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Senior Member
 
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18000K is really only for reef tanks. I think 10000K should be the higher end of the spectrum needed for planted tanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Cut HereIf life gives you lemons, squeeze them into people's eyes and run away! }<(((0>
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| Well, just because a bulb is labled as "daylight" doesn't mean it'll give all the benefits of natural sunlight (which is often too strong and produces algae growth). Rather, they just create a natural cast to the light instead of the harsh blue tones or grating yellows that you see in some other bulbs. I use daylight bulbs in my tank and love them; they are compact fluorescents, though. And every bulb is a bit different. I suggest you pick up a bulb with a higher wattage, since that's the best way for you to measure how much light your tank is actually getting. 20 watts over your 36g tank is not a lot - too little to grow most plants, actually. I'd invest in a bulb with more light output for best results, especially since you said you wanted a moderately planted tank. I'd say to shoot for the neighborhood of 60 watts for you tank if that's still the option you want.
In the Mountains Of the Mountains For the Mountains
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Average Member
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18,000K bulbs are generally for reef tanks but people do use them in planted tanks.
You may just have to add more bulbs to get adequate light, the larger the tank gets the more bulbs you will need.
Typically in standard florescent come in:
24" and 20 watts
36" and 30 watts
48" and 40 watts
There are of course the most advanced lighting systems that provide more light, such as T5 HO and Power Compacts. (These are not the same as the screw in variety used in the home.)
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29 gallon f/w various plants and fish.
40 gallon s/w
29 gallon s/w
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| many plants use a very wide spectrum of light greens, blues, reds, even yellow. Algae is also capable of using these colors as well. Most of the plants we use in our tanks seem to favor the range 5500K to 10000K. That's not to say they can't use other spectrums of light. However, most plants will use very little light that is not blue or red. Algae doesn't seem to really care what light is over the tank. That's why most people use that range. To encourage plants to out grow the algae. Try to upgrade the lighting if possible you won't get much growing with what you have now.
__________________________________________ 46 Gallon Tank Planted-1 Female German Ram-5 Gymnogeophagus Sp. Norte-6 Class N Endlers Black Bars (Pure Strain)-4 Otto Cats 25 Gallon Planted (High tech)- Two Bolivian Rams- 10 endlers/guppy cross 10 Gallon Tank Planted. (At the office)-6 Class N Endlers Black Bars (Pure Strain)
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Moderator
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| On all of my planted tanks I used 1 -- white light -- usually 6500 or 7000 K, and 1 -- actinic blue. I'm testing a LumenAqua LED light on a 50 gallon tank I set up to test it, and Seachem's black substrates. The plants are doing incredibly well, and since you can "dial in" what percent you want of each color on the LumenAqua unit, I am running it at 90% red, 90% blue and 50% green. In the enclosed pic you can see the great reds I'm getting, and the excellent plant growth in general -- and this pic is a month ago -- now the tank is even better. 
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Be warned -- everyone at college has a weird roommate. If you don't have a weird roomate -- then you're the weird roommate.
Conan O'Brien, Stuyvesant High School.
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david, whats your Wpg for that tank in the picture?
36 gallon tank: 8 Various cory Cats, 2 Gold Gouramis, 8 Various Platies, 1 German Ram, 2 Fantail Guppies
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