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i have tried out the 24" 20W Aqua-Glo, Power-Glo, Sun-Glo, and Life-Glo II bulbs by Hagen from the local Petco, but none have really been exactly to my satisfaction. I bought the strip-light housing used and am not sure what its maximum wattage is, but none of the lights illuminate my tank to the degree that I would prefer. The 18,000K temperature seems to be the most attractive out of what I tried (6700K, 4200K), although I hear 10,000K is nice as well. The nearest fish store other than petco is about 20-30 minutes away, so I'd rather figure out what I need/want before making several back-and-forth trips. any ideas on what direcetion I should go?

additional Q: Are there any 20W bulbs that will provide this temperature with more lux?

Lighting a tank can sometimes be a bit tricky what with all the numbers they insist on throwing around.

none of the lights illuminate my tank to the degree that I would prefer

What exactly is the problem. Do you want it Brighter? Do you not like the Color? Or is it a situation where you're not getting the plant growth you want?

Unlike screw in bulbs you cant just switch a 20watt bulb with a brighter 40 watt bulb. Since wattage (brightness) is generally dependent on lenght you need a longer bulb (therefore longer fixture) for more wattage to get the tank brighter. Confused yet :%)

Unfortunatly I'm seeing that you just might need to get a dual bulb strip in order to get what you're looking for but that depends on exactly what you're looking for. Answer above questions *points to top of post* and we should be able to help out some more.

^_^[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

Hmm - yeah, everything you said makes sense (although I didn't realize that I would need a longer bulb to get more wattage - no wonder I had such a hard time trying to find a 40watt 24"!!! ) The color that I currently have works perfectly fine, although I'd be willing to sample whatever as long as it would still look generally bright and white. I just thought that the 6700K looked a little too yellow for my tastes. I don't have any real plants, as it's a cichlid aquarium, so it's basically just for looks.

Also, it seems as if the aquarium rocks lack the contrast they had in my previous 20G All-Glass Aquarium Kit (15W, don't know the temperature though). Would this be the brightness or due to color?


Thanks for your help so far

Last edited by ookluh at 20-Apr-2005 17:22

Last edited by ookluh at 20-Apr-2005 17:26