水草情迷

Hi guys, I m confused and i need some suggestion for my 30L aquarium? (Kotobaa 450, 18")
I shop around FS today.
1)18" 8wX4 T5 ($240)
2) 20" 16wX3 T5HO ($210)
3) 18" 11wX2 PL ($210)

some sales told me that i dont need 2) because it's too strong for 18"....
but wouldnt it be better to get 20" with the same price higher output??

thanks in advice...

you forget to tell what is inside your tank

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友朋知所剔，何患少交遊。

oh i forgot,

NOT陰草, "sun grass"
thanks

2) 20" 16wX3 T5HO ($210

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友朋知所剔，何患少交遊。

All of them are suitable for 18'' tank actually, depends on how high your tank is
For me, i will use 24w pl x2 , as' sun grass ' need more light than other grass
btw, how high is your tank?

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閒來養魚種草樂；悠哉生活過一天

I dont know, Kotobaa brand 450, 18"....

just to confirm it's 450cmx300cmx350 (38L)
so it probably need 38watt?

i got t5 cyber aqua16wX3 today,
i hope it's not too strong for my little aquarium.

thanks for help

the number of watts (power) is ok!! But the quality of lights ("K" = kelvin) is not so suitable for plants...... 16W T5HO only has 12000K, however, most aquatic plant prefer 6500-8000K.

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AWTH-Aqua BLOG & 我的鯛琶堡全景

the sales told me that the best light for plants is 10000k when i asked him shouldnt i use 6500k...damn it

can i change the bulb inside (6500k)??

for 16", there isn't any tube in 6500K!!! Only 10000K or 12000K, I don't really remember!

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AWTH-Aqua BLOG & 我的鯛琶堡全景

oh sheet....i really should have studied more before making this decision...
but i will go with 10000k, i am just a newbie
thx folks

there will be no bubbles produced from your grass with this lamp...according to my friend's experience
because it's 10000K

I don't recommend the 16w x 3 T5HO for 18" planted tank. I do worry about the issue of limited choice of replacement T5HO tube at this specification.

10000K, actually plant will still grow, but unfortunately higher K value introduce more blue shading in your aquarium, and that is good for algae. Thats why we recommend 5200K to 8000K in general, but that doesn' tmean 4000K and 10000K can't support aquaplanting at all.

Acutally, 4000K is quite good for plants, but bad for viewing.

I go alone with the suggestion to use 24W PL x2, I suppose friends all know that I am a fan of PL, I always prefer PL over T5 or T5HO, but I'll still opt for T5HO when I really need the extra penetration power.

My second choice is T8. I think good T8 tube definite better then Philips 865 PL, but they cost more, can't work with deeper aquarium, and might not be ideal for HK style aquaplanting as all too often I saw plants all jamed up in an aquarium leaving no space at alll (include my own aquariums), so we need slightly stronger penatration when compare to other not-so-dense setup.

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thank you very much everyone, your tips is very detail and helpful for a newbie like me.