Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,

I was miandering through Lowe['s today checking out some stuff for more frogs. I got 5 big broms with tons of pups for $3 each and was looking in the bulbs and I was those coil bulbs. I noticed it said compact fluorescent on the package and wondered if these are about the same as the normal fluorescnets? I kind of doubt it because these bulbs were 3 for $15 and others about like $60 fixtures and $40 bulbs. thanks for all who reply.
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P. sauvagei
derekb15.tripod.com/tropicaltreasures
4.2 P. sauvagei
3.2.7 P. hypochondrialis
2.0 P. vaillanti
0.0.3 P. aurotaenia
2.2 B. orientalis
0.0.10 S. pustulosa
0.0.3 B. americanus
1.0 T. horsefieldi

I have seen those as well. I don't know all the technical data on them, but I understand that most of them use some sort of magnetic ballast and are intended to put out about the same amount of light as a similar-sized incandescent at 1/3 the wattage. In my experience, the amount of light these put out is not as great as CF bulbs which are straight and use the 2-4 pin arrangement.

That is just my single experience with these. I really don't know anything else about them, other than the fact that the base tends to be rather bulky, as it contains a ballast.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

>>Hey guys,
>>
>> I was miandering through Lowe['s today checking out some stuff for more frogs. I got 5 big broms with tons of pups for $3 each and was looking in the bulbs and I was those coil bulbs. I noticed it said compact fluorescent on the package and wondered if these are about the same as the normal fluorescnets? I kind of doubt it because these bulbs were 3 for $15 and others about like $60 fixtures and $40 bulbs. thanks for all who reply.

This type of bulb is meant to replace a regular bulb in a regular socket. They are the same technology as the long compact fluorescents, just that the ballast is built in, and the light casing is twisted to fit in a normal socket. The problem with them isn't that they don't put out enough light, but that most of them don't put out light in the spectrum that plants need. You want to get a bulb with around 5600K spectrum, which is the spectrum of sunlight. Note that that doesn't mean 5600 lumens. Lumens are only a measure of the bulb's brightness. There ARE coil lights that are meant for plant bulbs, but they're a bit hard to find. If you can find them, you could probably use them in one of those reptile hoods sold by ESU or Zoo Med.

"This type of bulb is meant to replace a regular bulb in a regular socket. They are the same technology as the long compact fluorescents, just that the ballast is built in, and the light casing is twisted to fit in a normal socket. The problem with them isn't that they don't put out enough light, but that most of them don't put out light in the spectrum that plants need."

Check out Tom Popovich's post regarding CF ballasts below. My experience has been that for the same wattage, these twisted bulbs don't put out as many lumens as your standard CF's. I was really disappointed with the light output in my standard light fixtures (I bought one of the Sylvania brand bulbs--coincidentally the same brand as the CF bulbs in my terrarium fixture).

I personally am using three 40 watt CF's in my 24" x 24" x 18" tank. The bulbs that came with the fixture are 3000K. I have NO problem growing everything under the sun in this terrarium. My broms pup like mad, show LOTS of red, and I have tremendous growth on my other plants. I do plan on replacing them with 5000k bulbs when they burn out, but I wouldn't do so if the price difference was substantial. I'm starting to think that spectrum is not as important as intensity of light.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

I also have a CF fixture over my 29 gallon. It came with a 50/50 10,000K/blue bulb. So far the bulb seems to be doing OK for the plants, even though it's not the 'correct' bulb for them. It makes my azureus look really, really blue, though. Like you, I'll be switching the bulb to a 5000K when it burns out. I've checked around, and www.ahsupply.com seems to have the best price on this type of bulb.

As for the coil lights, I've generally had success with them as regular light bulb fixtures. You have to remember though that the coil lights generally run about 15-30 true watts (they are usually compared to standard 60-100 watt bulbs on the package), while straight CF bulbs are 55-65 true watts, so of course they will be brighter. I've recently won the bidding on a bunch of (comparative) 120w 5000K coil lights from ebay, which I plan on using in an ESU Tri-Light fixture for my next tank. I'll let everyone know how it turns out!

I disagree with the majority . . . the right screw-in CF bulb will work. http://www.bulbs.com has 5000K CF screw-ins. I use these to grow bonsai and small plants in dark parts of my apartment. The put out a strong white/blue spectrum and work great. At $5 per bulbs, it can't be beat. Im going to be ordering two more for my new tank. Good luck