18,000K bulb - good for plants??

[jcardona1]

As the title states, will a 18,0000k bulb produce light that is useable by plants, or is this similar to an actinic bulb in that it produces light that is useless for photosynthesis??

I'm planning on having a 4 bulb T5 HO setup (48") with the following bulbs:
- 10,000k
- 10,000k
- 6,700k
- 18,000k

Plant list: Blyxa Japonica and HC

Will this work or will I need to ditch the 18,000k bulb?

Thx

 

[Frostyone]

If I'm not mistaken from what I've read anything 10K or higher and you will start to get lots of algae growth, I'm seeing this with my 10K PC bulbs on my 40 planted. I have to clean the glass every couple of days.

 

[oOMO3NOo]

i think the light rang is from 5000k to 10000k

 

[jcardona1]

yeah i thought so. just wanted to see what other options there are to give the tank a nice hue since 6700's are a very green/yellowish light

 

[1SiCk Mk3]

yea ive heard that anything that high too will do nothing but help u grow algea...get another 6,700 bulb and u should be good...the 10k should look pretty blue...i know mine does...

 

[Will Hayward]

If you have four spaces, add in a 5500K, 6700K, 8500K and a maybe 10000K.

The ground level plants will appreciate the higher K ratings as the light will reach farther to them, but you will have to battle algae. 5000-8500 are generally best used for fw plants.

 

[oOMO3NOo]

yeah i thought so. just wanted to see what other options there are to give the tank a nice hue since 6700's are a very green/yellowish light

my ho t5 lights are a really nice white color they at 6700k i think there the hagon life glo 2 if i remeber right. i would post a pic but i can not get rid of this green water for the life of me as soon as it looks to be fading it comes back with full force.

 

[WyldFya]

18,000K is no good at all. Life glo 2 bulbs produce a nice white light. The kelvin rating does not affect the color as much as the specific color peaks. Good bulbs should have the color peaks on the side.

 

[jcardona1]

thx for the info everyone. wyld, what the difference between the regular Life Glo's and the Life Glo 2's?

 

[WyldFya]

Life glo bulbs were discontinued several years back. They were updated to the new Life glo 2 bulbs.