# G.E. 9325k bulbs.....$



## AZFIsh1 (Dec 29, 2004)

I like these bulbs for plants. I use them in a mix with 10000k and 6700k. I found what I think is a decent buy on them at this place:

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

$14.20 each when FosterSmith gets $34.99. I ordered four bulbs from them. Came in on time and well packaged. They do have a few other bulbs that could be of interest to some for our uses but you have to peck through the site as the search feature isnt all inclusive..... Any way.. just thought I would share and no I do not work for them LOL!


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## mlfishman (Apr 4, 2005)

*Bulbs*

Do you think these bulbs offer anything over others in terms of plant growth, or are all PC bulbs created equally, and the GE's are just a matter of appearance?


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## AZFIsh1 (Dec 29, 2004)

mlfishman said:


> Do you think these bulbs offer anything over others in terms of plant growth, or are all PC bulbs created equally, and the GE's are just a matter of appearance?


For me I just like the look they give. In my tank I have seen more compact growth with these bulbs too. Making plants look "fuller".


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## jppurchase (Dec 15, 2004)

AZFIsh1 said:


> I like these bulbs for plants. I use them in a mix with 10000k and 6700k. I found what I think is a decent buy on them at this place:
> 
> http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?
> 
> $14.20 each when FosterSmith gets $34.99. I ordered four bulbs from them. Came in on time and well packaged. They do have a few other bulbs that could be of interest to some for our uses but you have to peck through the site as the search feature isnt all inclusive..... Any way.. just thought I would share and no I do not work for them LOL!


I'm glad that you like them, but I'm not sure how your plants feel about them. This tube has a CRI of only 67 (CRI is a measure of how closely the light matches natural sunlight, which is 100). At 67, and given the color temperature of the bulb, I'd guess that it is very blue and lacks red.

I prefer to use full spectrum tubes, meaning that all the colors of the rainbow are present in the light, and with a color temperature of 5,000 K - 6,700 K. The 5,000 K bulbs are a soft, warm white while the 6,700 K bulbs are a crisp white light, tendiing to blue.

Look for GE Chroma 50's, often sold as "Sunshine Bulbs". They are dirt cheap here in Toronto (less than half of what you paid). All of the major lamp manufacturers sell a version of this tube. GE also makes a "Plant & Aquarium" bulb, which appears to my eye to contain more blue in its spectrum (maybe 6000 K). It should be the same price as the Sunshine Bulbs. Both have a CRI of 90, and either one or a combination of the two will grow plants really well. Additionally, due to the high CRI, colors of both fish and plants will appear natural and not like they are at a disco.

Of course, its your tank and you are free to light it however you choose.

James Purchase
Toronto


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

This bulb actually looks VERY PINK, which I don't like. The plants grow fine though. In fact, MANY people love the plant growth/color under this light.


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## AZFIsh1 (Dec 29, 2004)

They do have a red/pink look to them. Very much like the URI AquaSun bulb to my eyes. My plants LOVE them...


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## AZFIsh1 (Dec 29, 2004)

jppurchase said:


> I prefer to use full spectrum tubes, meaning that all the colors of the rainbow are present in the light, and with a color temperature of 5,000 K - 6,700 K. The 5,000 K bulbs are a soft, warm white while the 6,700 K bulbs are a crisp white light, tendiing to blue.
> 
> James Purchase
> Toronto


IME any light, as long as there is enough of it, will grow plants.They may or may not grow differently under different lights but they will grow. As I mentioned I like to mix a few bulbs of different ratings. When its time to sit down and enjoy the tank I leave only the 9325 on because I like how the tank looks under this light. The tank uses 6700k 10,000k and 9325k. Plants like it, I like it! I think in a situation where one is limited to only use one bulb then 5000k-7600k are probably the best bet for an all around choice.


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## cousinkenni (Jan 24, 2005)

jppurchase said:


> I'm glad that you like them, but I'm not sure how your plants feel about them. This tube has a CRI of only 67 (CRI is a measure of how closely the light matches natural sunlight, which is 100). At 67, and given the color temperature of the bulb, I'd guess that it is very blue and lacks red.
> 
> James Purchase
> Toronto


James actually, the 9325K bulb's number refers to the extrapolated value of the bulb. It doesn't means that it is blue and lacks red. The reason for this is that the kelvin temperature refers to color of light a black body emits when heated. Since this is an incandescent style of light the colors that 3 different color phoshors (from a fluorescent lights) produce canot be directly corelated to the numbers of the Kelvin Scale. Hence the 9325K instead of a straight number like 6500 or 6000 or 5500, or 10,000K.

Look it up on Wikipedia if you would like 

Anyways, the light is fine for growing plants, it just has a lot of red and blue light (what plants like) compared to the yellow and green spectrums(wavelengths the plant doesn't use as efficiently). This is why the bulb appears "pink" or "purpleish".

Ken T.


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