plants turning brown

Rohland

yeah on my old tank I didnt have glass and like Byron said you get mineral deposits. My light doesnt even work anymore.. Not that bad because i needed a new hood and light fixture for the new bulbs.

Byron

On tubes, the Life-Glo or Life-Glo 2 are excellent for planted aquaria, as mentioned earlier, or in combination (since you have two tubes) with another type. Let me know if you want to pursue this.

Maybe you could add to your order? Sometimes this is possible, they would not have shipped it yet if you only ordered it today.

Good choice though, you will have success in my opinion.

Byron.

fighttest

well i went to petsmart today to get lights for the tank and i got a 48 inch t10 40 watt flora glo. i had assumed that by 48 inches it ment it would fit a 48 inch light fixture but no they are actualy 48 inches. does this mean that its not going to fit in the light fixture? if it actualy does fit and the fixture is actualy larger than 48 inches to acomidate for the length of the bulb this wont fit on my tank which is 48 inches in length total. one possible solution i thought of is, is it possible that a 48 inch t8 40watt flora glo bulb will be shorter than 48 inches to acomidate for the 48 inch light fixture? Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: All-Glass Twin-Tube Black Strip Lights that is the link to the light fixture that i bought it says it is compatible with a t10 flora glo but i just dont see how it could fit if the fixture is 48 inches. it also says the fixture is ment for a 55 gallon tank but i figured it would be ok since they both said 48 inches

Byron

You can relax, it will fit. I don't know the technical stuff, but I have 48 inch tanks (a 70g and a 90g standard) and 48-inch fixtures and the 48-inch tubes fit exactly. ... You intrigued me, so I just went and measured one of my 48-inch tubes and from end to end (not including the pins) they are exactly 47 inches, so that's how it's done.

Your new fixture is the same one that I recently bought to replace my old one that after15 years gave out; btw, they cost $240 here. It is a very good fixture, i really like it. The reflector is excellent, and the electronic ballast works very well. It comes with two tubes that are garbage, but I took them out and used my preferred Life-Glo and such.

Did you get two Flora-Glo or just one? Can you exchange it/them? Reason I ask is that although I have never tried this particular tube, I am skeptical that it will be adequate, notwithstanding the blurb that it enhances plant growth. It is 2800K which in my view is too little (should be 5500K minimum, preferably 6500K). You may like it, but I suspect it will appear quite reddish/purplish, given the spectrum graph and low kelvin rating for this tube. You might like it mixed with a Life-Glo 6700K tube to balance. That's your choice, but I would suggest this tube on its own (or with another same) will not be the best. Petsmart will I'm sure exchange it as you haven't used it. We were talking about Life-Glo previously, and I still think that is the best for a planted aquarium and natural colours.

Byron.

fighttest

yeah i was going to mix it with a life glo which i thought you had said would be a good mix but if you think its better to just go with 2 life glo bulbs i can do that

Byron

Try them together, you may like the appearance. I have tried several different tubes before settling on the ones I like, and for the second tube (with one Life-Glo 2) I have different types on each of my three large aquaria. It's up to you. The low kelvin number makes me wonder; too bad I've never tried this one to see it. But on your 50g with one Life-Glo I think you'll probably be fine with the second being Flora-Glo, if you decide you like the appearance.

Byron.

fighttest

well it said it was really high in blue light so im hoping that would really help the plants but if i dont like i can just return it

Byron

Exactly. Once you've tried it, let me know what you think of it. Enjoy. B.

fighttest

i got my light strip in today its exactly 48 inches, as long as the tank, i modded it and put some tabs on the back side so that it wont slide from left to right and isnt going to fall off the aquarium. t10 bulbs worked out i tried the mix of power glow and flora glo but it looked really purple so i returned the flora glo and got another power glo. it still looks a little bit purple but thats as good as its going to get. i also took one of the 15watt fixtures from it and put it on my 10 gallon at my moms house so now there is a fluorescent bulb on that as aposed to a incandesent so it looks alot nicer and more natural and i might put some plants in it.

Byron

You said "Power-Glo", did you really mean that, or Life-Glo? If you have Power-Glo, I would exchange them for Life-Glo. The purple is from the Power-Glo. Life-Glo is straight full spectrum. It's up to you, but this is my recommendation. I've had Power-Glo, but much prefer the Life-Glo.

Byron.