Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have no idea what I'm doing w/these power compact things! I just bought a power compact fixture from a friend, He hasn't sent it to me yet, but here's a pic:

My question is: What do you guys mean when you say "use a 6500K bulb"? How does this relate to watts? Or does it? This fixture has room for 4 bulbs, it's 36" long. Can someone PLEASE just tell me the name and length of the bulbs I should buy? I wondered about a "moon light" effect - do I use two smaller bulbs for this? I really need some advice here. Sorry for the long post. Thanks for your help!

When people say 6500K that is the color of the light that is being produced. A yellowish light is around 5000k and as you go higher say 10,000k the light is more blue. I recommend a light temp color around 5000-6500k for dart frog tanks.

Hope this helps,

Benjamin Green
www.thechocohut.com

AH Supply is the company I get my lights from.

Benjamin Green
www.thechocohut.com
AH Supply

i wasnt able to see your pics but i do use power compacts on my frog tanks and my reef tanks. the wattage of the bulb is directly linked to the length. i use 18" bulbs and they are 55 watts each. the letter "k" refers to kelvins and that basically is the color of the bulb. ther eare several brand bulbs out there, you need to look at the end cap and see if you need a 4 pin in a line bulb or a 4 pin in a square pattern then you can worry about lenght. i would say that if you can get a 36" bulb(96 watts) to fit in your canopy then do it if not you can get i believe a 24 or 18".i would get a good mix of color temps(k) i use one 7100k which is blue and the others are 10000k white.go to www.marinedepot.com they have a section on power compacts in the lighting part and you can see all the bulbs available. then go to your local fish store. they can help you too.

thanks guys, that really helps! I'll visit the sites you mentioned