I've been searching the web recently for all sorts of lighting solution for aquaria, and saw these mentioned in some APD archives... Its a full spectrum FL tube with a CRI of 97... which is great. As a tri phosphor tube, its light output is low at 2300lm for a 4ft tube(compared to like 3000+ for normal tri-phosphors), but it is recommended for use with animals, fish, and plants... I've also managed to find a pic of the spectrum which I'll stick below.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has tried this?
Allen
I'm using Osram Floura, recommended by them for indoor plants and aquariums.
Not too sure how it compares to the Biolux.
Also can't give a comparison with daylight tubes as I'm using 3 Osram daylight tubes and 3 Osram Floura for my tank.
Haven't tried the other brands or 6 daylight tubes yet. But should be due for light change in Feb
Resistance is futile, you will be administrated!
Lower lumens means it's not as bright as higher lumens, as far as the naked eye is concerned, right?
Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
Yes Vinz thats right... however what we really should look out for (and is never given is the Photosythetic Active Radiation (PAR). This is a specific measure of how good a light is for photosynthesis. What is more obvious is that the wavelengths at which PAR is considered almost completely bypasses the green 400-500nm and 600-700nm.
On this issue, I came across 2 more tubes from NEC today in my local NTUC (wouldn't you know it?)... they were selling the NEC Biolux tube (non-triphosphor) at $11 bucks. This guy is even worse having a total luminous flux of 960lm!! crazy... The spectrum is below
They also have a tri-phosphor version which seems similar to the Osram biolux, but I think the osram looks better spec wise.... Heres the spectrum for the tri-phosphor NEC biolux
Heheh anyway I itchy fingers bought 2 of the tubes from NTUC...now worried the intensity too low....
Allen
Resistance is futile, you will be administrated!
If the results are good, they'll make pretty good lights for planted arowana tanks. Supposedly, bright lights darkens the arowana and thus reduce the colour development.
Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
Hehehe just found the local distributor for the tubes... tubes are about twice the cost of HEBT, and they make deliveries!! Talk about mega cool... ordered 4 tubes to complement the 2 I bought... Now I just have to wait a couple of months before installing them...My HEBT only 2 months old... very lugi if change now.
Allen
I can never know how to read these spectrum chart. What we look for when looking at the spectrum?
What about Bioplast BioSun?
My Apisto Keeping Diary
Apistogramma agassizii, Apistogramma bitaeniata "Careiro", Apistogramma brevis, Apistogramma elizabethae, Apistogramma eremnopyge, Apistogramma sp. "Miua", Dicrossus filamentosus
Jacian,
I'm not 100% sure either... I'm sort of learning as I go. However, what I generally look for is a nice high red peak with good spread... and a smaller blue peak also with good spread. If you look at the chart I posted for the NEC biolux tubes, there are 2 interesting bits of info.
The first chart actually shows chloryphyll absorbtion according to the light spectrum (in dotted lines)... In other words, the spectrum which plants use. The second chart shows the wavelengths of light used for photosythetic activity... So basically you want a tube which has good spectrum (i.e. high magnitude) and wide bandwidth.
In terms of spectrum I don't like the bioplast tube that much as it has a huge spike in the blue region and 2 small ones in the green and red. The plus point is that the CRI is 95. Not sure how bright it is as I couldn't find the light output level.
Adding on to this, one reason why most tri-phosphors are suitable for planted tanks is because they tend to have 3 balanced spikes in the red, blue and green regions. This gives good color rendition typically 80+ and good brightness due to the high green. Good PAR due to high red and blue... though its been conjectured that algae uses blues more effectively, so I prefer to have a lower blue (if available).
Allen
Adding the spectrum for Hitachi EBT-N and EBT-D tubes below... sort of like a compilation.
Heres the spectrum for Dennerle tubes
Dennerle 3085
Dennerle 4085
Dennerle 5085
Dennerle 6085
Dennerle 8085
Allen
Spectrum for Osram-Sylvania's Gro-Lux
Arcadia's Original Tropical Lamp (supposedly optimum for plant growth - note the plant optimum spectrum curve added)
Arcadia's Freshwater Lamp
Allen
Maybe I should think 2x about switching to daylight tubes...If these biolux work, I might get all my tubes switched to biolux...heheh
Resistance is futile, you will be administrated!
Are these tubes FLs or PLs?
Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
FL tubes... Thats actually the biggest advantage of FLs i.e. the wide range of spectrums available... Speaking of which, while I was searching yesterday, I came across a 1000W setup which consist of a 400W MH bulb in combination with a 600W high pressure sodium bulb... looks like thats the way the plant industry is moving. They use the MH for its broad spectrum and good color rendition, and the high pressure sodium to add intensity in the red spectrum... I won't be surprised if we start seeing some of these move into the aquarium industry
Allen
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