Plant lighting

[RainbowDragon28]

So I ordered the corallife t5 ho 24" dual lighting system for my partners tank and was given the 411 that I should replace the actinic tube that comes standard with a tube that is more useful for plants. Which flurosent tube should I replace the actinic tube with. The bulb that is not being replaced is the 10,000 K daylight. What should be accompanied with this? Is the Zoo-Med Plant bulb 5,000 K okay? Or should I go with one that is closer to 6,500 K bulb?

[MCHRKiller]

Just get a 6500K GE bulb, they are cheap and have a very good PAR reading. 10000K and 6500K also look great together and offer a good plant spectrum. Do be warned T5HO are very intense lights...you will need to raise the fixture off the rim of the tank or invest in some CO2.

[RainbowDragon28]

Thank you, we have been reading into CO2 systems.

[ryann]

I would definitely go for a 6500K bulb. They seem to work better for freshwater plants. Even when the 10000K bulb goes bad I would consider making it both 6500K bulbs instead of another 10000K but that is up to you. Your plants should be fine with a 6500K and a 10000K.