Best Plant bulb!

[Oceangirl]

I have the Perfecto full flourescent hood. I use a 24 inch bulb I guess, so what to buy?
This is the list Dr. foster spits out for me, for planted tank.
Aqua-Glo
18,000°K (21158)
Life-Glo 2
6,700°K (21162)
Power-Glo
6,500°K (128218)
Tropic Sun
5,500°K (261215)
Ultra Sun
6,500°K (261371)
Flora Sun
5,000°K (261267)
Coralife High Intensity
10,000°K (924301)
Colormax
350-750nm (74820)

Aqueon Floramax
5,500°K (75413)



This for a Community tank?:
Aqua-Glo
18,000°K (21158)
Life-Glo 2
6,700°K (21162)
Aqueon Full Spectrum
8,000°K (21043)
Tropic Sun
5,500°K (261215)
Ultra Sun
6,500°K (261371)
Coral Sun
Actinic 420nm (261423)
(African Cichlid)
Coralife 50/50
6,000°K/Actinic 03 Blue (922533)
Colormax
350-750nm (74820)


I'm thinking FloraSun? I am growing
1 amazon sword
1 bunch water wisteria
1 small golf ball java moss
3 small saggratia?
SOO many baby java fern its a joke
I want to add water sprite and some anacharis

 

[Rivercats]

Choosing a light in the 6500K-6700K will be best IMO. The lower the K rating the dimmer the light will be to the human eye. Bulbs in the 6000K - 6700K is close to noon day sun overhead and generally has good peaks in red and blue which is what plants utilize best. I don't use those type bulbs but it looks like you have 3 choices in that color range. One thing you could do is see if any of those bulbs have customer reviews and see what others have to say about them.

 

[mohican]

+1 with Rivercats.

 

[Fresh2o]

Just a little feedback on the Flora Sun 24" bulb. I also have a single T8 hood and replaced the stock Aqueon 8000k with a Flora Sun 5000k. First off, the Flora Sun is much dimmer and casts a pinkish hue to the tank. My Blue Danios looked more pink or flesh tone than blue. I gave it a few days but could not look at the tank anymore! Yeah, I have a spare hood with an 18-20" daylight that I could have added but I really did not want a second fixture on top (and having to lift it up for feeding and maintenance).
So I put the original bulb back and it looks much better. Not sure how much this will affect the plants (java moss, banana plants, cabomba).
But this is only my experience with this product. A Google search for user reviews may provide more info.

 

[aqua_chem]

As long as you avoid anything with actinics and don't run low kelven bulbs (ie 5000K and lower) or colormax bulbs by themselves, it really doesn't matter. It ultimately comes down to a matter of taste.


Here's a thread to consider.