Arcadia Tropical Tubes

[adam98150]

Ive decided to buy a few low-light level plants, eg. Java moss etc. Will two of these 18" bulbs be any good (15g tank)?
Also what else would you suggest to keep plants bright and green?

Thanks in advance, Adam.

Ps. Whats the difference between the arcadia freshwater tubes, and the arcadia tropical tubes?

 

[Ginge]

Yes it will be good but with that much light you might want to inject Co2 into the tank other wise you could start to see some algea issues. The differemce between the two is the light spectrum and both are good bulbs alot af planted hobbiests go with the freshwater bulbs.

 

[Mako Man111]

Ive decided to buy a few low-light level plants, eg. Java moss etc. Will two of these 18" bulbs be any good (15g tank)?
Also what else would you suggest to keep plants bright and green?

Thanks in advance, Adam.

Ps. Whats the difference between the arcadia freshwater tubes, and the arcadia tropical tubes?

You will have 2wpg rigth? So your right on the boarder of needing co2, I'm gona say you don't need it if you plant very heavily, but if you get algae you know the reason. A weekly dose of Seachem Flourish should help keep them green.

 

[adam98150]

Thanks, ive just ordered two tropical tubes. They should arrive in a few days.

 

[robjack]

I've the same combination of tropical/freshwater tubes in my 24*12*12 tank with reflectors, and don't really have any algae issues. In smaller tanks like this, the WPG rule tends to break down, and my Otos take care of any algae that does appear. I do however does Flourish Excel (1ml per day), so perhaps this helps keep any algae at bay.

Rob.

 

[George Farmer]

With two Arcadia Original Tropical tubes you will get a very purple light.

The difference between the Arcadia Orginal Tropical and Freshwater is huge. The OT is low intensity and gives a very purple/pink hue which is good for bringing out reds and blues.

The FW is full-spectrum (7500K) and much higher intensity, it is great for brining out the greens of the plants.

Ideally you should mix the two to get good colour rendition. If you want pure growth then 2 x FW would be my choice.

CO2 is not essential but it would help keep your plants "bright and green". DIY is cheap and effective. I can also recommend the Nutrafin units. Failing that then as suggested Seachem Flourish Excel is good (a liquid form of carbon).

 

[adam98150]

...Thanks...Ive ordered now but what ever...
Do you have the bulb?

 

[George Farmer]

I have used the FWs and OTs - also a lot of other tubes. Now I use Interpet Daylight Plus (6500K), a very good tube IME.