Lighting, some good bulbs? and some other questions

E

ErrorS

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Dec 29, 2006
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In my 55G freshwater I have two 5500k CFs and two Trichromatic 40W NO bulbs. The aquarium looks decent but it's a bit on the red side.

I switched out the CFs with 10ks and the aquarium water looked cloudy, so I put the 5500Ks back in.

Should I find some decent 6500Ks for the CFs? and maybe replace the Trichromatics? (http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...023693&bmUID=1166909761263&itemNo=3&N=2030067)

I'm not sure I like the Trichromatics. At 6500K and 94CRI I would expect more of a yellow.. but they were closer in color to my 10K bulbs.

and is this enough lighting for most plants? I have a million ballasts around the house and just as many flourescent bulbs of all types. Should I throw something together of another type? Maybe use four CFs instead (I worry about the heat, it's just a double bulb hood) ?

mostly though, I'm wondering about an exact product.. what bulbs do you use for NO flourescents and CFs? What's a decent combination?

Priorities are for my plants first and the look of the aquarium second..

growth isn't so great in the aquarium and I have plenty of nutrients in the soil, perfect water parameters, etc.

edit: after giving it some thought, I'm not sure but I think when I switched my sand for flourite I also went to Trichromatic bulbs.. i always blamed the switch for my plants dying out, I wonder if it was the bulbs? This was a couple of years ago so I'm not sure on timing.

Went ahead and switched them with "Phillips Cool White" for the time being, which seem to be more on the yellow side.

edit2: I forgot how big the forums on this site were. I'm finding the answers to most of my questions going back a few pages..
 
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Plants do best in light closest to daylight, but the appearance is not always appealing to the tank owner. For one of my tanks, I mix the type fluorescent tubes to get close to the correct spectrum, but one that produces results that appeal to me visually (i.e, combining a Power-Glo with a Life-Glo). As for the amount of light, start with up to 2 watts per gallon for low light plants and work up from there for medium or high light requirements, depending on the plants you have. Flourite should have improved the growth of your plants. There is a Kelvin scale at the link sto help you decide.

http://www.axis.com/edu/colortemp/temp_scale.htm

http://www.axis.com/edu/colortemp/temp_scale.htm
 
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well, i was at Lowes today and saw these "GE Sunshine" T8s (5000K), went ahead and picked upa two pack. The tank definitely looks better.

They also had some higher in the kelvin range (6500K) but with a CRI of only 78, less light output, etc. I thought it would be as bad as any of the bluer lights I already have.

Mgamer, what are the specs for the bulbs you bought?
 
ErrorS said:
well, i was at Lowes today and saw these "GE Sunshine" T8s (5000K), went ahead and picked upa two pack. The tank definitely looks better.

They also had some higher in the kelvin range (6500K) but with a CRI of only 78, less light output, etc. I thought it would be as bad as any of the bluer lights I already have.

Mgamer, what are the specs for the bulbs you bought?
Click to expand...


I have a mixture of 10000K and 6500K T5 HO 54w bulbs on my tank and I love it. The ~5000-6500K range is too yellow IMO and the 10000K bulbs are a little too "crisp".

As long as you have bulbs within the 5000K to 10000K range, you'll be OK...the best bulbs are, like what everyone else has said, the ones that look best to your eye.
 
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