# daylight bulbs or a mix of daylight and pink plant bulbs??



## krissy (Jun 3, 2014)

What do you guys think is more efficient. All daylight or a mix of daylight and plant??? Fo mr a heavily planted tank??


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

I just set up a 120 gallon planted tank and powered up as a temporary lighting 2 bulbs out of my 8 bulb HO T-5 set up. The two bulbs I'm running are a GE 6,500K and an ATI Purple plus. (the purple plus in roughly 66% blue light and 33% rad light. It only took one day for my water to turn green. 

In the past when I ran florescent light I used a combination of the GE 6,00K with a GE Chroma 5,000K and had great luck. I cannot find a source for the HO T-5's in the 5,000K range. My thought is I have way to much Blue light with the present combo and I might be better off with a simple pair of GE 6,500K.


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## thunderjack14 (Nov 28, 2014)

I'm using the Giesemann T5 HO 54W - 48" Powerchrome T5 Fluorescent Bulb -Aquaflora and Giesemann T5 HO 54W - 48" Powerchrome T5 Fluorescent Bulb - Midday together and let me tell you the lush green and red plants just pop with color and the plants seem to respond well to the lights too.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

I've always mixed bulbs. That way you have a bulb(s) for the plants and a bulb(s) for your viewing.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

Note my prior comment was roughly 2 weeks after setting up the tank. I have continued to use the combo of a GE 6,500K and ATI Purple plus and once the tank completed cycling it cleared up very nicely and the plants are growing fantastically. My only sour note is that some of the red plants are not showing there bright red color but more of a combination of bronze and green instead. I could be low on the iron for these plants.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Blue light will bring out the red pigment in plants; assuming proper fertilization. The red light will reflect off the red plant pigments.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

Newt said:


> Blue light will bring out the red pigment in plants; assuming proper fertilization. The red light will reflect off the red plant pigments.


Yes I'm aware of that. This is why I'm considering on the use of blue LED's in the area where I have red ludwigia on my 120 gallon. Also keeping in mind that the red plants general seem to require more light than than the other plants in my 120 gallon tank.

We can also look at it as light is either absorbed or reflected. Light that is reflected is not used by the plants. This is indicated with the little use of green light by the plants which is mainly reflected. By theory with myself using a Purple Plus bulb there should be a lit of red and blue light in the tank now. But the looks of my red ludwigia I would suspect I'm lacking enough blue for it or it is the fertilizer balance with a lack of iron.

I'm going to initially look for a good cleated iron fertilizer to see if that helps it any.


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

TropTrea said:


> I cannot find a source for the HO T-5's in the 5,000K range. My thought is I have way to much Blue light with the present combo and I might be better off with a simple pair of GE 6,500K.


Hi TropTrea,

I recently got some of the GE Starcoat in a 6500K T5 HO for my indoor (tropical land plants) growing lightstands. In my search, I did see that they are made in a 5000 K as well. Also, Phillips makes a 5000K in their Alto line, but I know less about these than the starcoat which have more of a track record being used over aquariums.

As to sources, try looking at hydroponics & horticulture sites.

HTH,
Jane


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## sotiris (Feb 11, 2015)

I think that this is the right topic for my question! I have the same problem in my mind? I found the haquoss E27 bulbs like these: http://www.aquario.gr/fotismos/energy-saving.html and I'm thinking to mix them with 2 daylight bulbs and maybe one whiteblue and an other one pinkwhite or only 2 daylight and two whitepink bulbs! I have a 160litre tank with diy co2. Do you think that maybe I have algae problems. Thanks. In the following picture you can see my lighting!


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

I'm nt a believer in compact fluorescent bulbs for aquarium use. There were studies on them done around 2,000 to 2,004 that showed they were very efficient for reef tanks. They are much better for room lighting as it is nearly impossible to build a good reflector system for them.

Looking at the web page Sotiris liked to most of these bulbs are 12,000K plus which should be very rich on the blue part of the spectrum.


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## sotiris (Feb 11, 2015)

TropTrea said:


> I'm nt a believer in compact fluorescent bulbs for aquarium use. There were studies on them done around 2,000 to 2,004 that showed they were very efficient for reef tanks. They are much better for room lighting as it is nearly impossible to build a good reflector system for them.
> 
> Looking at the web page Sotiris liked to most of these bulbs are 12,000K plus which should be very rich on the blue part of the spectrum.


"Unfortunately" i bought the tank with this type of lighting. Now im going to make a little experiment by buying a bluewhite and a pinkwhite bulb and mix them with a cool white bulb and a warm white one! Thanks a lot for your reply!


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