[Moment]

It's so much better to know why you are doing something the way you are doing it than to just hope blindly it works out right. That's why I started digging though all the information I could find.

I'm really trying to justify the amount of money that my T5 setup cost me, and I want to make sure I got the right bulbs considering the cost.

So I guess given all you know about this, and that I am only starting to cobble it together, I will ask you a question. Which should I have bought?

I bought Hagen T5 linear bulbs based on the relative power that is shown in the spectrum. Thing is... as you said and I understand now, they do not necessarily reflect what the bulb actually puts out. The bulbs I bought were 18000k. The show large blue spike at 430 with smaller mound in blue around 450. Then they show red spike around 600 with smaller red mound around 650. They are Hagen Powerglo. I felt that since it was showing lots of red and blue they would be good for plants. I didn't buy Hagen 6700k Lifeglo because the peak was all in green and I knew that to be why the lumens were so high (3000 per 39watt bulb), and that green had no part in plant growth.

What do you know the Hagen bulbs aside from the fact that they poorly market there bulbs? Do you know where to get an actual spectral graph of their bulbs? One bulb comparison page I referenced in my forums actually showed that Powerglo had rather high Par efficiency. I feel good about this but still wonder based on the high color temp. Obviously it would be strong in blue but what about red? That last question was rhetorical...lol