t4 fluorescents
Anyone has experience with the new T4 compact fluorescents? I bought a cheapo complete fixture (Chinese made) with 1 20W T4 lamp (5000K, included) for my little tank, and have been truly pleased with it. I never had any luck with plants before this. I am so pleased I just got a second one (they can be hooked up in series).
The things are great, the whole fixture is only 2 cm wide and 4 cm high, and so light it's hard to believe: you can hold this 20W lighting fixture with just 2 fingers, and you can hang it anywhere, and move them around or switch them from one tank to another in 1 min flat. The lamp themselves are only 4/8 of an inch thick (indicated by the "T4" designation), i.e. ca. 13 mm in diameter. The 20W T4 is just a little shorter than the 20W T12s, some 59 cm long; I think it will fit the standard 60 cm tanks, unlike the T12s and T8s. And they are bright: you can look at a 20W T12 but the glare from a T4 hurts your eyes.
They are a little pricey, at least around here and at the time being, but not obscenely so: I paid some €12 for each whole fixture, while a hideous industrial and cumbersome T8 setup would have cost me at least €7.
I am thinking on making this tech the standard for all my future tanks. Any thoughts you want to share?
Gustavo
Do not meddle in affairs of cichlids 4 they r subtle & quick 2 anger
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