time for new bulbs

[blizowman1]

So I'm coming up on time to replace my bulbs in my 3x54w t5ho Catalina aquarium fixture. It's sitting on top of my 90g planted tank... I need help deciding on which brand bulb to replace them with.... I've been looking at geisemann bulbs, probably 2 midday and 1 aqua flora...

Or I could just replace them with Catalina aquarium bulbs or just get some cheaper bulbs but I'm not sure if its worth buying the more expensive ones or not...... Please let me know what you guys use and what you think I should buy

[blizowman1]

I was hoping someone would have some experience with these bulbs

[Sugardaddy1979]

A lot of folks use ge and philps.

[blizowman1]

Originally Posted by Sugardaddy1979

A lot of folks use ge and philps.

What kind of bulbs do you use

[The Trigger]

I use the geisemann aqua flora/midday combo and my plants grow great. The aquaflora makes the reds really stand out too. Never used GE or Philips

[blizowman1]

Originally Posted by The Trigger

I use the geisemann aqua flora/midday combo and my plants grow great. The aquaflora makes the reds really stand out too. Never used GE or Philips

what size tank do you run the combo on, and is it just one bulb of each.....do you feel they are worth the extra money spent?
and how long have you been running your bulbs on your tank?

[The Trigger]

I run them on a 29 gallon. And the bulbs are 24 inches. I run one set along with my other fixture which is a 65w cfl. I don't know how much you're paying for them but a place about an hour from me has them at wholesale price and they're not much more expensive than the other brands of T5HO bulbs. Alls I know is my plants grow great and the aquaflora makes the reds look awesome. Haven't really tried any other bulbs seeing as I put the geisemanns in from the first day I got my fixture.

[Yankee]

With a 3 bulb fixture you can try 2 6500K T5s and a rosette bulb in the middle. I always like to have at least a single pink bulb in my fixtures. As for brand? I don't have a specific one. AquaticLife hasn't done me any harm.

[The Trigger]

Yeah I've got an aquaticlife fixture. Works great and I think I paid like $100 for it. Highly recommended

[blizowman1]

Ok so I went ahead and ordered the giesemann bulbs for my tank I ended up getting 2- 6000k midday and 1- aquaflora. And I have to say I am loving the way they look. They aren't as bright to the eye as the catalina bulbs I had but they make my tank look great.

Before bulb swap


After bulb swap

I've also read that the dimmer the light is actually better for the planted tank because it means less in the green spectrum which the plants don't really use... Even with it dimmer I noticed I had to bump up my co2 to get my drop checker to turn green

[owens81jw]

How long did you Catalina bulbs last?

[blizowman1]

I switched them after seen months that's all I know lol