# 4500k color temp



## pwilson460 (Jul 8, 2007)

I have a lights of america 18 in strip light that has a 4500k bulb in it. it is really ugly i hate the color i was wondering if i could change it to a 10000k bulb and get better growth?


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

blue light encourages growth while red light encourages flowering, so a higher K (blue) bulb should help growth, however 10K may be too blue/white and wash out the plant color appearance. I suggest you find something between them, in the 6500-8500k range, but again, it's a matter of taste, and you will find hundreds of threads about this very debate.


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## rashomon (Apr 3, 2011)

spypet said:


> blue light encourages growth while red light encourages flowering, so a higher K (blue) bulb should help growth, however 10K may be too blue/white and wash out the plant color appearance. I suggest you find something between them, in the 6500-8500k range, but again, it's a matter of taste, and you will find hundreds of threads about this very debate.


Hi Spypet. I'm new here but have a question about this. Do water based plants like the same kind of light as soil based plants?


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

rashomon said:


> Hi Spypet. I'm new here but have a question about this. Do water based plants like the same kind of light as soil based plants?


Yes, they do. Look at the stickies in this Lighting sub-forum (they are long, but well worth the reading). You'll notice alot of talk about photosynthetic light waves, photosynthetic absorption, etc...and there are even some great graphs of what light certain bulbs put out.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

rash - one difference that you may notice from salt water tanks or scuba diving,
is that shorter wave length blue light penetrates water better than longer wave
length red light - so truly aquatic plant life has adapted to favor blue over red.
in addition, many aquatic plants red shift to REFLECT red light away from them,
so obviously they are getting more red light then they require or is healthy.

as dave said, this subject has been discussed ad nauseam already,
so if you are still curious, best to troll though other threads for more.


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## Crispino Ramos (Mar 21, 2008)

pwilson460 said:


> I have a lights of america 18 in strip light that has a 4500k bulb in it. it is really ugly i hate the color i was wondering if i could change it to a 10000k bulb and get better growth?


See if you like the color before you buy it. Better plant growth is dependent on many variables. I think what's most important is lighting that will make you happy when you look at your tank.


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