[earthgirl]

And how do I know if I have one?

I still have the bulb that came with the hood set-up so I assume it isn't full-spectrum.

I only have 3 little plants - amazon sword and peacock fern. Hope to add more down the road as $$ allows.

 

[fish keeper 2013]

It is not necessary... But definitely prefered by your plants.

Also, peacock fern is not aquatic, it will die and rot.

Anything in petsmart that is listed semi aquatic have to be at least partially out of the water or else they will die.

 

[Geomancer]

Generally fluorescent tubes will have their color temperature printed on them. This isn't always the case with ones marketed for aquariums unfortunately.

Anyways, it doesn't need the word 'full spectrum' in its name. What you want is a color temperature in the range of 5000K to 7000K. The K stands for degrees Kelvin, which is the unit of measurement for a light sources color spectrum.

 

[Byron]

I concur with what has been said here. However, one has to add that not all tubes, even with the right K, are equal. If you tell me the tank size and the tube length, I can suggest those that will work and some that will not.

Byron.

 

[earthgirl]

Also, peacock fern is not aquatic, it will die and rot.

Well that's annoying. I am actually guessing at what it is based on pictures; for WHATEVER REASON I failed to write down what I bought before throwing away the container!

Thanks for your reply.

 

[earthgirl]

I concur with what has been said here. However, one has to add that not all tubes, even with the right K, are equal. If you tell me the tank size and the tube length, I can suggest those that will work and some that will not.

Byron.

29 gal. tank. Tube length is 23".

Thanks for your reply. I am still getting the hang of the notifications - I did not receive emails for these replies (although I did for others) and thought no one had answered, which had me wondering if the question was so stupid no one bothered. :shock:

 

[Byron]

29 gal. tank. Tube length is 23".

Thanks for your reply. I am still getting the hang of the notifications - I did not receive emails for these replies (although I did for others) and thought no one had answered, which had me wondering if the question was so stupid no one bothered. :shock:

I did some experiments with tubes on this very size tank, with the same length T8 tube. The only tubes that will give you decent plant growth are the Life-Glo or the ZooMed UltraSun. There may be others I didn't try, but go with either of these and you will have sufficient light for low and moderate light requirment plants. I use the Life-Glo, as I can't get ZooMed locally. Photo below is my 29g with this tube.

 

[earthgirl]

Thanks! What a pretty tank!

 

[Lauren6214]

you tank looks really nice!