I've had three bulbs (I don't know what these things are--they came in
a blister pack from WAL-Mart; they look kinda like java fern to me,
but I'm a COMPLETE newbie to plants) doing very poorly in a ten gallon
tank with two 25W incandescent bulbs. They've survived for 2 - 3
months, but the leaves never got over two inches long.

I recently put on two 25W threaded-flourescent bulbs, and the plants
LOVE it. The sparse, stubby leaves have now been replaced by
numerous, leaves 6" - 8" long and 2" wide (oh yeah--the algae loved it
too. All four sides glowing green and my plants were all hairy until
I added an otto and 4 amanos).

I'm very intrigued by them, I can get the bulbs relatively cheaply

I paid $20 for a five-pack at Sam's Club. Packaged as 100W
replacements (Lights of America brand, I think).

and I have an extra 10 gallon incandescent hood.

That's what I was replacing, but the bulbs I bought are just too big.
I had to put on a glass top and build a hood. I don't know how
humidity-sensitive the ballasts are--the bulbs in my incandescent hood
were constantly being sprayed with water.

I'm wondering if they would be decent lights for a planted tank. If
I had one flourescent with a GE sunshine or plant&aquarium bulb and one
cheap incandescent hood with two PC's in it, what level of light would this
provide?

I can't answer this. I could find no spectrum listed on the packaging
for these bulbs. However, I have 5 watts per gallon over 10" of
water--everything I've read tells me that this should be good enough
for my first try.

---Vic