lights??? HELP!!!

[tallchik77]

I currently have a 55 gal freshwater community set up. i have a couple of live plants but most have died so i was thinking about not using them any more. then i had this brilliant idea....what if its my lights!?!?!?! i have glass lids with 2 of the basic hoodlights that you can buy at the lfs and come with standard bulbs. i have no idea what they are or what wattage. so, what do you guys use for your lights? are LED lights good? i just found some red bulbs that are supposed to help with plant growth aswell. I still want a nice bright tank to see all my fishies with. any and all advice welcome! thank you!!!

 

[neilanh]

It really depends on how serious you want to get with growing plants as to how much light you need.

Also, for the plants that died, it's extremely common for pet stores to sell "aquatic plants" that aren't trully aquatic and have no chance at surviving in a tank anyway.

 

[DragonFish71]

Standard bulbs as in screw in or fluorescent?

For my regular light hoods I just go to Walmart, Ace, Lowes, Home Depot (where ever I'm closest to when I remember I need bulbs) and get the 6500k daylight bulbs. The wattage is good enough for low-mid light plants.