sunblaster t5ho

[Baos]

When I got back into aquariums a few years ago the first thing I did was bought a 10 gallon, added water, strong fertilizer, and created a hydroponics system for household plants. I used lighting designed for plants and hydroponics systems which is the same lighting I use today.

Now when looking to forums or other online references for aquarium lighting you usually find the watt/gallon ratio however these lights are promising more lumens per watt than any other light. 24W 2' light should produce 2,160 lumens. 90 lumens per watt. However I don't think I've ever found these lights rated side by side with other popular aquarium lighting.

Just wonder what our aquarium lighting experts on this forum think of these.

http://www.sunblasterlighting.com

A local store sells 2' for $30, 4' for $40(approximate prices) and will switch the default 6400K for a 10000K for a few dollars more.

As posted on box for 2'

Two 4' lights linked to each other and bolted to a reflector (usually on my 90 gallon)

Edited March 22, 2009 by Baos

[bottomdweller_fan]

I'm no expert but I use the Sunblasters and like how the plants grow - keeping in mind that I don't have high-tech plant systems (no CO2 or a fertilization schedule).

I have:

2 sunblaster 2' on my 21G shrimp/planted tank (this tank has shorter, higher light plants in it that still grow)

1 sunblaster 3' on my 33G brackish tank

4 sunblaster 4' on my 75G tetra tank

4 sunblaster 3' on my 108G coolwater tank

I like the fact that you can link up to 8 lights together, it means fewer things to plug into my power bars.

[werner]

The problem with measuring light in lumens is that it's all based on wavelengths which are the most sensitive to the human eye (peaking at 555 nm)- see the large spike in the output spectrum you posted? The bulbs are going to appear very bright to us, and the high lumen rating sounds impressive. This is why they advertise the bulbs as good for commercial warehouses, household lighting, etc.

However, the parts of the spectrum that are used for photosynthesis are in the red and blue wavelengths. If you're going for solely for plant growth, you will want to find a bulb with an output spectrum that looks more like the one shown here. Ever seen those pinkish-purple plant grow bulbs? They look pretty awful to us, but good for plants.

There's obviously a happy medium between bulbs that grow plants well, and those that look esthetically pleasing. Are the Sunblasters good/bad? Depends on your goals. Just be aware that the high lumen rating can be deceptive. (Don't get me started on Kelvin ratings, Watts per gallon, etc.