I own a 6 bulb tek light on 90 gallon planted tank.
I was wondering does the type of bulbs impact the grow rate of my plants?
Right now this is my configuration
4 Giesemann actinic
1 Giesemann Pure actinic
1 Giesemann aquaflora
all HO
Thanks
Actinic for plants wouldn't do much for their growth in my opinion. Maybe I am wrong but don't plants want more of the Red / Yellowy spectrum for growth? Nice 2700K-6500K lights.
I would change them to Giesemann midday bulbs for sure. keep an actinic or two for color in fish
A combination of Aquaflora and 6500K daylight bulbs like the Midday works well for me, healthy growth and good color.
Pick any color you like 6000K +/- 3000K (approx), anything beyond that range can't be utilized by plants. "You like" means pleasing your eye.
UV lights (actinic) emit low nm spectrum light and it will be used by the plants, but it does not provide the fuller range that generally benefits plants. It's more of a waste to use these bulbs in place of 6700k lights for example. But they will benefit the plants, in a very limited range.
2700k - Good for flowering
5000-8000k - good for growth
Actinic - Good for looking pretty
I would probably go with 3x6500k, 1x10,000k, and 2x actinic. Still looks nice, but you'll get the growth you want.