T8 aquarium lights...need advice

[Ziggy909]

Hi

I was hoping somebody could enlighten ..(Bad Pun...!!!)me as to which t8 tubes i need to use for better plant growth...

i currently have an arcadia overhead luminarie 3x38w tubes on a 250liter tank... 48"L x 24" in height .... i am aware that i need to upgrade to a t5 4x 54w system to get my alloted 2.5 watts per gallon..but thats for another day...

the lights i have are 6-8 months old and have 2 marine white tubes and 1 marine blue...the growth has been ok, but not what it should be, so i am plannig to buy proper tropical tubes as replacements as they need replaced anyway..

is there any brand name that is better for growth, or what kelvins should i go for... i think kelvins represent the colour spectrum..

any help or advice would be appreactied

[benny]

Arcadia has a selection of different tubes for differing aquatic needs. They are fine and good value for money.

Brands like ADA and Dennerle carries a premium, and I assume it to be the same in the UK. Other alternatives would be Sera and I'm sure there are a lot of other American brands in the UK too.

To be honest, some of us just use conventional tubes from Phillips, NEC, Hitachi, etc, they also have extra bright series and have proven to be no less effective. The only thing is that it's not quite as orangy or pinkish so it's less attractive to the eyes sometimes.

Cheers,