Lighting And Colour Temperature Question

[Barlow]

Hi.

I need to replace the lights on my tank but am clueless as to what I should buy. I was hoping that someone on here could point me in the right direction.

I've got a Fluval Roma 90 tank which is fairly heavily stocked with easy-to-grow plants like Anubias and Java Ferns and community tropical fish including Neons.

The tank came with two 15W T8 lights - a Hagen AquaGlo and a Hagen PowerGlo - but these now need replacing.

I've been given an Arcadia Marine White tube and am currently using it with the Hagen AquaGlo. However these are giving off a very white light, which is whiter than I would like it to be (I realise this is due to the Arcadia Marine White tube which has a colour temperature of 14k).

So my questions:

• Is it ok to keep the Arcadia Marine White tube (which is brand new) or will it be useless for my plants?
  
• If it is ok to keep it, do you have any suggestions as to what I should replace the old Hagen AquaGlo tube with? I'd like this to soften the white light but I've no idea what the AquaGlo's colour temperature is (it doesn't say on the tube or on Hagen's website, and the only mentions I can find online claim it's 18k which seems ridiculous). Could I add in a cheap, non-aquatic bulb like this 6500k daylight one (http/www.lightbulbs-direct.com/product/1476/f15w54-t8-18-15w-daylight) to balance out the white light?
  
• And if I need to abandon the Marine White tube, should I just go back to using Hagen AquaGlo and PowerGlo lights or is there anything else that is better (and/or cheaper)?
  

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Jon

 

[KittyKat]

• Is it ok to keep the Arcadia Marine White tube (which is brand new) or will it be useless for my plants?

Yes, it is fine to keep it.

• If it is ok to keep it, do you have any suggestions as to what I should replace the old Hagen AquaGlo tube with? I'd like this to soften the white light but I've no idea what the AquaGlo's colour temperature is (it doesn't say on the tube or on Hagen's website, and the only mentions I can find online claim it's 18k which seems ridiculous). Could I add in a cheap, non-aquatic bulb like this 6500k daylight one (http/www.lightbulbs-direct.com/product/1476/f15w54-t8-18-15w-daylight) to balance out the white light?

Yes, but I find the triphospher ones more pleasing to the eye and they may be better for plants (because they peak more times). I use the 865 (daylight), but something like 830 (warm white) might be better for you, if you want the tank to look more yellow/red/warm.

• And if I need to abandon the Marine White tube, should I just go back to using Hagen AquaGlo and PowerGlo lights or is there anything else that is better (and/or cheaper)?

That would be a waste of money, in my opinion. I have used the Philips/Osram triphospher bulbs on a number of different types of set-up for many years, without any problems.

 

[StandbySetting]

Try this OP:

www.lampspecs.co.uk

Order as many as you like, experiment, the tubes themselves are cheap enough, just try to get them with high CRI (colour rendering index) rating, the higher the value (0-100), a lamp with a high CRI value will be closer to the stated colour temperature than one with a lower value.

 

[OldMan47]

I like to use tubes with ratings in the 5000K to 6000K range. They imitate sunlight fairly well so the color of things in the tank look fairly good. A lot of research has been done and the end result is that almost any lamp with a rating between 2700K and 10000K will provide about equal plant growth for a given lumen rating. The 14000K actinic tube is another matter. Plants cannot easily use light in that spectrum so you are wasting the energy and fixture space by having that if you want plants to grow. If you like the color and are not growing plants, that tube is just fine.

 

[Barlow]

Thank you so much everyone for all your advice - and thanks for the site suggestion StandbySetting. I've ordered a mixture of triphosphor tubes from them and will see what looks best in my tank.

All the best,
Jon