Bulbs and... yeah... just help plz :D

[Jerm]

Yawn.. i'm tired.. o yeah... 5500K vs 6500K vs 10000K, what do you reccomend over a 29 gal? :help: :soda: :help:

and furthermore, on second thought, its a 55 watt kit thingy from www.ahsupply.com, and have no idea what the difference is. (even after reading about it, i'm just tired and can't think about anything but what the back of my eyelids look like)
:duh: c: :duh: c: :duh: Hammer Time!!!

 

[phanmc]

5500k - white light with a yellowish tint but not as yellow as lamp lights
6700k - daylight, white light with less of a yellow tint
10000k - very white light with no yellow tint, sterile white

Which to choose? whatever you prefer. Some people don't like the yellow tint of the 5500k lights and others don't like the stark whiteness of the 10,000k lights. Most people choose 6700k because it closely resembles natural noon daylight.

 

[Jerm]

and the plants do not care either way?

 

[phanmc]

Plants supposedly prefer lights that provides more red. Realistically, they do fine in all of the above with no real noticeable gain by using one or the other.

 

[Dwarfnut]

I would recommend the 6,700K for live plants, mine to better with those. All things being equal, I like the look better as well.

Go with the 6,700K, you won't be sorry!

 

[ashdavid]

If you are going for the most natural light I suggest you use the 5500k bulbs, these bulbs are the most balanced in terms of light wavelengths. When you start using 6500k ect, you will find that the wavelenght is strongly skewed towards the blue end of the spectrum, 10,000k bulbs are even worse. Sure they will produce reasonable growth but Imo and Ime 5500k is the better bulb.

Just for general information, typicaly the sun in the tropics has a kelvin rating of 800k at dawn 5500k in the middle of the day, on a cloudy day that kelvin rating will range from 6500k to 7500k.

 

[blackthorne]

Im having a hard time finding 5500k compact fluorescent bulbs. Does anyone know of any good websites that sell these?

 

[Jerm]

www.hellolights.com

 

[blackthorne]

checked that one and didnt find any compact flourescents under 6700k.

 

[djlen]

blackthorne -
There is a reason why you will find fewer bulbs available below 6500K. The reason is because most people opt for 65-6700K CF. They grow plants as well as any and they look the most like natural sunlight to the human eye.

EDIT: BTW, although I have always recommended AH Supply for light sets, I have found that Hello Lights tubes last longer than those supplied by AH. At least in my experience.
If I was in the market for lighting right now, I would get the hardware from AH and the tubes form Hello.

Len