Best fluorescent light for plants

[nkoyko]

So I need to go buy a new bulb for the 10 gallon I got yesterday and have been trying to find a good bulb for the plants (it will be heavily planted) but the light is an 18" bulb and I'm having issue deciding which one is best in the size. Any help is much appreciated.

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[ImACoolguy]

You want a T5 bulb. Think they are like 6500k+


Caleb

[Brookster123]

Originally Posted by ImACoolguy

You want a T5 bulb. Think they are like 6500k+


Caleb

You sure? Most stock lighting hoods are t8, could be a dual screw in??
Op- know what style hood?

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[Fresh2o]

Zoo Med Ultra Sun Trichromatic 15w T-8 18" bulb


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[ImACoolguy]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

You sure? Most stock lighting hoods are t8, could be a dual screw in??
Op- know what style hood?

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Yeah most are T8

But if this tank is going to be heavily planted like they said I don't think a T8 is going to cut it unless it's a double T8 fixture.


Caleb

[PassengerTN]

Dual t8 will be medium light at 12" depth and low light with a single fixture. Same thing for T5NO bulbs. A single T5HO however will have to be suspended in order not to be too much. 4" from the top of the tank.

What plants do you have in mind? a single T8 fixture could grow most low light stuff pretty easy
Jesse

[Brookster123]

Maybe I missed something, are we getting a new fixture or replacing a bulb in a stock fixture?

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[nkoyko]

I'm replacing a single bulb for now. Later on I will be upgrading the fixture to LED.

The fixture only holds one bulb and it is a hood so it would be hard to raise it from the tank atm. And it was free so I'm going to use it for awhile.

In the tank will be Cyperus helferi, crypts, moss, dwarf sag, an anubias, and any other plants I find that will look good in the tank.

Also the Helferi and anubias are coming from the 2 tanks that I am joining together into the 10.

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[nkoyko]

Oh it is not stock lighting. The tank is some aqua brand and the hood is a completely different brand. The bulb in the hood now looks like a reef bulb with the color it puts out (actinic looking is what I mean by that).

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[PassengerTN]

Reading comprehension skills > My morning skills

I use a single 24" Aqueon rapid start 17w 8000k over my 29 gallon (18" depth) and grow crypts, Anubias, and moss just fine.

Jesse

[nkoyko]

Will the cyperus helferi be ok with the rapid start? That's honestly the plant I really want in the tank along with the dwarf sag. I want a grassy feel to the tank with the moss covering the ceramic pot/driftwood. The crypts will be for the lush look in a corner. Oh and the moss will hopefully be flame moss (I really like the look of it).

Jesse your reading comprehension is doing just fine. I probably should have given more info on the tank when asking but my skill of conveying information is about as strong as plastic bag with a whole in it.

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