Light bulbs????

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powermatt5000

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
28
Location
Speedway, Indiana
I'm just starting to introduce plants to my 55g. Is the bulb that came with my hood sufficient enough or do I need to change it?
 
What kind of bulb is it? What's the k rating? What plants are you adding?
 
55 G Lighting

Hello power...

Unless the bulb is a 48 inch, 6500 K, T8, 32 watt it's not the best for your plants. The bulbs that come with the tank are simply for viewing the tank and not for growing plants.

If your aim is to grow low light plants, then get a bulb with the above specifications. I use these in my 55 Gs and my plants do fine. Attached is a pic of one of them. It's different, but the fish and plants thrive.

B
 
I'm starting a 55g planted tank also. What type of incandescent light bulb could I use. I'm building a canopy for the tank now and would do a series of bulb. Any ideas?
 
If youlike check out my thread on DIY building a canopy and lights. Incandescent arent any good, but cfl might do the trick. (compact fluorecent lights) you can find them at most hardware stores.
 
Thanks Andersdeo, compact fluorescent lights would work also as I'm trying to stay away from tubes. Will check out your DIY
 
I'm no planted tank expert but I do have a saltwater tank with lots of corals. Plants grow best under a 6500-6700k spectrum. That is where photosynthesis is best. For a 55 gall (48" long) I would recommend a 2 bulb t5 Ho fixture. And use a combination of a full spectrum 6500k bulb and if you want a white hue try 10000k, pink ish hue uvl natural sun, blue hue uvl 420 actinic. Make sure the bulbs are individually reflected for maximum par. I would think this type of fixture would be plenty for any plant to grow if need be try a 4 bulb t5
 
Im sure that would work too, but since he is just starting and probable will approach low light requiering plants first, an easier cheaper setup might be in order. But by all means if you want a high tech tank cfl wont cut it.
 
I always go by why get something that you will have to replace down the road? Makes no sense. Get the best fixture you can within your budget.
 
I do agree with you on that, at least he has some options to move around within his budget. Specially if he said he wanted to stay away from tube lights.
 
No. The k value is what color spectrum the light is. It dose not produce more light. You physically need more bulbs to increase the par value of your fixture
 
55 G Lighting

Hello again power...

If you keep to low light plants, a 6500 K, T8, 32 watt bulb will be enough.

Any of the ferns, Anubias, varieties of Cryptocoryne, Pennywort, Hornwort and some of taller varieties of Amazon swords do well in low light.

Many moderate light plants will also grow under this lighting, but they will grow more slowly.

If you care to get a little creative, you can attach Water sprite, Water wisteria and Banana plants to floating driftwood and they'll grow nicely close to the light.

B
 
3x54w t5ho/timer/lunar led

The only bad thing about these is that it appears that there is only one reflector, but there being 3 bulbs I would think it would work great and it's pretty cheap. There's two other people on here that bought these lights and are loving them on their 55g.
 
I always go by why get something that you will have to replace down the road? Makes no sense. Get the best fixture you can within your budget.

I would love to go all out but Yes, I am on a budget and will be using the bear minimum of lights to keep the electricity bill down.

And here I thought I would get into a cheap hobby.. :banghead::lol:
 
Don't worry about the electric bill. A 2 bulb fixture will not make an increase in it. To put into perspective, running your oven for an hour uses more electricity then having your lights on 24/7 for 5days ( not an exact figure but a reference to show your lights do not use that much power)
 
thanks for the info but again I still don't want to spend over a $100 for lighting. I will just stick with a simple DIY lighting
 
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