Which T5HO bulbs should I use?

[Diogenes]

I am converting a planted tank to a cryptoheros tank. I won't be planting it. Right now, unplanted, when I turn on the lights everything in the tank hides from the 31watt 6700 and 10000k bulbs that are in there. For reasons I won't go into I have a couple of color max bulbs, more of these two spectrum bulbs, and an actinic bulb.

What would be the best combo in a dual tube light bar for an unplanted tank?

 

[12 Volt Man]

I like the combo of the 10,000K and the Colourmax.

I don't like 67000K bulbs as I find them too yellow.

 

[Diogenes]

thanks that's what I was thinking too. I think I'll probably add some floating plants to diffuse the light a bit.

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

imo i can't stand anything that looks pink (colormax) it ends up washing out the colours of everything in the tank personaly i like one very high kelvin or actinic blue bulb (power glo, aqua glo, coralife 20000k bulbs or actinic blue bulb) and a 6700k or 10000k bulb (i honestly don't know what people are talking about when they say 6700k are yellow i have a 6500k bulb from home depot (2 actualy) and it looks solid white)


for me i have 2 aqua-glo's and 2 6500k bulbs on my tank and everything in that tank had a colour explosion after i put these bulbs on (i saw red/oranges on my convicts in places i didn't know had any color)


i say go with an actinic and 10000k and it would look great

 

[12 Volt Man]

i honestly don't know what people are talking about when they say 6700k are yellow

depending on the manufacturer, some are very yellow.

eg. check out a Hagen LifeGlo T8. its yellow as hell. bright. but yellow.

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

depending on the manufacturer, some are very yellow.

eg. check out a Hagen LifeGlo T8. its yellow as hell. bright. but yellow.

lol ill stick with my very nice looking cheapy home depot ones that i got for 4 bucks each then lol

 

[12 Volt Man]

I agree. the first time I ever tried a Hagen LifeGlo, which were very expensive at the time (Hagen's most expensive bulb) I was like "this looks like crap" and promptly returned it for a Powerglo, which looks 10x better.

 

[Diogenes]

I think I am going to just experiment with different bulbs until I get what I want.

the 6700 was in the original setup because it did add a little gold to the light. The 10k washed everything out, so I added the 6700 to make it look a bit more natural.

I've really haven't that many people who are fans of the colormax, but i'm gonna give it a try. Max color sounds like a good thing, especially if there's a 10k or something in there to negate some of the pink.

 

[FSM]

The hagen lifeglo bulb I have looks almost identical to the current usa 10000k bulb right next to it.

 

[12 Volt Man]

The hagen lifeglo bulb I have looks almost identical to the current usa 10000k bulb right next to it.

T5 or T8? the old Lifeglow T8's were very yellow.

but then they came out with a "lifeglo 2" T8 and now the T5 versions..

who knows.

and as far as the colourmax goes, I agree its not good alone.

but it goes well with another bulb in combo.