Flourescent Lighting Question,Advise Please.

[JohnnyAppleSnail]

Back in Jan. I thought I'd try a Planted Tank. My Canopy is ancient but fits over My 33 gal. and holds 2 36" bulbs. I happened to have two bulbs already in it 2 Aqua-Glo's (18000k) I tried this for awhile but to Me didn't look bright enough,Plants were growing but very slowly.
I then found a couple of Power-Glo's (18000k) in another ancient canopy of Mine and thought I'd go one of each,1 power-Glo in Front and the Aqua-Glo in the Back,seems like Plants are going well but it's hard for Me to really know unless I'm actually using the "Right" bulbs to Compare.
Flora-Glo (2800k)...Sun-Glo (4200k)...and Life-Glo (6700k) are other Bulbs I can use,The Reason of course that I'm using the ones I have is they are already here,working,and Free. But I really would like your expert advise into which Bulb combo's would be the "BEST" for Me,if I know I would get better results I'd rather go out and buy the proper bulbs.
Also if using 2 diff. bulbs which should go in Front and Back (That always puzzles Me). I'm going to start using Flourish Comprehensive (was using some Old Aquarium Stuff ferts. till it ran out) and I've stopped using Fl. Excel. it was killing My Cories! even at half doses very Bizzare! I lost 2 Sterbai's,2 Juhlii's and 3 Pygmys in one week? all other Fish fine??? a 2ml dose in a 33gal Tank and within an hour 2 more cories doing death spirals!? Googled and found out that this has happened to some other People. I manged to save a couple that were belly-up by doing 50% WC and adding Air-stone,the 2 that were on deaths door recovered (Pygmy Habrosus).I don't want to put any more Cories through Hell, LOL...this should have been another topic but I thought People may ask my dosing routine. I'm more curious about the Bulbs and sure would like your in-puts! Thank-you!!!

[Diztrbd1]

I'm no expert Johnny, but I would look into some T5 lighting, possibly even a retrofit fit. T8 lights in my experience don't do nearly as much for plants what the T5's will

[gklaw]

The Power-Glo is the brightest of the bulb you have. I would go with T5HO if you are really serious into planted.

I have a brand new GLO 2x39W T5HO kit and couple of brand new tubes. PM me if you are interested as well.

[2wheelsx2]

I agree with the above. You can certainly grow certain types of plants slowly with t8, but even the older T5NO setups by Coralife will grow plants much better and the t5HO are superior to those when combined with a good reflector.

However, if you are not going to use Excel or CO2, the wisest thing may be to stick with T8 and just go the slow steady route.

[PaulCheung]

Hi I am new to this. i read some articles that say for planted tank, it is recommended to have 2.3 Watt per g. How does this factor into the T5, T8HO consideration?

[JohnnyAppleSnail]

Thanks for the Tips! I really don't want to spend Money on new lighting system,so I'll just stick with what I have. I found a Site from Hagen that recommends certain combos for Planted Tanks,they have 3 recommendations: "First" Sun-Glo (4200k) & Aqua-Glo (18000k) Promotes Plant Growth/Providing Broad Spectrum. "Second" Power-Glo (18000k) & Flora-Glo (2800k) Efficient Combo to Stimulate Desired Growth in Foreground & Background Plants,and "Third" Aqua-Glo (18000k) + Flora-Glo (2800k) Intensify Fish Colors while Stimulating Plant Density & Vertical Growth.
What I find unusual is that Life-Glo is Never mentioned for a Combo Fit yet it is 6700k which I thought is a great reading for Planted Tanks?? If you were to choose between the 3 Combo's I mentioned which one Do You think Best.

[2wheelsx2]

The K ratings are not absolutes and sometimes can be pretty deceiving. And those ratings also vary from brand to brand...ie, a 6700K bulb from one manufacturing may look different when lit up than from another manufacturer. The only advice I can give you is to try a few. Those combos appear to optimize the colour more than anything, so if you wanted to try one, I'd try the First setup with SunGlo and AquaGlo.