I just brought some 13 watt indoor lights for my 10 gallon fish tank,and then I went to petco to get some fish and I have a planted Aquarium,but they guy said that the Spiral light bulbs for indoors dont have the type of light that Aquarium plants will take is this true?
Indoor spiral lights
- Thread starter rocktrns
- Start date
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Deep Seven
Aquarium Advice Addict
Unless your light says something about being full spectrum or a plant light, then the LFS is probably correct. Plants use specific colours of the light spectrum, and a regular household light doesn't have the right balance of colours.
Office Depot sells an 18w full spectrum spiral bulb. I would be suprised if your plants didn't like that one.
Edit: I removed the link to office depot sales website. Not sure but I think it broke forum rules on comercial links? DragonFish71 added an info link so I removed mine.
Office Depot sells an 18w full spectrum spiral bulb. I would be suprised if your plants didn't like that one.
Edit: I removed the link to office depot sales website. Not sure but I think it broke forum rules on comercial links? DragonFish71 added an info link so I removed mine.
DragonFish71
Great white snark
Go to Walmart, Ace, Lowes or Home Depot (because they will be cheaper), get the compact fluorescent spiral 6500k daylight bulbs. That's what I use on both my planted 10 gals, and the plants are loving it.
Here's what I use:
GE Daylight Energy Smart Spiral T3 Reviews, Specs, Ratings & Prices - Green Options Community
Here's what I use:
GE Daylight Energy Smart Spiral T3 Reviews, Specs, Ratings & Prices - Green Options Community
Look at the packaging on your lights; or if you've already thrown the packaging out, look at what is printed on the base of the light. You want to see what the K rating is on the bulb.
5500K - 10,000K is the range you are looking for. Most people peg the ideal rating as around 6500K but anything in the range is going to be fine for growing plants. Usually bulbs in this range are called "daylight" bulbs (or sometimes "sunlight" bulbs) but you can't trust a name alone, as different companies will use differing names for different K values; there is no common standard that they are all forced to comply with.
The ones to avoid are the "soft white" bulbs, as those usually have K ratings way down around 2700K or something like that, which definitely will NOT be helpful in growing plants.
I have three planted tanks that use 6500K spiral CF bulbs and plants grow great in all three of them.
5500K - 10,000K is the range you are looking for. Most people peg the ideal rating as around 6500K but anything in the range is going to be fine for growing plants. Usually bulbs in this range are called "daylight" bulbs (or sometimes "sunlight" bulbs) but you can't trust a name alone, as different companies will use differing names for different K values; there is no common standard that they are all forced to comply with.
The ones to avoid are the "soft white" bulbs, as those usually have K ratings way down around 2700K or something like that, which definitely will NOT be helpful in growing plants.
I have three planted tanks that use 6500K spiral CF bulbs and plants grow great in all three of them.
