Discussion of Which Fluorescent Light is Best For Germination
I found the following tables at: http://www.frii.com/~booth/AquaticConcepts/Lights/
The second table appears to be in Lumens (light
intensity). For germination purposes it appears that the FS-40 "Sea-Lux"
would give the highest intensity of red light (356 Lumens); however it also
gives a lot of i-r light (71 Lumens) which is thought to inhibit
germination. So the FL-40 "Aquarilux" may be the best
choice. The FL-40 is also relatively low in blue light (221 Lumens) and
the literature suggested that blue light may inhibit the germination process see
http://home.neo.rr.com./kuska/redlighthints.htm
From the table it also appears that the use of a normal
cool white bulb with a red clear plastic filter would be an economical
alternative.
Manufacturer's Data for Penn Plax Aquarium Bulbs
Lumens (40 watt)
FL-40 "Aquarilux" 900
FS-40 "Sea-Lux" 1570
NL-40 "Natura-Lux" 2450
FT-40 "Tri-Lux" 2480
FUT-40 "Ultra Tri-Lux" 3350
I assume "cl wht" means normal cool white
Wavelengths cl wht
FL-40 FS-40 NL-40 FT-40 FUT-40
---------------------------------------------------------------------
u-v than 380 nm | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.5%
| 1.8% | 0.5% | 0.6% |
violet 380-430 nm | 7.6 |
8.6 | 11.2 | 9.8
| 3.1 | 4.1 |
blue 430-490 nm | 20.8 | 24.6 |
20.6 | 21.4 | 38.4 | 29.8 |
green 490-560 nm | 24.6 | 13.2 | 19.1
| 25.5 | 21.2 | 34.1 |
yellow 560-590 nm | 18.3 | 4.1 |
8.1 | 13.2 | 3.6
| 4.5 |
orange 590-630 nm | 17.7 | 7.9 | 12.3
| 12.6 | 23.5 | 20.1 |
red 630-700 nm | 8.5 |
36.7 | 22.7 | 11.7 |
7.3 | 5.0 |
i-r 700-800 nm | 0.8
| 3.2 | 4.5 |
4.0 | 2.4 |
1.8 |
Wavelengths cl wht
FL-40 FS-40 NL-40 FT-40 FUT-40
---------------------------------------------------------------------
u-v than 380 nm | 52
| 15 | 24
| 44 |
12 | 20 |
violet 380-430 nm | 232 |
77 | 176 | 240
| 77 | 137 |
blue 430-490 nm | 634 |
221 | 323 | 524 |
952 | 998 |
green 490-560 nm | 750 | 119 |
300 | 625 |
526 | 1142 |
yellow 560-590 nm | 558 | 37 |
127 | 323 |
89 | 151 |
orange 590-630 nm | 540 | 71 |
193 | 309 |
583 | 673 |
red 630-700 nm | 259
| 330 | 356 | 287
| 181 | 168 |
i-r 700-800 nm
| 24 | 29 |
71 | 98
| 60 | 60 |