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opinion on lighting?

647 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  doug14
hi,

i know my light set up isn't the best but it will be changed when i upgrade my tank at xmas.

i currently have 2 x 20W T8 Hagen Power-Glo bulbs running on my 30gallon. I thought higher WPG the better, but then was reading through some forums on here and realised its actually the K number along with the PAR that matters.

So I researched what K number my bulbs were and found out they are 18000K:icon_surp:icon_surp wow!

So i have ordered two 6500k bulbs for now, I take it this will benefit my plants a lot? The Power Glo i have are more suited to coral etc because of the spectrum of light i think.
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Actually, the 18,000k PowerGlo bulb will support freshwater plant growth just fine (it's one of the few exceptions outside of the "ideal" kelvin range for flourescent bulbs). I think you may actually like it quite a bit if you run just one of the 18k paired with one of the 6500k in your fixture- that's actually one of my personal favorite bulb combos in terms of color rendition/visual appearance in a planted tank. ;)

Your light fixture should be fine for a low light/low tech setup. Stick with some of the hardier plants (check out the list stickied at the top of the Low Tech forum).
Actually, the 18,000k PowerGlo bulb will support freshwater plant growth just fine (it's one of the few exceptions outside of the "ideal" kelvin range for flourescent bulbs). I think you may actually like it quite a bit if you run just one of the 18k paired with one of the 6500k in your fixture- that's actually one of my personal favorite bulb combos in terms of color rendition/visual appearance in a planted tank. ;)

Your light fixture should be fine for a low light/low tech setup. Stick with some of the hardier plants (check out the list stickied at the top of the Low Tech forum).
Nice thanks for the reply!

Typical, i go and waste money when i didn't need too! haha

So you think a mixture would be nice? I know its going to be a visual shock for me going from the power glo to the 6500k but if it benefits plants i'm happy:icon_smil
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