T5 Bulb HELP!

Depends, what are you keeping?
Actinics--> For Saltwater...will be useless for plants...and cast a oceany blue to the water (as in saltwater oceans).

6700K--> Plant Bulb...think midday sun

10,000K-->Can use for Plants (may produce unwanted algae though), Very bright full day sun bulb...looks nice on cichlids

Your 55g should be the same footprint as my 90g.
This is what I use--> Current USA Sundial T5HO: : 48 inch 4x54 Watt

The bulbs I run on mine (mind you it's planted) are ran on the timers and are set to alternate for morning>midday>and the lunars auto come on at night in addition to my 1w Coralife Lunar on the side wall.

My bulbs are:
[*]TWO 54W Aqua Flora T5 HO Fluorescent by Giesemann
[*]TWO 54W 6000K Midday Sun T5 HO Fluorescent by Giesemann
you can see various photos to give you an idea of what the lighting looks like by viewing my 90g which is linked in my signature.

 

coralife fixtures are on sale at petsoulutions.com

the T5 I have is a 36" and its 39w per bulb at 6700K

 

I think its drfoster and smith not PetSolutions.

 

Very good prices

<a class="postlink" href="https://www.blocklighting.com/p-59958-f28t5865.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://www.blocklighting.com/p-59958-f28t5865.aspx</a>
(6500K Daylight Bulb)..I run this type of bulb

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=48%22+28watt+bulb&oe=UTF-8&show=dd&cid=15411045901108365987&sa=title#p" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... sa=title#p</a>
&
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.aloha-aquariums.com/servlet/the-22/Coralife-Lamp-10000K-T5/Detail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.aloha-aquariums.com/servlet/ ... -T5/Detail</a>
(10000K Full Strong Sun)

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=48%22+28watt+bulb&oe=UTF-8&show=dd&cid=2749711362821317914&sa=title#p" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... sa=title#p</a>
(Plant/fish enhancer)...I run this type of bulb too

usually CheapPetProducts.net has really good prices...but they lack any descriptions for the most part. I always find the descriptions elsewhere so I know what I'm getting first...then I check them out and a few others to get the best price.

 

power glow (by Hagen right?) will be brighter and better for plants than the other one, but with a 18000K rating you might have algae issues.

I know it's considered a high intensity full spectrum bulb and claims to be for plant growth, but I'd be worried that without co2 you might run into as stated before...an algae issue.

But out of the two choices you list, I'd choose the power glow if going with plants...from the reviews I've seen on the other one users claim it barely grows low light plants and it's not a bright light at all.

 

18k will be algae issues, 6700K promotes algae growth but 18k will more then likely give it green water syndrome.

 

my 6500 t5 40w daylight bulbs grow some decent algae. and its thick algae, almost moldy. but the lights are bright...

my plant/aquarium light at 20w made my cichlids colors look NICE.

i would like to try those full strong sun lights that you speak of dawn but im pretty sure it will make the algae that much worse.

idk, one day ill find the right lights.

 

what is the difference between the t5 and t8 bulbs beside the size?

 

T5 is higher output I believe.