Info on new bulbs

[CameronCade]

I bought two T-8 6500K 750 lumens for my cichlid tank. They are 18 inches long. I bought them at Lowes instead of petco. I got two for the price of one at Lowes. My question is will those make a difference ? I read where there's not much difference in bulbs from petco and lowes.

 

[CameronCade]

Anyone.... Bueller.

 

[Congoman]

The only difference is the color spectrum.

 

[Convict2161]

Sorry can't help ya. I run LED's and never ran T8's. I had T5's though...

 

[bobofishman]

What size tank .. If you got a 48" long tank you should just buy a shop light from lowes with the bulbs of the same specs of your 18" you will get much better light and the color of your fish will stand out.. That's what I am using on my 55 gal Dempsey tank and my 90 Malawi and Vic tank....

 

[CameronCade]

What size tank .. If you got a 48" long tank you should just buy a shop light from lowes with the bulbs of the same specs of your 18" you will get much better light and the color of your fish will stand out.. That's what I am using on my 55 gal Dempsey tank and my 90 Malawi and Vic tank....

Really? It is 48" long. Mmmm do u just sit it on top?

 

[bobofishman]

Yep I use the daylight 6500k bulbs that's it... It funny you asked this question because about 3 months ago I asked the same question so there is your answer ...lol the light itself is the black shop light it's like $15 and the bulbs are about $10. You can look it up online to get the exact amount ...

 

[CameronCade]

Yep I use the daylight 6500k bulbs that's it... It funny you asked this question because about 3 months ago I asked the same question so there is your answer ...lol the light itself is the black shop light it's like $15 and the bulbs are about $10. You can look it up online to get the exact amount ...

Ha lol so was it worth it? And does the bulbs not come with black shop light? And can I see a pic of your tank?

 

[bobofishman]

Yeah it was with it .. No the bulbs are seperate.. And the pics I posted earlier are my 2 tanks with the shop lights

 

[CameronCade]

Yeah it was with it .. No the bulbs are seperate.. And the pics I posted earlier are my 2 tanks with the shop lights

Whoops my bad. One last question. Is the shop light 2 long 48 inch bulbs?

 

[BillD]

To answer the original question, the main difference will be in your wallet. While 6500K is fine, I prefer 5000K. The important thing is to try and find tubes with a high CRI (Color Rendition Index) .This will tell you how well the light will render color. The closer to 100 the better. For a 48" tank shoplights are the cheapest way to go, and good tubes are readily available, cheaply, especially in T8.

 

[bobofishman]

Whoops my bad. One last question. Is the shop light 2 long 48 inch bulbs?

Yeah 2 bulbs ..