# Which bulb to use ??



## sneakerfreak (Mar 26, 2010)

hello guys ,,

i just recently upgraded to a coralife 36" t5HO dual lamp fixture for my 30 gallon long planted tank.it came with two bulbs 1-10,000K and 1-actinic bluelight. I want to produce the maximum growth with my plants but im not sure if i should stay with the blue actinic bulb. Any recommendations to which bulbs i should mix to promote more growth for my plants. Thanx!!


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## Tark77 (Sep 6, 2010)

The best bulbs are between 6000-7000K. I think they say that 6400 is the best, but anywhere close to that will do the trick.

your actinic bulbs are useless on plants. The 10000K will work ok, but not nearly as well as a 6400 K bulb.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Tark77 said:


> The 10000K will work ok, but not nearly as well as a 6400 K bulb.


10000K bulbs will work as well as 6400/6500K bulbs.

The colour temperature of bulbs does not really matter as much as the intensity of the lighting. Kelvin temperature has more of an aesthetics feature, more than anything else.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

I personally prefer the whiter look so 10k bulbs look nice to me. Maybe a mix of 10k and 6500k would work too? I'm just not a big fan of the yellow look.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

gucci17 said:


> I personally prefer the whiter look so 10k bulbs look nice to me. Maybe a mix of 10k and 6500k would work too? I'm just not a big fan of the yellow look.


As mentioned, any combination works, as long as it appears aesthetically pleasing to you. I personally don't like 10000K because it is too blue.


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## sneakerfreak (Mar 26, 2010)

*bulbs ..*



Darkblade48 said:


> As mentioned, any combination works, as long as it appears aesthetically pleasing to you. I personally don't like 10000K because it is too blue.


i have the 10000k daylight and actinic bluelight ..i dont really like the blue actinic ,, its just too blue .. can i mix 2 x 10000k bulbs ?? or its too much ??


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

sneakerfreak said:


> i have the 10000k daylight and actinic bluelight ..i dont really like the blue actinic ,, its just too blue .. can i mix 2 x 10000k bulbs ?? or its too much ??


Actinic light does not do much for plants, but some people like to use them to make their aquarium blue.

If you do not like it, you can take it out, as you have already suggested.


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

6400k and 10k is a nice, white light.
its what I have in my tank.


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