Lighting Newbie

I am new to planted tanks and therefore trying to figure out proper lighting. My main question is this: Is there any reason to pay my LFS $30 for a 6500k T8 bulb rather than going to Home Depot and picking up a ten pack for the same price? Second question is that I have heard that I need to be replacing these bulbs anywhere from every 6-12 months depending on the source, what is the verdict on this? Thanks for your help!

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Permalink Reply by Peter on September 20, 2013 at 7:15pm

So long the homedepot bulbs are 6500k yo 10000k they should be fine lfs always charge lots more. And u should replace bulbs once a year more or less. It really depends how long you run your lights a day but once a year is typical.

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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Schmidt on September 20, 2013 at 7:16pm

Thanks Peter

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Permalink Reply by David Lucchesi on September 20, 2013 at 7:19pm

My opinion t5s are better but that is your choice and depends on what plants you have and there needs here is a chart that may help I would go to home depot lfs bulbs they just want to make a profit just get a good quality bulb but I would get a lot of opinions before I would make a decision though good luck . http://fishtanktv.com/photo/lighting-chart?context=usert

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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Schmidt on September 20, 2013 at 7:51pm

Thanks David. I am planning on building my own t5 set up for on top but just want to put new bulbs in the current t8's the tank has as I bought it used and they look pretty old and dusty.

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Permalink Reply by alex9j4m on September 24, 2013 at 2:15am

Definitely go with the bulbs from homedepot, and yes you don't want to wait till your bulbs to burn out to replace them, you can replace them anytime between 6-12 months, it depends on your budget. The reason for this is because the bulb will start to lose its strength and color spectrum. Good Luck!