Lighting Question

[MisterCee]

I found a deal that looks excellent for a 48" Odyssea fixture for my 55 gallon. The price is only $45.90, with bulbs.

It comes with (2) 65watt 50/50 Daylight/Actinic bulbs. When I search on this style, they seem more suitable for a saltwater setup.

Can I get by with using this, and why does this price seem to good to be true?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Colin_BC]

It coiuld be the bulbs are past there prime. Typically you should replace your bulbs every year as they can lose efficiency. I wouldn't bother with it unless you can change the lights to a spectrum better suited for plants at a reasonable price. yes, it sounds like a good price, but it's not the ideal type of light or wattage. Even if there was no actinic, it would still only be anough wattage to put you just over 2WPG. Even at that, unfortunatley it doesn't mention what spectrum/Kelvin rating the lights are. Perhaps if you can find out if you can swicth some 6700K bulbs in there at a reasonable price for the bulbs, it would be a good deal. Otherwise look for lights that are labeled for use in a freshwater planted tank. Coralife has a Freshwater Aqualight power compact series thta is pretty good. Just my 2 cents... HTH


Colin