Zoo Med T-8 Flora Sun Max Plant Growth Fluorescent Bulb, 18" L, 15 Watts

To help give you a well rounded view of what kinds of Zoo Med bulbs are out there, I'm going to reference three Zoo Med bulbs I've purchased here on Amazon. I chose to work with the growth enhancing bulbs after we decided to add live plants to our aquarium.With regard to this light, the spectrum of colors are definitely in the range of pinks. My experience was that plant growth accelerated very well. Over a period of just over two weeks, there were some noticeable growth benefits. However, the pink hues seemed oddly unnatural and my family and I found that to be unappealing. On a positive color enhancing note, fish with red colors or red accents became more vibrantly red.Since we weren't wild about the pinkish hues given off by this light, we decided to try  Zoo Med Ultra Sun Trichromatic Super Daylight 6500K Fluorescent Bulb T8 15 Watt, 18-Inch  - This light is more in line with natural sunlight and the color spectrum is in the "yellow" range. In the case of this light, plant growth was also accelerated. However, I noticed that algae growth was stimulated as well. With the Ultra Sun, to use the colors of our fish seemed to wash out; they appeared duller to us. Of course, this light is the most natural in appearance. I think we are just spoiled by the color effects of the other lights.Lastly, I've worked with  Zoo Med Reef Sun 50and50 Fluorescent T8 Bulb 15 Watts, 18-Inch . This is actually the first light we tried (before we began using real plants). This light really isn't geared toward plant growth. It provides light in the short wavelength blue region (more essential for photosynthetic corals and invertebrates). My family and I felt that fish color enhancement was best with this Zoo Med light. In my wife's words, our aquarium "looks like a tropical jewel" with this light. Because of the blue hues of this light, the colors of blue fish are particularly stunning.UPDATE 11/24/2015: Well, things have changed with our aquarium. I have completely revamped it with a dense concentration of plants. I've done a lot of research and I've spoken to a very reputable plant vendor about the ideal light for my situation. My best option has turned out to be the Ultra Sun Trichromatic. When one takes into account the natural colors of both plants and fish, this light provides an environment most akin to nature. The color contrasts are beautiful. Moreover, my plant vendor (sells here on Amazon - SubstrateSource), recommended this light over the other two. The 6500 K output is part of that reason. When also used with Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel, plants will get nutrients they need. I previously mentioned that algae growth was stimulated by this light. I am finding that Excel will help control algae. My plant vendor recommended ten hours of this light per day, flexible give or take two hours.FINAL THOUGHTS:Of course, all the color effects are subjective when it comes to personal taste. I just want to give you a general idea of what your options are based on my experience. If possible, see if your local pet shop carries and uses one or more of these lights. That way you can get a true idea of the lighting effects.FURTHER UPDATE:I am going to try to capture the subtle differences between these lights by posting photos of our aquarium using each one. Photo 1 is the Coral Flora Sun Plant. Photo 2 is the Reef Sun 50/50. Photo 3 is the Ultra Sun Trichromatic Super Daylight 6500.One last thing: You might want to price shop. I've noticed Amazon prices for these lights fluctuate greatly. Sometimes the prices are much better than pet shops and sometimes they are much worse. If this is important to you, you might want to do a little homework before you buy. I wish you much success with your fish keeping hobby!

This was a really good price, and was nice that it fit into the stock light on my tank. However, my plants really didn't like this light. They all died, and I am incredibly disappointed. I'm just going to use the regular florescent bulbs for now. Which made the tank look nicer in my opinion. This Zoo Med bulb brought out the red in the tank, which I didn't like. I prefer the cool colors, and the regular flourescent had more of a blue light effect as opposed to the red.

This bulb works great for my terrarium. The bulb produces a red/purple/pink sort of combination color of light. This is well balanced by the other 6500K bulb I have on top of the tank. I am happy that I now have light in both the blue and red spectrum. The plants are doing well and appear to have more accurate color under the lights with this bulb added.+ Price+ Instant on+ Works with timer+ Specifically for plants+ No buzzing or flickering+ Great for low light plants- No negatives to report_Bottom Line_ Yes, I would recommend this bulb to a friend. It "warms" the color of my terrarium while providing light necessary for maximum plant growth. Some higher light plants I have became leggy and did not flourish under only this bulb. When I moved the plants to the tank with brighter light including one 6500K and this bulb the plants began to thrive. My plants with lower light requirements thrived under this bulb exclusively.

I am not using these for their intended aquarium purpose, but they seem to work well for a grow light on non-aquatic plants, too. I put all our outside potted plants into our basement during the winter, and thought I would replace a couple of the fluorescent overhead lights to see if that would help get some additional growing light to the plants. It seems to have helped over just the normal fluorescent bulbs, as I have had a couple plants start flowering again after I changed bulbs. I don't think I have seen that type of plant flower while I have had them put up for the winter before. These are quite a bit more expensive than a typical T8 bulb, but if they help the plant survival rate, then they will save me some money come next spring.THANKSThanks for reading my review.

I've tried many bulbs over the years.My Main reason for buying a bulb is I want healthy plants in my tank.The bulbs made by Zoo Med have been a favorite choice.Good value and a natural looking brightness in the tank.My plants are doing well, so they are giving this review.This review was given after a couple years of using these.I also have a 48" bulb on a 55 gallon that I am very happy with.Plus they are a good value. Not a bad price compared to some.

This bulb has that purplish-pink glow; like the ones you see above the fish tanks in your local pet store. Its red and blue phosphors and 5000*k color temperature rating really enhance the colors of freshwater tropical fish and live aquatic plants.But it's relatively expensive compared to other 48" t-8 fluorescent bulbs. (You can buy a package of two GE's or Philips t-8's at one of the 'big box' home improvement stores for around eight bucks.) The GE's look off-white in comparison to the Flora Sun (even though they're both rated 5000* Kelvin), but the combined effect of using one of each bulb is like looking at high noon on a warm sunny day in my fish tank.My live plants have begun to put on much new growth since I upped the amount of light in the tank.

I received this on the 6th of Oct. It burnt out today after only being on 9 hours a day.

This light works great and now I can enjoy seeing my fish again since the last light had burnt out.

Good product !