JRunyon21

Right now I have a aqua glo 24" 20W bulb in the standard 30" hood for a 29 gallon aquarium(~24g after gravel and background). That puts me at about .8WPG which I know is not good. I bought the bulb at petsmart before I really knew anything about aquariums. For about 2 months I have been unable to figure out why some of the plants have been dying quite fast. I then realized the bulb I bought was probably the problem.

I did some research and came up with some new light fixtures.

Coralife Freshwater aqualight T5 30 Inch 36 Watt
http://www.aloha-aquariums.com/servl...ualight/Detail
~1.5WPG

Current USA Nova Extreme T5 X2 Freshwater Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 2X24 Watt, 30 inch
http://www.aquarium-supply.biz/Produ...U01138&click=2
~2WPG

30" Freshwater Aqualight w/1-65W 6700K Str
http://www.aquariumguys.com/aqualight5.html
~2.7WPG

Are any of the suggestions I have made good solutions?

Do freshwater plants prefer 6700k or 10000k. Could someone please explain what I need to know about this number and how it applies in general to FW plants? To my knowledge FW prefer lower spectrum lighting(6700k) and SW/reef prefer 10000k and above. Please help

Are any of the suggestions I have made good solutions?

Trio123

Whats the question? Sounds like you got everything right 6700 and 10000k contain both the blue spectrum and the red spectrum that plants need. Below that is more red and above that is more blue. Corals need more of the blue light, I believe. I think either of the second two would work well for medium light level plants.

fishrule101

It all depends on what kind of plants your planning on keeping. I would go with the Nova Extreme. I have something like that and it does wonders on my tank. I think thelighting is diff. in SW thou. Good luck!!

GreenMan13

You are right on. You basically just want a full spectrum bulb for plants. Anything between 5500K and 10000K is pretty even in intensity across the spectrum. 5500K is more yellow/red (warm) while 10000K is more blue (cool) so 6700K would be pretty good. It's more of what one you like the look of best since the growth difference will be pretty small.