Which bulbs are best?

[jd_energy]

I would like some opinions on this. I had incandescent bulbs in my two ten gallon tanks before but switched to flourescent. The incandescent bulbs definately let off more heat. But now that I have flourescent, I seem to have more of a problem with algae(brown/rust color), used to be green in color. Also my plants don't seem to grow as well, if that makes any sense. Should I switch back to incandescent or stick with the flourescent? I like the light that the flourescent gives off, but the effects seem to be damaging

 

[CoNMaN]

you need more power since you switched to flourescent. Brown algea thrives in low light. So maybe you can get another tube and put it up there too.

 

[wayne]

What wattage were the incandescent? 40, 60, 75's?

 

[jd_energy]

There is no room for another tube, unless I could find a hood with double fixtures in it. The wattage on the incandescent was 15w and I had 2 in each tank so 30w total. I couldn't find a wattage on the flourescent, but it is a 18" tube.

 

[TygGer]

Most 18" tubes are 14-15 watts.

 

[wowza]

So when people quote 2-3 watts per gallon, what wattage are they talking about? Flourescent, incandescent?

Reason I'm asking is that I'm looking at upgrading my flourescents to compact flourescents. I've been looking at the bulbs and some are rated at 30W but then they mention as a side note that this 30W bulb puts out the same amount of light as a 75W incandescent bulb. So which wattage do I use as my number to calculate wattage per gallon?

Thanks.

 

[jd_energy]

I think I may go back to the incandescent, I think the fish like it better. The only thing I like about the flourescent is the type of light it gives off.