Question
Me again.  Jeff you answered a question about the GE daylight bulbs for me on the subject of lumens.  One item I thought about today is how much of the tubes needs to be shinning on the plants to have the full lumens rating. My setup has about half the length of the lights above the plants. The rest hangs over the tank. The overhang does not shine back in because I have mylar around the sides.  Should I have a set up that allows the entire tube length to shine on the plants?
Thanks

Answer
Hi Jason,

This is actually fine.  Even if you had a bigger tank you probably wouldn't be able to utilize all of the light from the tubes unless you had plants along the entire length.  You do get a sharp decrease in intensity right at the ends.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com