# Alternative Bulbs for Hagen GLO?



## snausage (Mar 8, 2010)

You can use any T5 HO bulb that's the right length. The general consensus is that the geissman bulbs are the best, but they're also about 7-8 bucks more and I don't know of any brick and mortar stores that carry them near me. 

I've used the Hagen Life-Glo bulbs and they seem to work well. Don't get the Power-Glo, b/c their color temp is way too high. I've never used anything over 6700 K.

PS, the glo fixtures are a great choice. I currently own 3 and love them all.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

The main issue for me is price. I want bulbs that will work with my plants, but I'm hoping to get them as Christmas gifts and don't want to blow the budget.

Is there any problem with the WavePoint (Tropical Wave) bulbs? They seem to be the cheapest on DF&S.com, followed by TrueLumen (Flora).

What is the difference between the cheaper bulbs and the expensive ones? What advantage do you get for the higher price? Brighter light, bulb life, lack of color shifting, what?


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## Jaggedfury (Sep 11, 2010)

As far as the fixture, I would go with The 48'' GLO Dual T5HO, they are 2x54watts. The Life-Glo bulbs will work fine on your 55gallon setup. I"m using a 24'' GLO Dual T5HO which only gives me 2x24watts, but it's enough to grow great plants in my 20gallon tank. Not even breaking the 3watts per gallon deal, take in consideration it's 48watts minus the bulbs been running for almost a year and still product great lighting. I will need to replace it soon, maybe another 3 months or so. Check my link below and it will show my 20gallon tank progress using the GLO Dual T5HO fixture.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaggedfury/sets/72157625384819519/show/

The Life-Glo bulbs are excellent. Worth every penny spent.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

I used a Glo fixture for a couple of years and although people knock it for not having individual reflectors, it's a fine fixture IMO. It has a nice wide parabolic reflector that gives you a nice wide spread of light and I had no trouble growing any plants I tried. 

Most any T5HO bulb should fit it. I used Hagen bulbs and then tried Giesemann and once you've gone Giesemann you won't go back, at least I won't. You can pick up Giesemann bulbs online from AquariumSpecialty.com for around $20 for a 48 inch bulb plus very reasonable shipping and packaged very well. Hagen bulbs were over $25 at my LFS last time I looked. Midday or a Midday/Aquflora combo is what you'd want for a planted tank.


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## random_alias (Jun 28, 2005)

I've been meaning to ask this, and since the OP has asked for bulb recommendations and Giesemann has been mentioned, I'm going to ask here, in hopes that the answers will help both the OP and myself...

I understand how differences in bulbs can influence the growth of plants. What I want to know is, how would you Giesemann users describe the color of Giesemann bulbs as it relates to things being visually appealing to the human eye? Are the benefits of Giesemann limited only to healthy plant growth, or does the color spectrum actually enhance the appearance of the plants? If so, in what way? For example, some bulbs bring out the reds and oranges of stems, some bulbs lean towards the green spectrum which makes greens look healthier. What is it about Giesemann?

I have two GLO T5HO fixtures. They are single-bulb fixtures and I use them, evenly spaced, over an ADA 90-P. Two single-bulb fixtures could give me a much better spread over the 18" width than one dual-bulb fixture. Since the 55 gallon is 12" wide, I imagine a dual-bulb fixture would give a good spread. I really like these GLO fixtures. I'm using the Hagen Life GLO bulbs and think the plants look great. I have never seen a Giesemann bulb for comparison.


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## random_alias (Jun 28, 2005)

There's a pic of Giesemann color in this thread...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/107627-giesemann-bulb-should-i-get-midday.html


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## acropora1981 (May 30, 2010)

Wavepoint, Zoomed, Coralife, CurrentUSA, Bluelife, etc. brands all work well for me plant bulb speaking. Just get 6000-10000k HOT5 and you're golden.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

I'm not sure that Giesemann bulbs are better for plant growth than any other brand. I just prefer the appearance over others I've used. To me it's a more natural sunlit look, of course to others it may not be. An Aquaflora will really bring out the reds in your plants. There's a noticeable difference to me in the amount of red you see when using a Midday/Aquaflora combo as opposed to all Middays which is what I'm using now since I tossed all of my red plants.


