Yet another lighting Question

[Meredith]

After reading the "Why do we measure still by WPG?" thread I went and took a closer look at my lights. I have 2 t5 bulbs each are 24 watts. I thought this was good enough for my planted tank, now I am not to sure. One of the bulbs is blue Simply labeled 24w B and the other is white with 12000K. Are these benefiting my plants at all? Should I perhaps change one or both of the bulbs to a different type of light?

 

[dskidmore]

White Daylight type bulbs should give the maximum benifit. I have also heard a terestrial plant grower say that a mix of "warm" and "cool" bulbs will give a similar spectrum to the more expensive plant bulbs.

If both your lights were blue, I'd change at least one out. Check the ends of the tubes, if they're darkened at all, it's time to change them out for new ones anyway.

 

[dskidmore]

P.S. In case someone else is as curious as myself:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=69242

 

[dskidmore]

P.P.S. That other thread was interesting especially the link to http://www.aquabotanic.com/lightcompare.htm

The cool white bulbs were statistically very close to the high end bulbs of the same wattage, warm white not far behind. I think I will not be as tempted to spring for the "good" bulbs next time.

 

[Codefox]

Well, if you have a planted tank and the lights are working don't just throw them away on account of my thread If it ain't broke don't fix it. I'm new to planted tanks and I was just trying to get some discussion going. Especially to help clear some of this stuff up in my own mind.

And yeah the links were very interesting to read.

 

[Meredith]

Well, the thing is I don't Know if my lights are doing a good job or not. The bulbs are brand new so I know they are working fine, and my plants are growing. I dunno. This is all so confusing. I am going to give co2 a try and see what happens.