48" power compact

[sonoma2nv]

i just bought a 48" powercompact light it has 2 65w 12000k daylight bulbs and 2 65w antic lights.I want a planted tank.I am removing the 2 antic and what should i replace them with?I will be getting a co2 injection in a few weeks. Thanks Derrick

 

[travis simonson]

I would recommend any lamps between 5000-10000K color temp. 5500K lamps are fairly yellow, 6700K is a bit whiter and as you go up toward 10000K the perceived color of the light becomes progressively whiter. Plants will adapt to any color temp in the 5000-10000K range so it's really matter of what color you prefer. As to your existing 12000K lamps, I would say they'll probably be OK for plants. I've never used 12000K lamps before so I'm not really sure how well they work but they're fairly close to 10000K and I've used 10000K for plants with great results. HTH

 

[malkore]

I agree with Travis, and also think the 12,000K's will work ok. Maybe a little on the blue side, but they should have a sufficient spectrum for plants.
Because you have 12K's in there, I'd suggest the 6,700K bulbs, as their slight yellowishness will help balance the bluish light of the 12,000K's. I think going with 10,000K's might wash out the color of the fish too much....too much white light basically.