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## acropora1981 (May 30, 2010)

Jeff5614 said:


> I'm not sure that Giesemann bulbs are better for plant growth than any other brand. I just prefer the appearance over others I've used. To me it's a more natural sunlit look, of course to others it may not be. An Aquaflora will really bring out the reds in your plants. There's a noticeable difference to me in the amount of red you see when using a Midday/Aquaflora combo as opposed to all Middays which is what I'm using now since I tossed all of my red plants.


Agree; however, using a Coralife Colormax (red bulb) or an AquaticLife Roseate (also a pink/red highlighting bulb) mixed with a standard daylight should give similar results.

Random_Alias: "There...are .... FOUR LIGHTS!!!"


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

I thought the Kelvin rating determined how blue or red a light looked. Shouldn't Brand 1's 6500K look the same as Brand 2's 6500K?


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## random_alias (Jun 28, 2005)

acropora1981 said:


> Random_Alias: "There...are .... FOUR LIGHTS!!!"


Two things I want to point out about that incident...

Gul Madred never broke me and, man!, that Taspar egg was good!


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## Sharkfood (May 2, 2010)

Color temperature rating is a strange way to measure things that has little to do with color, although 2 10,000k bulbs from different manufacturers will generally look fairly similar. I have 6,500k bulbs from both hagen and spectralux (ok, the Hagen is actually 6,700k) and they look a bit different. The Hagen light appears noticeably brighter, but then again, the spectralux are growing eggplants, so I'm looking at the lit bulbs, and trying to see through all the floaters that spontaneously appear in my eyes. I have a 10,000K Zoomed bulb in my GLO fixture next to my Hagen lifeglo. I've been doing some experimenting with different bulbs to see what looks best in my aquarium. I've even run 2x 18000k lifeglos. I haven't tried Geisman yet simply because they aren't available locally, and all my bulb purchases have been impulse buys.

It's been my experience that plants will grow just fine no matter what temperature bulb you stick over top of them. This may not hold true with, say for example, a true actinic bulb, but they look bizarre in a freshwater aquarium anyway, unless you're going for that "alien planet" biotope look.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Personally I have always wanted to try the UVL brand Aquasun 10,000K over a planted tank. It's an extraordinarily high PAR producer and has a significant red output as well as blue.


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## acropora1981 (May 30, 2010)

random_alias said:


> Two things I want to point out about that incident...
> 
> Gul Madred never broke me and, man!, that Taspar egg was good!


hehe thats my favorite episode (well...episodes...since its a two parter).


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## Delgriffth (Aug 14, 2010)

i just switched out 2 hagen life glo and 1 650nm roseate bulb with 2 giesmann middays and 1 aquaflora. the life glos had a huge green spike in the spectrum. the middays have less green and more red and blue. i grew anything i wanted with the life glos, so im not knocking them. there are better bulbs out there is all.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Is it better to get two bulbs of the same color/brand or to mix two different colors/brands? Or does that depend mostly on personal taste?

Does anyone know much shipping usually costs from Aquariumspecialty.com for 48" bulbs?


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

Fishly said:


> Is it better to get two bulbs of the same color/brand or to mix two different colors/brands? Or does that depend mostly on personal taste?
> 
> Does anyone know much shipping usually costs from Aquariumspecialty.com for 48" bulbs?


Mixing bulbs is just a matter of personal taste.

I think shipping for 2 bulbs was around $9 last time I ordered. You can just add the bulbs to your shopping cart and it will show shipping charges prior to checkout or you could call or email them. I've spoken with them by phone a couple of times and they're always very helpful.


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