Lighting for 75 gal: 3 fluorescent tubes?

[YuccaPatrol]

Being the cheapskate that I am, I bought a nice looking inexpensive stainless steel 48" shoplight that will work very nicely (seems much better constructed than the made for aquarium light fixture that I already have.

so now I have 2 fixtures, with a total of 3 tubes.

The first one has a Hagen Aqua-Glo bulb.

I also bought 2 GE Ecolux Plant and Aquarium bulbs, but I think they are going to be returned because they seem to give off a very green color.

Sure they make plants look great, and they are labeled as "specifically designed to promote growth and flowring of plants and aquatic vegetation", but I looked up their color temperature and it is 3100K.

Are these acceptable bulbs for growing low light plants such as the java fern and anubias that are doing very well with just the single Hagen Aqua-glo? I know the aqua-glow tube is rated at a much higher color temperature.

I do think the aquarium looks good right now, but it seems a lot greener than it ever was. I don't know if that is just because I have so much more light now or if I made a bad choice with the bulbs. I am not looking to grow plants with high light requirements, only java fern and anubias.

Thanks!

 

[BlazerFRS]

Color temp is not the end all be all in plant growth IMHO. They'll def benefit from the light, just not quite as much as if both bulbs were 6700-10000K types.

If you were doing well with the one bulb, you don't really need more light, so if you like the color of those don't feel bad about keeping them.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Blazer is correct. From what I've read on various sites, the eco-lux are one of the best bulbs out there for aquariums. Despite thier colour temperature (which tells you the colour to expect), they are high in blues and reds, the 2 that are needed by plants. if you aren't happy with the colour then you could try Philips daylight deluxe or natural sunshine, both are good from plants AFAIK. (I use Daylights in mine.)

Also. consider starting with Co2 (DIY is fine). I found mine would suffer algae blooms with 2x powerglo's and 1x flora bulb.

And you'll be almost pushing 2WPG if the fixtures are T8 bulbs.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Could do a combination of colors also. In my 260W CF, I have 2 6500k bulbs and 2 12000k bulbs. So you have a lot if ideas to bounce around in your head til you find exactly what you like.

 

[travis simonson]

Anything from 5000-10000K works the best, and that encompasses a lot of lights. You can even go down to 3000K or up to 12000K and get good results. Pick what you like the looks of, as has been stated. Plants are extremely adaptable and will take what you give them