see. If I can use regular lighting fixtures / chandeliers the amount of effort and skill required to DIY something that looks GOOD dramatically lowers. For aesthetics these light bulbs would be 3 to 4 feet above substrate. That means 1 to 2 feet of air and 2 feet of water.
So that's the lead up. Now for the testing. To begin with I have two bulbs.
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1) SANSI 36W Grow Light
At 3 feet this bulb produced approximately 50 ppfd directly under the light. At 3 feet down and 1 foot off center it was approximately 35 ppfd.
At 4 feet this bulb produced approximately 30 ppfd directly under the light. At 4 feet down and 1 foot off center this bulb produced approximately 20-25 ppfd.
2) Sylvania Ultra LED Night Chaser
At 3 feet this bulb produced approximately 100 ppfd directly under the light. At 3 feet down and 1 foot off center it was approximately 60 ppfd.
At 4 feet this bulb produced approximately 60 ppfd directly under the light. At 4 feet down and 1 foot off center this bulb produced approximately 50 ppfd.
The Sylvania light advertises a spectrum of 5000k. The SANSI does not advertise it's spectrum but appears warmer so I am guessing 4000K to 4500K.
For reference these numbers were obtained in open air. I don't have 24" deep tank I could test this out in at present.
I am still looking for bulbs and will update this thread as I test new ones. Hopefully this information will be useful to other folks as well.
I recently bought an Apogee SQ-420 Par Meter and have been putting it to use figuring out what levels my aquariums are at. Its been an enlightening experience......................
Anyway, one thing I have been wondering for a while is whether I can use regular light bulbs to give me high light levels in a high tech tank. The reasoning for this is that am planning to go DIY for lighting but I also want the final result to look good. The tank I want to use this on will be in the living room/entry to my house and thus will be one of the first things anyone coming to my home will see. If I can use regular lighting fixtures / chandeliers the amount of effort and skill required to DIY something that looks GOOD dramatically lowers. For aesthetics these light bulbs would be 3 to 4 feet above substrate. That means 1 to 2 feet of air and 2 feet of water.
So that's the lead up. Now for the testing. To begin with I have two bulbs.
1) SANSI 36W Grow Light
At 3 feet this bulb produced approximately 50 ppfd directly under the light. At 3 feet down and 1 foot off center it was approximately 35 ppfd.
At 4 feet this bulb produced approximately 30 ppfd directly under the light. At 4 feet down and 1 foot off center this bulb produced approximately 20-25 ppfd.
2) Sylvania Ultra LED Night Chaser
At 3 feet this bulb produced approximately 100 ppfd directly under the light. At 3 feet down and 1 foot off center it was approximately 60 ppfd.
At 4 feet this bulb produced approximately 60 ppfd directly under the light. At 4 feet down and 1 foot off center this bulb produced approximately 50 ppfd.
The Sylvania light advertises a spectrum of 5000k. The SANSI does not advertise it's spectrum but appears warmer so I am guessing 4000K to 4500K.
For reference these numbers were obtained in open air. I don't have 24" deep tank I could test this out in at present.
I am still looking for bulbs and will update this thread as I test new ones. Hopefully this information will be useful to other folks as well.
