Bulb recommendations?
 

I will be setting up a 10 gallon tank with the 24" Hagen T5 double bulb fixture. Already have the fixture so I am set on using this, as nice as MH would be I will work with what I have for right now.
I know that Hagen makes T5 bulbs and with this I was thinking of a Marine-Glo/Power Glo combo but I am afraid it might be a little too dark or too blue for my liking. Does anyone have any suggestions for other brands of bulbs that might look a bit nicer or will the Hagen ones be just fine? Will be sticking to the "easy" stuff for right now, mushrooms, xenia, GSP etc.
Thanks for your help,
Kelly

tagging along; I'm looking to upgrade the bulbs in my 24" nova extreme and am wondering about bulb combinations... any replies, anyone?

For regular T5 bulbs I can't help you..

As for T5HO bulbs, I've heard a good 2 bulb combo is an ATI Aquablue Special and an ATI Blue+ will give great par of any combo and a good color combo (cool whitish/blue). Others will likely suggest Geismann bulbs and other brands too which are great bulbs in themselves.

I'm currently trying to source the ATI bulbs myself but am having a hard time sourcing any. Lots of place have them in 36" and 48" but not 24". If anyone knows of any locally or where I can order them in Canada please let me know!

Here's a good site comparing the par produced by various bulbs from different manufacturers.

http://sites.google.com/site/tfivetesting/par

I ended up buying 2 Aquatic Life bulbs - one is 10000 K and the other is Actinic 420/460 nm bulb.

I like the combination as it brings out coral colours but also is not too blue (which is what I was afraid of). I likely would have selected the Geismann bulbs had I heard of them first but so far these are working out well.