Ikea halogen bulbs

[|squee|]

Hello all,

I do hope this is the correct place to post this topic.

I just bought a Ikea halogen light set, intending to use it as lighting for my 17cm Nano tank.

Well, perhaps it was because of all the lights there, but when I got home and tried it out, the light was orange instead of white in colour, which isn't good at all.

I surfed the net for some info, and it seems there are white halogen bulbs available in the market, those "bright white, xenon" type. However, I've no idea where to get them in Singapore. Does anyone know? I'm looking for something like this

Thanks a lot!

[PohSan]

Hi Terence,

Where do you stay? You can try Penta Lighting for your lighting stuff. It is located at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Part 2. It is the blue building that is beside NEC Semiconductors and STM. I bought my T5 tube there at a very competitive price. They are the distributor of some major brands but is friendly enough to attend to hobbyist's need. Call them to check out the bulb you need before going down.

The website and address is as followed:
http://www.pentalighting.com/lamps_t..._main_volt.htm

Full address
32 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 #06-15/16
Sing Industrial Complex, Singapore 569510

Tel: (65) 6484 9000 | Fax: (65) 6484 6636
Email: [email protected]

Regards,
Ong Poh San

[|squee|]

Thanks PohSan! However, it might be inconvinient for me to get down there (I'm a student without a car And I was thinking of probably DIY stores, like Home-Fix.

Will enquire Penta about it though. Do they have a store of sorts in the building then?

[PohSan]

It is actually an office with a storeroom.

Regards,
Ong Poh San

[Science]

Hi Terence,

If your tank is very small you can use couple of white leds. They are efficient and there are powerful ones too.

[|squee|]

Alas, the colour temperature is 2700K for their bulb. Maybe I shouldn't have bought that lamp after all.

Science, I did consider, however LEDs and all that wiring will require quite a bit of work that I don't have time for. :P But in view of current circumstances...

[kc]

If I'm not wrong, the wattage of Halogen lamp is about 50w? You can get a PL lamp with only 15w or less for as a small size tank.

[timebomb]

Speaking of lights, a friend sent me this link which I'm sure would be of great interest to anyone who's into planted tanks.

Loh K L

[fkkow]

Hi,

Since somebody brought up this lighting question...

I'm using Philips PLL 865/40W for my aquarium. Due to unavalability of supply, i got a PLL 870/40W. What is the difference? Is the PLL870 suitable for aquarium use??

It seems to me the light is slightly bluish... it states 'daylight' meanwhile the Philips is 'cool daylight'

Anybody got any info on this??


Thanks,
FK

[whuntley]

FK

The difference is insignificant. If I remember Phillips numbering correctly, the 870 is just a little higher CRI (true whiteness) than the 865. Both are high and excellent for plants, IMHO.

KL

That's a great site! The 2 W/G figure bandied about on APD and in the Krib was a very rough rule of thumb, based only on standard small American tank dimensions. It was never advocated, to my knowledge, for any oddball tank measurements.

I was probably the first to point out that tank depth has nothing to do with the Wattage needed, since a tank is basically a light pipe that lets all light entering the water surface reach the bottom, minus an insignificant absorption factor for tanks under about 1000 G. Plant shading, algae on the glass and other factors are much bigger variables than absorption, but true light demand is most closely related to surface area than to any other parameter, just as your link shows.

Wright

[cutenk]

I'm using Philips PLL 865/40W for my aquarium. Due to unavalability of supply, i got a PLL 870/40W. What is the difference? Is the PLL870 suitable for aquarium use??

865 = 8 for lighning colour (white), 65 for 6500 kelvin.
870 = 8 for lightning colour (white), 70 for 7000 kelvin

[fkkow]

Thanks a lot. That really help me to find alternative to the Philips light - which of course is quite hard to find.

BTW how long does a PLL light able to stand before changing it? I use them bout 8-10hours daily.

Quite a no. of people recommend to change light tube after 6 months. Does this rule apply for PLL? Seems PLL has a longer lifespan - based on the stated manufacturing label???

Thanks,
FK

[FC]

On average you should change tubes every 6~8 months. Flourescence lost brightness very quickly during the first 6 months and stabilise after that.

Allow me to correct. e.g., 865:
"8" mean more than 80% Ra (a measurement of light quality, sun is 100%).
"65" is 6500K which is often called daylight because it resembles daylight colour.