# Best T5 bulbs for plant growth?



## DarkCobra

Power-Glo provides a lot of UV and isn't the best choice, though you would still be able to grow plants with it.

In the Hagen line, Flora-Glo is the best as far as plant growth. Lights like these which are designed for freshwater plant growth provide a lot of red and blue at wavelengths plants utilize best. But they also have a pinkish color that most people don't consider aesthetically pleasing.

Most people find bulbs with a spectrum from 6,500K to 10,000K both pleasing and provide excellent growth. Mixing those with lights like Flora-Glo is also an option, it reduces the pink cast to a highlight which looks good on red plants and fish.


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## Hoppy

Four T5HO bulbs is way too much for that size tank. Even 2 bulbs should be suspended several inches above the top of the tank to get the intensity down to a workable level. That is far more important than picking a particular bulb to use.


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## NJAquaBarren

Geissmann midday and flora are great. Get 2 of each. As Hoppy said,4 bulbs will give your fish a suntan and raise a lot of algae. 

You can run just two bulbs at a time though. An advantage that a 4-bulb fixture can provide is that you can run 1 bank of 2 for half of the day and the other bank for the rest of the day. That way you can increase spread of light in the tank. 

If you really can benefit from 4-bulbs, you can overlap both banks for the time you desire before shutting the first down.




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## shaman

My 45 gal, 2 ft cube tank dimensions are 24x24x17.5 (lxbxh). It's confusing as people have recommended as much as 6x24, so 2x24 seems little. Would be great if it was suffecient as it would be a lot cheaper. This is the first time i am being recommended a 2x24w

my main concern is spread, I was to have a thick carpet of hairgrass in the foreground and a jungle of stems in the background.


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## Jeff5614

+1 on the Giesemann combo.


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## hbosman

I use a combination of Giesemanns Mid Day and GE Starcoats and it works quite well for me. The Mid Days look too yellow to me so I balance that out with the GEs which look a little bluer. The GEs save me a little money over the Giesemann Aqua Floras. The GEs also have slightly more PAR than the Mid Days as well.

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_39_448&products_id=2621

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_39_130&products_id=482


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## shaman

NJAquaBarren said:


> Geissmann midday and flora are great. Get 2 of each. As Hoppy said,4 bulbs will give your fish a suntan and raise a lot of algae.


The width of the tank is 24" so it will be ok to get one midday and one flora and just space them apart to get the spread, right? 2x24w sounds like a good idea, will give it a go.
thanks.


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## NJAquaBarren

Spread is limited by your fixture. Most 2-bulb fixtures mount the bulbs close together. Two 1-bulb fixtures would offer placement flexibility. If you haven't bought a fixture yet, Catalina Aquariums would build you a 2-bulb fixture in a 4-bulb housing and spread then out accordingly.

AB


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## Mr. Fisher

+2 on the giesemann midday and aquafloras.

I don't think the giesemann middays are yellow at all.

I have two of each in my Tek fixture over a 55. I'm growing HC with no algae.


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## thefishman84

So everyone mentions the aqua flora in conjunction with the midday. Is the super flora just a newer label for the aqua flora, or are they different bulbs all together?


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## bigsea

Are you using co2 mr.fisher?

Im about to get a quad t5 soon for my 55 will be definitely bulb shopping soon


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## Aquaticz

Wouldn't 4 be way over kill


Regards,
Aquaticz


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## Raymond S.

Lots of T5 fixtures that will hold 4 bulbs will work/w only two bulbs in them.
Two T8 bulbs is enough for a 55g tank if you have one of those diamond plate
fixtures from the Home Depot. So you know that the T5HO fixture will be overkill even
with injected CO2 in some cases. Raising it up off the tank becomes necessary in
some of those cases. But then a Coralife fixture has such poor reflectors that 4 bulbs may be what is needed. So like I said up front they can always remove a couple of the bulbs when they find out how much algae the four bulb fixture will create.


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