# Which bulbs?



## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

5,000, 5,500, or 6,700K? I am planning on getting a 2X55W kit for my 29-gal. Should I go with a mix or should I get the same two bulbs? I am looking for more opinions and feedbacks, rather than one distinct answer cus I know you guys would probably tell me it's up to myself to get whatever I want So yes, I am looking for personal preference/opinion, as well as experiences on which bulb grew plants better(Or is that another personal preference;P). Those sort of things. Thanks!


Paul


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## Ben Belton (Mar 14, 2004)

I like bulbs in the higher end of the Kelvin range. My next tank is going to have all daylight 10,000K or the 8,800K like Amano uses. 

GE makes a 9.375K bulb which I like too. 

Most people recommend the 6,700K bulbs, but I think they are too yellow.

I have a mix of 10,000K and 6,700K on one of my tanks. I really like that.

Ben


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I guess the K rating depends a lot on the substrate you are/will be using. 

In my 30g Apisto tank (Eco Complete/ Tahitian Moon Sand substrate) I have two GE 9325k T-8, NO flourescent lamps. I switched them out earlier in the week for some T-8, Nutrigrow 5000K lamps (for the better CRI and PAR) and the tank looked way to yellow/green. I had to switch back to the 9325's a couple of days later. 

I have a 55g (Shultz/play sand substrate) with a mix of Nutrigrow (5000K) and GE Chroma 50's (not sure of the K). This tank looks fine with these lights. As an experiment, I swapped out my triple tube strip light from my 75g (two 8800k and one 5500K) and the tank looked good. The Alternanthera and the Sunset Hygro colors really seem to stand out with this light. I don't think there was enough of a change to make me buy new lamps though. 

I also have a 55g tank (Shultz/Flourite mix with Florabase on top) with 4 overdriven T-8, Nutrigrow 5000k lamps and it looks great. The addition of a higher K lamp may show off the Red Tiger Lotus and E. tennelus more and I may do this in the near future since I have the lamps. 

For the kicker, my 75g with an Eco Complete/Tahitian Moon Sand substrate has 9325k CF lamps in the rear and a triple tube strip light in the front. I have played around with 5000k, 5500k, 6700k and 8800k as well as 9325k lamps in the front. I have also swithced the two strips from front to back to see what it looked like. Currently I have two 8800k and one 5500k lamps in the front strip. I seem to like this combination. 

In the 75g I have noticed that by removing the higher K lamps and using the lower K lamps the E. acicularis (hairgrass) looks greener. The H. zosterifolia (Stargrass) also doesn't seem to show the black creases on the leaves near as well and tends to look greener than when under the higher K lamps. As a trade-off, the 8800/9325K lamps make the E. tennelus and Red Tiger Lotus look much more pink/red. 

As far as growth, I really haven't noticed one lamp being better than another. I still need to trim the Stargrass every few days and the hairgrass is spreading very fast as well as the tennelus. 

If you want to highlight red/bronze plants, the 8000/9325k seem to show them better. The darker substrates also seem to look better with a higher K lamp in my opinion. 

I guess it does boil down to personal preference. If it were me, I would probably buy a few different K lamps and try them out. You can always find someone willing to buy or trade some plants for them later. If not, a couple of back-up lamps sure come in handy when one burns out.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Thank you, guys! These are the sort of things I am looking for Keep'em coming! I will purchase the kit from AHS once I accumulate enough information from you all, so please share more, everyone!


Paul


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I would go with the 6700k bulbs from ahsupply. I prefer the color produced by 6700k bulbs.


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## Oleg (Jun 15, 2004)

By my experience GE 9325K 55W doesn't look that bright as Coralife 6700K 65W. But 9325K brings out plants' colors much better than 6700K especially blue, red and pink. 6700K is plain green.

My plants grow best under warm-white 3000K and 3500K but they don't look good.
They grow very good under GE 9325K.
Coralife 6700K is the worst I tried - I think plants don't like it as there is almost no red in it.


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