"Brian S." wrote in message
news:Kagbd.463410$8_6.350759@attbi_s04...

As an idea, I purchased the Satellite Compact Fluorescent which provides 65
watts of light. The bulb that I received with the light was one of those
"SmartPaq" bulbs that has half of the bulb at Actinic 460 nm and the other
half at 10,000K for viewing and intensity.

I have had the light on my 29 gallon aquarium for two weeks now and I am
amazed how fast my plants are growing now. However, I am finding myself
with green glass because the algae has really taken off.

Chances are that you will find yourself with ongoing algae problems. The bulb
you bought is intended for marine tanks. For freshwater planted tanks, bulbs
with lower color temperature are typically used. (Most people stay in the
5000-6000K range, but some go as low as 3500K.) The high blue content
and low red content of the bulb you have does not match the absorption
spectrum of plants very well, but algae seem to like the blue light just fine.

If your algae go out of control, you may want to try a bulb with a lower
color temperature.

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com