Screw in bulbs

Andy_Dufresne · 11-08-2007, 10:17 PM

Well I now have a 50W hood, takes 2 25 watt bulbs. What kind of bulbs do you guys recommend. I have full spectrum bulbs in there right now, but they arnt near as bright as my florescent bulb that I had in my 17W hood. Is the brightness a factor or just the spectrum? And should I combine some different kinds of bulbs, like a blue and then a clear to brighten up the tank?

Thanks,
Nick

**BV77** · 11-09-2007, 12:37 AM

spectrum and color temp are what's important....plants don't "see" light as we do....so what's good and bright for us isn't necessarily a good plant light.
plants like 5000k to 6700k..full spectrum..That means all the reds and blues in the light......in fact a 5000k light to humans looks rather yellow, and the higher temp you go, the bluer it looks to us

11-09-2007, 07:32 AM

Actually, you can go all the way up to 10000K, though it will look very bright white. Alot of people like bulbs in the 6500K to 8000K range, just for visual appeal.

If you ever have a fixture that takes the straight or square pin compact fluorescents, you might consider mixing the K ratings.

For the screw in compact fluorescent bulbs, you usually only see 6500K (or atleast I do) and that works perfectly. They are labelled "daylight".

Andy_Dufresne · 11-09-2007, 01:23 PM

Thanks guys and gal

. I bought the sun glo 25W bulbs and just dont like how it looks. So im going to go back and return these and hope I can fit some of the florescent bulbs in my hood. Just want a brighter light so my fish and plants stick out better.

Nick

PS. Mods feel free to move this to the right section, I just now realized that I posted in the wrong one. Shouldnt post late at night when im really tired lol.