help! need 15watt CF Bulb for Hex 5

[mmm_unit]

I recently bought a couple more plants for my hex 5 and also put in a piece of driftwood. Now I am worried that all of my plants won't be getting enough light.

I looked at my lightbulb which is made by Marine and it is a 10watt CF bulb. And the tank hood says it can only handle 15watts maximum so I want to upgrade to a 15watt bulb.

I tried looking but couldn't find anyone that made 15watt bulbs for the hex5

I am considering just going into a local hardware supply store and buying a 15watt CF bulb that fits.

My question is, will a regular bulb like the ones you use at home provide the right types of light spectrum for my planted aquarium?

And Is there anything else I should know about for my aquarium?

 

[clb2196]

My question is, will a regular bulb like the ones you use at home provide the right types of light spectrum for my planted aquarium?

Yes, assuming you mean a CFL- make sure it says either "Daylight" or 6500k on the box, NOT "woft white" or "bright white" I've gotten 2 packs at home depot and lowe's for very cheap, it's what I use in my 5 and my 10 gallons. And I grow plants in the 10 with no problem.

 

[mmm_unit]

thank you so much clb2196, that's exactly the answer I was looking for.

Now when you say CFL, you mean compact fluorescent light right? Is there a difference between CFL and CF ?

 

[vampie]

CFL, CF, same thing. Definitely go after Daylight if the kelvin isn't printed on the packaging/bulb.

I actually get mine from the 99 cents store these days.. for some reason, no matter what finish the packaging says (Soft White, Warm White, etc), the light actually seems to be between 5500k-6700k.

 

[DeeDeeK]

I use 5500K daylight and 6700K and they seem interchangeable. My friend just uses cool white and gets good results though I'd swear his plants grow more slowly than mine - which is cool since he doesn't like to mess with his tanks as much as I like to mess with mine.

10W should be fine, though. That gives you 2WPG. Not that 3WPG would be bad, just that it's not necessary unless you want very vigorous plant growth.

 

[red_wall]

It will work fine!
I have a 2.5 gallon with some fry and stuff in it, and everything is growing pretty good (13 watt CFL)

 

[THE V]

I use 5500K daylight and 6700K and they seem interchangeable. My friend just uses cool white and gets good results though I'd swear his plants grow more slowly than mine - which is cool since he doesn't like to mess with his tanks as much as I like to mess with mine.

Your not imagining things his plants do grow slower. Plants can use two different color of light during photosynthesis; blue and red. Blue light is higher energy than red light. Daylight bulbs produce more blue light than the soft white bulbs which gives the plants more energy. This makes them grow faster.

15 watt's is actually better for the plants. The watt per gallon guideline only works from about 10 gallon to 55 gallons. This is because plants only care about the quantity and quality of light available to them where they grow. This is a relationship between the ratio of area:depth:light intensity.

In general smaller tanks need higher Watt:Gallon ratio while larger tanks need much lower Watt:Gallon ratios.

 

[Dr. Awkward]

Try Target. I was there earlier this week and they had several CFL bulbs on sale for half price. These weren't the regular fat ones but more compact, which is great for my setup. I picked up two extremely small 25w daylight bulbs for less than $5. They had lower wattage bulbs too for the same price.

 

[DoN_WoN]

i bought just daylight CFL bulbs that said 60 watt equivalent and idk the real wattage but i use it on my 2.5 and 5 gallon incandescent hood

 

[mmm_unit]

I use 5500K daylight and 6700K and they seem interchangeable. My friend just uses cool white and gets good results though I'd swear his plants grow more slowly than mine - which is cool since he doesn't like to mess with his tanks as much as I like to mess with mine.

10W should be fine, though. That gives you 2WPG. Not that 3WPG would be bad, just that it's not necessary unless you want very vigorous plant growth.

very vigorous plant growth would be ideal for me :-D