T-5 10,000K bulbs for plants... good or bad?

D

Dwarfnut

AC Members
Nov 27, 2002
192
0
0
Colorado Springs, CO
Visit site
I was visiting a local fish store today and they have gotten in some pretty cool little T-5 fixtures complete with some 10,000K bulbs. I was thinking of using 3 of these over my 55 gallon with live plants, but want to make sure it will work ok. I could not find any info on spectrum or anything for them, but they are pretty cool!

If anyone has a suggestion or information on T-5 bulbs, I'd appreciate it!

Also, replacement bulbs are not too expensive, like about $15 and supposed to last over a year before needing replacement... anyone had experience with that?

Finally, there is a 6,700K bulb available, but again, no spectrum info available so I don't know if that would be better than the 10,000K ones... any ideas? Thanks again,

Bill C.
:cool:
 
You might find this site useful, the Krib is great. This discussion has info on using different K bulbs in planted tanks (and if you look carefully, you'll see a familiar face from AC ;)):
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/light-spectrum.html#6

http://www.specialty-lights.com/fluorescent.html
This is the first site that popped up when I Googled aquarium T5 fluorescent:
It mentions that they're very efficient, high output bulbs - sounds like a good choice to me.
10000K is quite 'blue', but may be just fine - I'm no expert, though. Judging from what I just read (see above Krib discussion) you may want to use the 10000K in conjunction with some low K bulbs for best results.
I'm using 9325K compacts on my 45g, the plants seem to like it. I put 5000K spiral compacts on my 10g yesterday, I'm going to see how the plants' health and growth compares between the tanks - I'm still learning a lot about light, and the way I learn best is by experimenting!.
 
The 10000k bulbs will work, they just arent the "ideal" spectrum. If it were me I would get 2 of the 67ook bulbs and one 10000k bulb....they will all work great for your plants, and the 10000k bulbs will make the tank not look yellow.
 
Thanks for the replies so far...

I did check out the web site for specialty lighting... can you believe the price for one of their fixtures??!! Talk about a rip-off!!

I was only able to find a spectrum for the 6,000 K bulbs, not the 10,000K. They had some blue 11,000K, but that's not the same thing...

I have done a lot of research on lighting over the past year or two and have come up with a lot of the same conclusions other here have with regards to spectrums and so forth, that's wht I'd like to know what the 10,000K has for spectrum. I have been using all types of other lighting but have always stuck to bulbs considered 'daylight' at 6,500K or thereabouts. These have always worked out ok, they just still seem a little 'yellow' to me. The plants seem to like it, but I'd really like to find a bulb that the plants and I both like!

That's a good suggestion Seaman... I guess I could just leave the 6,500 K T-8's in there and just add 2 of the 10,000K bulbs! That would be some serious light right! Anyway, thanks again for the info, guess I'll keep hunting for the the spectrum analysis for the 10,000K.

Bill C.
 
Seaman said:
The 10000k bulbs will work, they just arent the "ideal" spectrum. If it were me I would get 2 of the 67ook bulbs and one 10000k bulb....they will all work great for your plants, and the 10000k bulbs will make the tank not look yellow.
Click to expand...

This is what I have (three 24" NO T12 on a 20T), I think it's a good balance between looks and proper spectrum. I've looked at the tank with each spectrum alone, and I really like the bright white color when all the lights are on the best.
 
Blinky said:
...
I'm using 9325K compacts on my 45g, ....
Click to expand...
Where can I get these in 96 watts each??
:OT: Sorry...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom