Plant light

[AABatteries]

I'm probably going to be replacing my 15w t8 fluorescent fixture, with a 48w or 96w t5 fixture. And where I'm buying it comes with an option to choose what bulbs to have it shipped with. And pink is an option so, my question is: Are the pink bulbs for plants?

[smaug]

Yup the pinkish bulbs are pretty good,I have one in my t5 ho fixture.Is it a current fixture?

[AABatteries]

Nope, fishneedit.

[Fishguy2727]

I can't stand the look of those pink-tinted bulbs. They turn the tank way too reddish for me. I use 50/50s or blue-white bulbs, not the reddish white ones.

The plants still do great with them.

[Algenco]

plants do better with more red in the spectrum

[AABatteries]

With the 2x24 I would do 1 pink 1 10k white. And with the 4x24 I would do 1 pink and 3 14k white(they only have 14k and 20k). The 1 pink with 3 whites wouldn't probably look too bad. I'll try to have to find some pics on the web.

[Algenco]

10k and up will encourage algae growth

[NickFish]

I tossed all the pink bulbs my fixture came with.

Red light penetrates the deepest, so on deep tanks the pink bulbs reach further.

But the pink bulbs put out less lumens anyways, so the penetration is the same as a 6700K bulb.

I use half 6700K and half 10000K on my tanks. I like the look of 10000K so I put those bulbs towards the front, and I like 6700K effects on my plants, so I put it towards the back.

[AABatteries]

Okay, so I guess I'll get the all 10k white, and take out 1 bulb and save, and get a 6700k to replace. Oh, and I've decided to go with the 2x24w fixture.

[Fishguy2727]

Yes, but it doesn't have to look red, just have enoug red. You can visually balance that with blue lights with higher Kelvin ratings. The 50/50s I use are half 6500K and half actinic, so overall they are probably about 12,000K or so. Plants do great and there is no to minimal algae.

Actually red is the first color lost in water, blue penetrates the farthest.
Look ]HERE ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.) for image.