Digital Aquarium

Common aquarium bulbs include:

* T-12, a standard pin, 1-1/2 "wide bulb. This bulb generally use more watts

* T-8, a standard pin, 1 "wide bulb. Compared with the T-12, a 48" T-12 uses 32 watts, while a 48 "T-8 uses 32 watts.

* T-5, usually about 13 mm in diameter. This is a mini pin bulb that generally uses fewer watts per lumen than many of T-8 bulbs.

* T-2, these bulbs are the most advanced technology yet. They measure only 7 mm and allow several bulbs in a small space. A 13 W and 20 "T-2 Bulb (6400 K) produces 950 lumens, which is 73 lumens per watt in a small space!

Bluntly, these target = "_blank" href = "http://americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquariumbulb.html"> T2 lamps and accessories are on the best bulbs in a small space I've seen! These are very useful for small planted tanks or Nano reef or even shelves for betta breeders. I hope that these new T-2 lamps to sweep more acuariofilia small maintenance due to their extremely high efficiency and away from sales.

* VHO, which means "Very High Output". These are T-5 through T-12 fluorescent tubes and standard in the latest compact power (usually 4-pin) lamps as the Via Aqua generation Helios VHO. The new Helios come in a variety of sizes, with outputs of up to 180 watts of lamps less than 40 inches long, to envy of many metal halide (though not in depth of penetration). These new accessories increased production VHO / lamps have more than Kelvin and output power of previous generation VHO lamps / accessories of similar size. These can be used both for marine reef applications and as freshwater planted aquariums (new VHOs these are not scheduled for full release to the public until early 2008).

* PC, which means "Power Compact. These bulbs come in pin arrangements, agreements pin square, and becoming increasingly popular standard incandescent lamp ballast "screw" type. These bulbs, along with T-5 tend to be more efficient.

A new deal of energy which, in my opinion, it's awesome for planted tanks, and even for reef tanks (as an addition to metal halide or LED) is self-ballasted bulbs SHO PC. The bulb of 105 watts SHO Summer 6300 brings lumens and is comparable to that of a standard 525 watt bulb (click on image for a link). This comes to 60 lumens per watt, but this is a guide misleading because it fit many more of these bulbs in a given area, and also use more efficient reflectors.

OHSS can be mounted on a Hood using a standard incandescent fixture or rather, hanging like a pendant light using the reflector similar to metal halide lamps are typically installed

* Metal halide (MH), these are the current "Kings" reef aquarium because of the penetration depth, production, spectrum and on all the beauty and the amount of living coral that help support. Even the new T-5 lamps can not reach the depth of penetration and the overall production of the lights.

Metal halide work through a gas mixture of halides and other elements. The current production comes from light the small gas bubble which is held in place by metal wires and / or supports. The supply of electricity between them and the small bubble of gas, heat, similar to an incandescent filament. This is one reason why the metal halide bulbs emit more heat than other bulbs.

The downside is the heat produced by lights MH, often resulting in the need for fans and even hood chillers. Two sizes are more often used the 10,000 K 175 watt and 20,000 K 250 watts for deep tanks (over 30 ")

* LED: The new reef compatible LED is likely to have on the market as they become more available, the price is reduced and watts per lumen come up. These lights do not have heat problems and are very compact. LED lights may be more appropriate for aquatic life tank lighting and reef tanks because they offer superior flexibility when compared to traditional fluorescent lamps. When LED lights operate, the photometric radiation remains in a narrow band in the electromagnetic spectrum. Photometric specific wavelengths are often beneficial to some plant species aquatic and reef tanks. Control of specific wavelengths is made possible through a core network of colored LED lights connected to a controller digital LED. Since LEDs emit light only in a very specific direction, the installer has the option of illuminating an area determined by a simple rotation of the polycarbonate tube casing. The housing also waterproof LED circuit provides adequate protection against moisture and chemicals found in fish tank or reef tank.

So far, there are conflicting views on the larger units, such as Solaris that replace the MH. The manufacturer claims Solaris "PAR light output levels equal to a 400W MH 20k. It uses 40% less energy than the 400W MH 20k replacing parties. The life of LEDs is approximately 50,000 hours, so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements. All heat is radiated up and away from the tank, therefore, does not heat the water as metal halide or fluorescent. This eliminates the need for Chillers. "Yet data shows 20 lumens per watt MH lamps provide about 50 lumens per watt of output.

For more information about aquarium lighting, Pease see this URL from which this short article: "Aquarium Lighting and how it works"

About the Author:

By Carl Strohmeyer

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Aquarium Bulb (lighting) Types