I have a lightly planted tank. I know nothing about my current bulb. The plants are not thriving as i feel they should. They are not dieing or browning, its just they're not growing very fast or hardly at all.

I was looking at plant bulbs and found these:

Agrosun T12 Fluorescent Grow Lamps - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights

AgroBrite T12 Fluorescent Lamps - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights


I was looking for advice from someone more experienced, would these be appropriate for an aquarium, and would they help my plants more than my current blub, it gives off a pink hue.

I have comoba, 1 Aponogeton, and one unkown plant that i am sure is very low light because it is doing the best and has had the most growth over the past 2 months.

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

I would get the second one.

That's the one i liked better too, mostly because of the price difference lol...

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

Hello dvan...

I'd suggest checking with the local hardware store to see if they carry GE aquarium plant bulbs. If you have the standard sized 55 G tank, then a 48 inch, T8, 6500 K, 32 watt bulb will be plenty for your low light plants. All you need is a single bulb. The cost is about $12.00 and the bulbs last about 10 months.

There's no need for high end lighting, provided you keep to low light plants. I have several 55 Gs and grow at least a dozen different plants under a single
T8 each. Make sure you get the 6500 K though, it's recommended for planted tanks, because it comes closest to natural daylight at 5500 K.

Low light plants need large and frequent water changes and a good fert dosed weekly.

Above everything else, have fun!

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

For my 55g I use 4' 2 tube home depot utility shopt light fixtures with 6500k tubes. Fisture are ~$10 tubes ~$6 (2 tubes).

I would also add some anacharis and vals plus some small potted (swords, crypts) and a few amazon swords.

I do no water changes and add no fertz.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden