Yes

all you really need for starting seedlings are cool white fluorescent

generally speaking, aquarium/plant bulbs have a wider spectrum of wavelengths but they often have a lower intensity output (lumens). Of course this depends on wattage used etc..

the lower intensity could be the problem

Here is a link that might be useful: what is a lumen/lux

I use GE Plant & Aquarium lights, and they don't have a yellow tint, they are a cool white with a little bit of a purple tint. Maybe you got some defective lights? Mine always work great.

I agree with mulio that wattage of the bulb could be the issue. It also could be temperature and seed quality.

In noticing this year with two of my fixtures that have aquarium bulbs compared with the rest that have coolwhite "full spectrum bulbs",( high luminary supposedly giving the closest brightness to the outdoors,) the plants under the aquariums grew bigger, faster. All are 40 watt.

Having said that another row of flats were under 60 watt bulbs with no timer. All seem to be reaching the same stage given time. (Some were transplanted at different intrevals))

I am not sure what effect will be had in mid season out in the garden in relation to fruit set, hardiness and disease resistance. I hope my note taking in the log can be kept up so I may be able to tell if there is any difference, but as with all in life .....time will tell.

I could be off base on all of this and Keith would be able to tell us as he is vastly more knowledable and has experience most all of us could only hope to have in regards to the colored berry.

Tom

Forget P&A bulbs. They are a gimmick to make $$. Any bulbs that are 4100k-6500k will work for seedlings and plants in general if you keep the bulbs close to the plants, 1-3 inches.

"aquarium/plant bulbs have a wider spectrum of wavelengths"

That is false. They actually have a narrow spectrum peak of red and blue and the intensity is poor.

There were two GE types of plant growth fluorescent lamps, only one of which was wide spectrum, but it is hard to follow the name changes over the decades. At one point in time, they were called "Sho and Gro" and "Sho and Gro Wide Spectrum." In any case, the wide spectrum bulbs should have "Wide Spectrum" or "WS" written on the bulbs. Here are the spectral density charts of the two types:
Regular:

The regular type was nearly identical to Sylvania Gro-Lux. These looked purplish white. If you have the regular type, see

1. Gro-Lux plus Incandescent is Great Light for Tomatoes

2. How to Easily Supplement Fluorescent with Incandescent Light

It depends on the bulb you get but in general most plant lights have a wider range whereas cool whites and warm whites concentrate output to certain colors. Their output in those shifts are usually more intense.

All you really need for seedlings is the blue range since eventually you will be moving them to sunlight. Cool whites will provide that just fine.

I actually use a bank of cool white CFL's now rather than tube fluorescents because I can get higher light intensities with similar wattage in the same amount of area.