# 2 Strip Suggestions



## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

Hi, I've been combing through the posts and have a question about lighting. I have a 29 gallon tank with two separate light strips. Each one contains an All Glass Aquarium 17 W bulb that says RAPID START and Hg with a circle around it. I'm going to start a planted tank with this and would like to know the two best bulbs to replace the old ones with. I'll be having some moderate to easy plants to grow with DIY co2 injection through a fluval cannister filter. The substrate is for plants and I got it from http://www.aquariumplants.com/

Ideally I'd like to grow glossostigma and/or riccia and/or hairgrass in the plant so... I assume one bulb strong in blue of the visible spectrum and one strong in the red zones of the visible spectrum.

Ideas for two bulbs that would fit my strips and criteria?

thanks in advance


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Any bulb with a Kelvin rating between 5000K and 10000K is good. The higher the K, the more the light will tend toward blue.


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## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

Ok thanks. I was looking for high wattage ones that would fit iin my light strips too.


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## Justice Bucket (May 16, 2009)

What do you think of two of these for a 29 gallon planted tank with HC, swords and corkscrews...
F30T8/D/ALTO - 3 ft. - 30 Watt - T8 Linear Fluorescent Tube - 6500K - Philips 260638 ***Was $0.83 - Now $0.50

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/10178/F-30T8DALTO.html

I will also have a 24" 20 Watt Aqua Glo


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## theaquarian (Jul 22, 2010)

Hiya,

Just a suggestion. If you can get hold of T6s then go for those instead of T8s. They are completely interchangeable and does not require any adaptors. The benefit being that T6s produce up to 40% more light than T8s and less heat.

I replaced the two 36 inch T8 tubes in my tank with two T6s and noticed after a week the plants pearling like crazy. Below is a UK site where I buy my T6s from..

T6 Tubes from Aqua Essentias


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## killacross (Apr 29, 2010)

not to sure about T6 bulbs as they are relatively new and I have no experience with them....I do however use the exact same bulbs and they are my favorite...the 8000k really makes the greens vivid in your plants and the colors on your fish "pop"

however, you wont be able to grow short, compact HC with those T8 bulbs...not enough penetration to the substrate level, maybe with a better reflector

I use 4 of them over a 20Long and can easily grow glosso, dwarf sag and amazon swords

...HC jus slowly dies out

Im planning to upgrade the 20Long to a 2x24w T5 HO and get a 29 gal (same footprint) with a 3-4x 24w T5 system (or build one myself) to grow HC, dwarf hairgrass and java moss


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