Re: good source for UV tubes?

one thing that you might try is ebay. There are a lot of ebay
storefronts for lights. One thing that might help is doing a search for
'reef bulb' or something of the sort, because saltwater reef fishkeepers
use these bulbs.

One thing that I'm interested in knowing is if the 18K Kelvin reef bulbs
might be a better light source than the standard BL bulb. You can get
18K VHO bulbs which might make a more econmical light source than the NO
bulbs. Additionally, you could put together a 400W 20K Metal halide
light source for a lot cheaper (about $200 w/ bulb) than a Normal Output
(NO) flourcent rig. I'm suspecting that a 20K metal halide 400W would
print much faster than a NO florescent bulb array for cheaper, however
you would need to adjust for the metal halide warmup time either by
keeping the light running or using a intergater.

Additionally, it's worth picking up the more expensive electronic
ballasts no matter what the bulb (the most prominant electronic ballast
manufacturer is IceCap). Articles I've read confirm the manfacturers
claims that bulbs ran off of electronic ballasts are more efficient and
produce more light. One study I read indicated that the IceCap ballased
175W metal halide put out LUX equiv. to a 250W MH on a tar ballast.

Anyone have thougts/experiences w/ the higher K metal halides w/
platinum?

thanks

kevin

>>> wrleigh@att.net 01/12/04 01:03PM >>>
topbulb.com

--
Bill Leigh
wrleigh@att.net
> I'm in the process of building a fluorescent tube UV exposure unit,
and
> would appreciate some leads to a good source for BL (blacklight)
tubes.
> If anyone has found a relatively cheap source, where I don't have to
buy
> 30 at a time, please let me know!
> 
> Jack Reisland
>