Anyone have any idea what kind of light exactly is in this set up? (maybe stupid ques

[brittanykluss]

tion).

I got this set up at petsmart
Top Fin® 20 Gallon Aquarium Hood Combo - Aquariums - Fish - PetSmart

I know its a fluorescent light but any idea what the wattage is or does it even matter?

I want to get some plants but I dont know how good of a light this is

 

[zparticle]

Take a look at the bulb it should tell you what you want to know.

 

[brittanykluss]

HA! What an idea! Har har har. 24" Fluorescent Aquarium Reflector. 120 volt, 19 watt, 60 hz.

 

[jcolon]

Does the bulb tell you the K value and if it's a T8?
Stock lighting is usually next to useless for plants with the possible exception of VERY low light plants. Even then ... stock bulbs don't may not be in the ideal temperature range of 5000K - 6500K. If the lumens is in that range and the bulb (assuming one bulb) is a 19 watt T8 then you'll have a wpg less then 1.0 and only suitable for VERY low light plants ... see the link below for possible choices. If 19 watts is the capacity of the fixture, then you're basically limited to low light plants .... you'd have to upgrade the fixture if you want brighter bulbs to support higher light plants.

PlantGeek.net - Plant Guide

 

[brittanykluss]

It doesnt say but where can I get a better light for it? When I look at petsmart or petco for lights the wattage isnt very high. Should I be looking for whatever the K is?

 

[jeffp]

on the light bulb itself you should see something like F##T##, like F18T8 or something similar. that will tell you what kind of bulb it is

 

[librarygirl]

I have the same fixture; I think it's a T8. Probably not very good for plants at all. You can try changing out the bulbs but you're limited to T8's and they don't seem to have a very good range. You could try some very low light plants and see how they do (I was going to do the same but then gave up; figure at some point I'll upgrade the lighting and try plants then). Otherwise you're best bet is to upgrade to T5, but you'll need a whole new fixture as the T5 bulbs can't go in T8 sockets.

 

[-Mac-]

It's a T8 8000K bulb. As you wish to plant, it'll behoove you to upgrade to a T5 dual fixture, that'll give you medium light, give or take, at the substrate.

I have the same tank and I use something like this fixture, running 6700K & 10,000K bulbs 10 hours a day with 2ml of excel at lights on each day.