please help with lighting question

[iwiied]

i have 2 48 inch light fixtures for my `180 gallon tank, each of them use 2 flourence light bulbs. i have the regular shop light bulbs in them right now, i want to buy new bulbs to make tank brighter , more colorful, yet i don't want algae problem, can someone suggest a type of bulb to buy?
thanks

 

[iwiied]

also i don't have plants, justs fish

 

[CHOMPERS]

Go to HD or Lowes and look through their bulbs. There will be a type named something like "Daylight" or "Sunlight". You'll know it when you see it. They are priced about the same as other bulbs.

 

[iwiied]

thanks

 

[TwistedPenguin]

The 'natural sunlight' bulbs always make everything a sickly green to me. Maybe it's because my tanks have dark substrate & wood? I don't know. I use bulbs that say "wide spectrum" on them and it shows the colors real crisp and clear.

 

[iwiied]

do you get this from a lfs? or can you get it from homedepot? and also do you have algae problem with those wide spectrum light?

 

[Tom500]

I find that original tropical bulbs give a nice deep redish color to bogwood and brings out the color of the fish and even the sand!

 

[FSM]

hagen aqua-glo bulbs are my favorite.

 

[TwistedPenguin]

do you get this from a lfs? or can you get it from homedepot? and also do you have algae problem with those wide spectrum light?

I got some of them at WalMart, believe it or not. The 4' ones I had to go to a hardware store. I don't have trouble with green algae, I'm starting to think it's because I keep my nitrates real low. That's the only thing I seem to do different than other people. I get the black/brown algae in new tanks but that's not the same thing as green algae.

 

[iwiied]

colormax, spetramax, daymax.. so confusing without actually seeing what kind of light they produce, i do'nt want to order 4 bulb and find out they make my tank "pink".