an eight foot long t12 red fluorescent tube put out 560 lumens for 75 watts. this is miserable and puny. a four foot tube costs $14. and it would put out a meager 280 lumens; so, go to the store and buy a t12 ge Kitchen and Bath 4' tube, rated at 3400 lumens.get some red plastic and some clear tape, and MAKE yourself a nice powerful and cheap light.

Thanks cannabisgrower
Yep.. i knew the red bulbs don't put out much light (tho
its even more pathetic than i realized)...but my primary
use is strictly decorative. $14 is deff high, but its not
that much more than i've spent for aquarium bulbs (or even
the green bulbs i one time got)

I've tried taping red plastic over bulbs in the past -
Kitchen & Bath (warm white) looks good but grolux gives a
awesome red ... but in either case it doesn't work that
well... the light and heat from the bulb basically rots
the plastic within a month or so.

Then buy a COLORED SLEEVE, for 3 or 4 dollars. they are designed to fit over the tube, and give you whatever color you like.

Here is a link that might be useful: go here to buy your colored sleeve, this will make your tube go whatever color you like

Thanks for the link cannabisgrower! i may just go that way,
their price doesn't seem too bad (deff cheaper than the local
pet shop that sells those sleeves for fishtanks)

But first i found a seller on ebay that sells grow lights
with red T8's ... i sent them a question to see if they sell
the bulbs by themselves.

there is no better (and cheaper) grow light than the 4100K fluorescent light (cool white), the more lumens the better.

My grow light of choice (for a 2-bulb light) is
1 Grolux + 1 Daylight... i've had the best luck with that
combo (although now i generally go 4 bulbs and use a cool
white & warm white as the 2nd pair of bulbs)
But i'm also growing only normal houseplants & aquarium
plants... nothing expensive or with special light
requirements.

Although i will say: the best (and brightest (by far)) bulb
i ever found is: Philips 5000K Ultralume (those are somewhat
expensive and mainly sold as an aquarium bulb but make a
great plantlight too) ... i've bought other cheaper 5000k
bulbs and the brightness is pathetic even compared to
el-cheapo cool whites.
Cost is the only reason i don't use the Philips 5000K
Ultralume's anymore

an ultralume is a t12 40w.lamp. the xhl tcp lamp is a t8 that will put out the same lumens with just 32 watts, has better maintained lumens, and you can buy it in all of the standard temperatures, for about 1/3 the cost of an ultralume.

Yep its a 40w T12 bulb...but most of my lights are T12 40w
from before the tome 32w t8's existed.
Will deff have to check out the xhl tcp lamps next time
I need bulbs (esp if they have 5000k & higher color temps)
...those OD at 40w should make for great aquarium plants