Which Lighting would be better?

[johnblah]

Which would be better for my little 2.5 planted tank?

http://cgi.ebay.com/AQUARIUM-LIGHT-...in_0?hash=item3ca52ca490&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

or

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1138

What would be the best bang for my buck even if I had to switch one of the bulbs in them before I used them light output wise?

 

[FSM]

You can just get a regular desk lamp and put a CFL bulb in it

 

[chonhzilla]

A regular desk lamp with a spiral bulb would do the job just fine. Unless you've got the cash to burn, I like the ebay one.

 

[Louie]

Which would be better for my little 2.5 planted tank?

http://cgi.ebay.com/AQUARIUM-LIGHT-...in_0?hash=item3ca52ca490&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

or

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1138

What would be the best bang for my buck even if I had to switch one of the bulbs in them before I used them light output wise?

----------------
Like FSM and Chonzilla stated go with spiral energy type bulbs and desktop lamp . Which if you go with open top tank will allow plants to grow out of the water which looks neat.

I use spiral bulbs (Bright light) and love them. The soft white is useless and the daylight type 10,000 k is okay but nothing compares to bright light.

I use 2 - 14 watt bulbs on my 30 gallon long .Which in theory equal 60 watts of light each bulb and super bright. I didn't want to many watts as keep darters and didn't want tank temp to go over 72 degrees (room temp) .In your case the smallest one should work great .

The light is a clean light .With cell phone looks rather greenish but it isn't. You can't go wrong with that bulb on your 2.5 gallon tank. I don't work for bulb co lol I just like them.

 

[FSM]

I use 2 - 14 watt bulbs on my 30 gallon long .Which in theory equal 60 watts of light each bulb

No it doesn't. Watts don't measure light, they measure energy. Incandescent bulbs suck at turning watts into light, CFLs don't.

 

[Louie]

No it doesn't. Watts don't measure light, they measure energy. Incandescent bulbs suck at turning watts into light, CFLs don't.

Oh I see. Whatever the light output actually is they sure are bright.

 

[mgamer20o0]

also make sure to get the daylight 6500k bulbs which are a little hard to find.

 

[johnblah]

also make sure to get the daylight 6500k bulbs which are a little hard to find.

I just saw them at Wal-Mart yesterday, must have just gotten them in because I had not seen them before the weeks before.