light bulbs

[Damian]

What are the best ho t5 bulbs for growing plants.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Giesemann midday as primary. In some cases, Giesemann aquaflora as supplemental, especially for red plants if you want colors to pop.

 

[Damian]

Anything that I can buy at my lfs.

 

[aqua_chem]

That really depends on what your lfs keep in stock.

 

[Damian]

They have the typical flora Sun, ultra Sun, ocean Sun, coralife.

 

[aqua_chem]

Any of those bulbs will work about equally well. The which bulbs you use should be based mostly on what coloration you find pleasing.

 

[Damian]

I'm looking for the natural day time look.

 

[20cc]

i use GE starcoats 6500k ..cheap and have the one of the best PAR

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Damian...

If your plants aren't needing strong to bright light, then a couple of lamps in the 6500 to 10000K range will work. A fixture that will hold a couple of 28 watt, T5 lamps should work well. This is a set up I use. Add to this lighting, frequent, large water changes and feed your fish a varied diet and you'll have a nicely planted tank in a couple of months.

B

 

[aqua_chem]

i use GE starcoats 6500k ..cheap and have the one of the best PAR

Where did you see Starcoat par measurements?

 

[Jkeating8]

Where did you see Starcoat par measurements?

I heard the same thing but couldn't find PAR on them?

 

[aqua_chem]

I heard the same thing but couldn't find PAR on them?

That's my point. Things get repeated ad nauseam until people take it as fact. There's not a whole lot of PAR data available that's properly controlled, ie, Fixture A with bulb B gets compared to Fixture C with Bulb D. You end up not knowing if your PAR is what it is because of the bulb or the reflector/ballast. As such, like 90% of the PAR data available for T5HO is crappy data.


Fortunately you don't get that with LEDs.

 

[Jkeating8]

That's my point. Things get repeated ad nauseam until people take it as fact. There's not a whole lot of PAR data available that's properly controlled, ie, Fixture A with bulb B gets compared to Fixture C with Bulb D. You end up not knowing if your PAR is what it is because of the bulb or the reflector/ballast. As such, like 90% of the PAR data available for T5HO is crappy data.

Fortunately you don't get that with LEDs.

It's quite annoying, actually.

 

[Damian]

Is there a high output light fixture with 3 bulbs.

 

[aqua_chem]

Catalina does.



http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=71_136&products_id=1638

 

[20cc]

That's my point. Things get repeated ad nauseam until people take it as fact. There's not a whole lot of PAR data available that's properly controlled, ie, Fixture A with bulb B gets compared to Fixture C with Bulb D. You end up not knowing if your PAR is what it is because of the bulb or the reflector/ballast. As such, like 90% of the PAR data available for T5HO is crappy data.


Fortunately you don't get that with LEDs.

the bubbles from my hairgrass pearling told me

 

[aqua_chem]

You can't say something has the best par without an actual par reading. There's no basis for it. All you can really say is that it worked great for you.

 

[20cc]

You can't say something has the best par without an actual par reading. There's no basis for it. All you can really say is that it worked great for you.

you are right..i retract that statement. they are very good bulbs if your short on cash and grow plants very well