Recommendations for a 48" bulb?

[niks93gt]

I'm heading to petsmart tomorrow to get a bulb for my new 75 gallon aquarium I set up today. It has a 48" light strip. The bulb that came with it was only 45 watts 8O and I already managed to break it Suggestions? I don't want to have to use co2 and the tank will be lightly planted with Amazon Swords and Hornwort.

Nik

 

[kaz]

is this a workshop light strip? t12? if your running plants it needs to be over 5000k up to 12000k plants like blue spec.

 

[JDogg]

I'm heading to petsmart tomorrow to get a bulb for my new 75 gallon aquarium I set up today. It has a 48" light strip. The bulb that came with it was only 45 watts 8O and I already managed to break it Suggestions? I don't want to have to use co2 and the tank will be lightly planted with Amazon Swords and Hornwort.

you are going to need more light then 1 45 watt bulb over a 75 gallon, more like 3 or 4 of those 45 watt bulbs if you want to grow swords...

kaz is right though about looking for bulbs with a spectrum (Kelvin Temp) heavy in blue and red light (easy way to do this is look for "Day light" bulbs" that have a K temp of 6500)

 

[rkilling1]

It would be wise to pickup bulbs at home depot vs petsmart. You will save a lot of money that way.

And what type of bulb is 45 watts? maybe 40?

 

[JDogg]

It would be wise to pickup bulbs at home depot vs petsmart. You will save a lot of money that way.

And what type of bulb is 45 watts? maybe 40?

that struck me as odd as well but i just rolled with it Mostly because i could not remember off the top of my head the wattage of a 48" T12) do they even sell t12s at Petsmart :? (they do not at any i visit)

 

[rkilling1]

It would be wise to pickup bulbs at home depot vs petsmart. You will save a lot of money that way.

And what type of bulb is 45 watts? maybe 40?

that struck me as odd as well but i just rolled with it Mostly because i could not remember off the top of my head the wattage of a 48" T12) do they even sell t12s at Petsmart :? (they do not at any i visit)

They sell hagen T-10's that are 40 watts for the 48" ones.

 

[niks93gt]

I stand corrected... it is a T-10 40 watt. I'll go look at home depot for a 6500k bulb. Thanks guys.

Nik

 

[malkore]

just get a 'daylight' bulb at home depot. none of their bulbs will list K temps or have a CRI chart to show you where the spectrum peaks are.

daylight will be close to 6000K. do NOT get a 'soft white' bulb...it'll be sickly yellow in your tank.

40watts on a 75gallon will keep java ferns alive...that's about it.

 

[kaz]

what can I grow with a t12, 4 bulbs of 40w at spectrum of 5000 to 6500? this would make my 75g 2.133wpg

 

[rkilling1]

just get a 'daylight' bulb at home depot. none of their bulbs will list K temps or have a CRI chart to show you where the spectrum peaks are.

daylight will be close to 6000K. do NOT get a 'soft white' bulb...it'll be sickly yellow in your tank.

40watts on a 75gallon will keep java ferns alive...that's about it.

All the philips T-8's list the K rating right underneath the color name. The philips DAYLIGHT DELUXE bulbs are the ones that are 6500K.

 

[niks93gt]

I picked up a t12 6500k bulb. I know this is pretty low lighting, but as long as the swords stay alive, I'll be happy . I don't want them much bigger than they are right now. If I see they are starting to die, I'll upgrade to a second light strip...

 

[JDogg]

I picked up a t12 6500k bulb. I know this is pretty low lighting, but as long as the swords stay alive, I'll be happy . I don't want them much bigger than they are right now. If I see they are starting to die, I'll upgrade to a second light strip...

one 48" T-12 bulb?

 

[niks93gt]

Yeah...

 

[JDogg]

Yeah...

i do not think that will be enough to keep your swords alive

 

[niks93gt]

So investing in a second light strip is needed?

 

[jsoong]

I'd say you need at least 2 40W's to just keep things alive. I was barely keeping low light plants alive at that level (and they started dying after 4-6 months when the bulbs started to get dimmer with age). Now that I have 4x32W T8's the plants are happier, and even at that level, it is still consider low light.

 

[JDogg]

So investing in a second light strip is needed?

i would not try to grow swords with out AT LEAST 3 T12 bulbs over the tank that will give you just over 2 wpg... high enough for the swords IMO but not high enough to need a lot of ferts and CO2

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Correct, Perhaps a 2x65W CF fixture would suit your needs better?.. I found fitting 3-4 bulbs over a 75G to be cumbersome at best.

 

[niks93gt]

I'm going to see how two 40w T12s work dosing with dry ferts. If the swords don't stay alive, I'll probably just go with lower light plants... I don't want the tank to look overly bright... I have been considering using floating plants.

Nik

 

[JDogg]

I'm going to see how two 40w T12s work dosing with dry ferts. If the swords don't stay alive, I'll probably just go with lower light plants... I don't want the tank to look overly bright... I have been considering using floating plants.

Nik

well good luck... if/when the swords start to die off send me a pm and i will take them off your hands for the price of shipping, no need to let good plants go to waste