Home depot bulb or lfs bulb?

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M00n3at3r

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So this is kind of a science-y question. What's the difference between the t8 bulbs from home Depot that are 2 for $8 and the bulbs at the LFS that are like $20? I mean since I can buy bulbs that are 5k kelvin for cheaper, wouldn't it make sense to always get those? I have a planted 75 and 30. I haven't ever run the LFS bulbs in either because when I bought the 75 the bulbs in there were old and when we were kids with our old 75 we bought the home Depot bulbs, the only difference was it wasn't planted. With the 30 I just set it up and I'm sure the bulb is old as I got it from a friend who had the tank for a while before passing away. I'm just trying to figure this one out with ya'lls help. Thanks!!!!!
 

JAY973

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I've used HD / Walmart T8 / T12 bulbs and overdriven them and grew swords and less demanding plants without any problems in the cheap Lowes 4 foot shop fixtures over a 55g tanks and 2 over my 120g once upon a time. Then again I've experiment with all types of lights spending a small fortune T12, T8, PCs, T5HO, as my interest in more demanding plants changed so did my lighting. I'll be venturing into LED's sooner or later so the burning money continues...LOL
 

ZorroNet

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It's not where you buy the bulb, it's how you use it! Color temperature is a factor, but only slightly. Most planted tanks have been reported to do better with bulbs that are 6500K (cool white or sometimes "daylight"), but I have grown aquatic plants with 3200K (warm white) CFLs and RGB LEDs which I ran at all different colors just to see what would happen. The result... Plants need light. Give them enough and they will not die (due to lack of light). If the bulb fits, use it!

Depending on the lighting demands of your plants, you may need more or less light (rarely less), so just crank em up and see how everything is doing. If you have a massive algae bloom, you may need less duration and or intensity. If your plants don't thrive and grow, you probably need more light. This is very general speak here, but it will get you started and help you not waste money. Good luck!




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M00n3at3r

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It's not where you buy the bulb, it's how you use it! Color temperature is a factor, but only slightly. Most planted tanks have been reported to do better with bulbs that are 6500K (cool white or sometimes "daylight"), but I have grown aquatic plants with 3200K (warm white) CFLs and RGB LEDs which I ran at all different colors just to see what would happen. The result... Plants need light. Give them enough and they will not die (due to lack of light). If the bulb fits, use it!

Depending on the lighting demands of your plants, you may need more or less light (rarely less), so just crank em up and see how everything is doing. If you have a massive algae bloom, you may need less duration and or intensity. If your plants don't thrive and grow, you probably need more light. This is very general speak here, but it will get you started and help you not waste money. Good luck!




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Funny you should mention algae bloom, because I am facing that issue in my 75. That's not really why I asked, but I will gladly jump off of that. I have just been told by different people that the expensive bulbs have a wider spectrum, even though most are labeled like 6500k cool white, which is exactly what the home depot ones are labeled as. In my 75g, I have a 40 watt hood, running two 32 watt 5000k bulbs as well as a 20 watt hood over half of the tank because it was a spare. I have 10 small amazon swords, 1 larger one, and a few java ferns on some rocks. The large sword is always throwing out new leafs, the others however hardly have time to put out a new one before algae over takes it. Part of the reason the swords may be small is because I don't use root ferts, but somehow the big one is always growing more leaves. Feeding them is fairly simple, I have a reverse ug filter system running so I can blow ferts under there for them, the root tabs are just kinda expensive though, 8 tabs for $10 to 10 tabs for $10, so I haven't been using them. This was my first planted tank so it's completely a learning experience. I think what I may do eventually is go to home depot and get a 4 bulb t8 "shop light" and use that. Right now, with just the hood I have, I'm getting about .85 wpg, which most likely is part of my algae issues. If I get the 4 bulb it will put me at 1.7 which is better obviously. In my 29g, I put a layer of flourish and then a layer of top gravel. I pulled one of the smaller swords, put it in there, picked up some wysteria, and am going to be bringing home some java ferns from my 10g at work that has a plant that is always growing baby ones. I will also be adding dwarf hair grass once all the rest of the plants are in. I want to make sure I have adequate lighting for them as right now the bulb in there is old and I'm averaging .67 wpg. It's only a 1 bulb hood though so I am constrained to whatever fits in there.
 

FreshyFresh

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Agreed. If you can find "daylight" lamps anywhere from ~5000-10000K at a home/hardware store for a great price, that fits your needs, by all means get those.

It is said that fluorescents don't hold their color/temp rating for long anyway. Like Zorronet said above, it's all about the PAR/PUR that the lamps put out.

Algae is a sign that you don't have your lighting and carbon source balanced out.
 

M00n3at3r

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Agreed. If you can find "daylight" lamps anywhere from ~5000-10000K at a home/hardware store for a great price, that fits your needs, by all means get those.

It is said that fluorescents don't hold their color/temp rating for long anyway. Like Zorronet said above, it's all about the PAR/PUR that the lamps put out.

Algae is a sign that you don't have your lighting and carbon source balanced out.
Well currently my lights are on for longer then previously, this is a recent change, because one of the guys at my LFS say maybe lengthening the photo period might help since my watts are lower, not really seeing any improvement though and I'm not running carbon at all. All my filters are completely biological. Does carbon help with algae?
 

FreshyFresh

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Carbon source as in a source of CO2 is what helps. As light goes up, so does the need for CO2, be it in true form, or liquid add like Seachem's Excel, API's liquid CO2 or your own glut product. I use metricide 14.
 

M00n3at3r

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Carbon source as in a source of CO2 is what helps. As light goes up, so does the need for CO2, be it in true form, or liquid add like Seachem's Excel, API's liquid CO2 or your own glut product. I use metricide 14.
Alright, I'll just just take a paintball gun and shoot a few shots into the water xD with CO2 do I really need to dose daily if I use the seachem?
 

ZorroNet

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Two things:

If I were guessing I'd say your small swords are competing with one another for nutrients at the root level. Is your big one where the extra fish food collects when it sinks? Extra fish food = nutrients for plants. It's not the best and most measurable way to do it, and overfeeding can cause other problems too, but it will impact the nutrient levels in the water and eventually the substrate if it's not all eaten. Amazon Swords are heavy root feeders and do best in iron rich substrates. I had a similar situation where the one opposite from the filter output grew like crazy and the one right beside it did poorly... flow of fish poo and extra food was definitely getting pushed toward the big one and passing by the small one.

Watch your pH... It determines how much CO2 is available in the water naturally. Adding CO2 will alter the pH the same as altering the pH will affect the available CO2 in the water. Rather than try and explain all of this myself, I will point you to this...

http://www.tropica.com/en/tropica-abc/basic-knowledge/co2-in-the-aquarium.aspx

In my experience, once you start messing with pH chemically, you are in a constant battle for equilibrium. I find that a natural solution makes for an easier time and long term solution than "quick fixes" requiring addition of chemicals.
 
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