Bulbs for a twin tube hood
Andy Pastuszak
light I bough a few years ago. It cam with 2 T5 22" bulbs that have
since burned out. I manage to find online, 22" 5500K "daylight" T5
bulbs which came in the mail today. Are 5500K bulbs good to use in a
planted tank, or should I be using a different wavelength?
The bulbs that were in the hood were T5-14W-W 12000K bulbs, but I
couldn't find anyone that made a bulb like that.
Most stores recommended I go to a twin tube HO setup, but I don't want
to spend that kind of money. I would prefer to find an old 24" twin
tube hood that uses standard size bulbs, so I can just buy 2 viatlites
and stick them in here, but no one seems ot make those anymore.
Andy
Nitesbane
"Andy Pastuszak" <amp68...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:2010042613312311272-amp68nospam@verizonnet...
>I have a planted 30 gallon extra high tank with a 24" twin tube strip light
>I bough a few years ago. It cam with 2 T5 22" bulbs that have since burned
>out. I manage to find online, 22" 5500K "daylight" T5 bulbs which came in
>the mail today. Are 5500K bulbs good to use in a planted tank, or should I
>be using a different wavelength?
>
When I was still using regular fluorescents I preferred "aquaglo" bulbs
which are 18000K. My fish room receives a lot of ambient light during the
day though. If it was a darker room, I would have probably gone with one
aquaglo and one that is more white/yellow like the sunglo which is about
5500K I think. In any case, the color temperature doesn't matter as much as
the actual spectrum it produces. For optimal plant growth, you want a bulb
with peaks in the blue and red range (not far red).
Hope that helps.
-N
JLG
Hey Andy,
I also have a 29gal high planted aquarium. My hood could hold two
bulbs but I only have one flora glo 20 W- 24" (61 cm)- 25 mm Diameter-
T8 bulb. I am using an aqua clear 10-30gal filter with a sponge and
one bag of chemipure. I also give liquid nutrients (the Flourish
fundamentals kit). I also have
1-2inches of flourite substrate on top of my regular gravel. My plants
are absolutely flourishing. Sometimes i get a large growth of hair
algae but I have this little white pleco catfish thing and 4 pencil
fish that have been keeping it under control.
Jonna
Andy
Well, I went and got new bulbs for the hood. One of the bulbs burned
out after only one week, so I think the hood is now broken in some
way. I have been trying to find a 24" twin tube strip light and no
one makes them any more. If anyone has one they want to sell, let me
know.
Andy