Is This a Good T5?

[ianeberle]

Is anyone familiar with this light?

Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

I want to replace my 15W standard fluorescent in my 10 gallon with something a bit more adequate for growing plants. I found this for $55 and compared to most other T5 20'' lights I have seen, they start at about $99 or so.

I'm not asking if this light compares to the $300 models, I just want to know if it will work like it's supposed to. I can always upgrade later, but budget is an issue right now and $55 would be a good price.

 

[jackwagon]

Is anyone familiar with this light?

Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

I want to replace my 15W standard fluorescent in my 10 gallon with something a bit more adequate for growing plants. I found this for $55 and compared to most other T5 20'' lights I have seen, they start at about $99 or so.

I'm not asking if this light compares to the $300 models, I just want to know if it will work like it's supposed to. I can always upgrade later, but budget is an issue right now and $55 would be a good price.

I'm not sure if I am 100% correct buy those lights might actually be too strong. It will grow all kinds of algae. You would need pressurized co2 at least. I would opt for a single t-5 or even a t-8 (I only run a t-8)

 

[ianeberle]

I have a 15W single T8 right now. The color seems pretty dull in my opinion.

 

[jackwagon]

I have a 15W single T8 right now. The color seems pretty dull in my opinion.

Maybe, but I would only run a single bulb. I only run a t-8.

 

[ianeberle]

Do you use CO2?

What about this one?

Aquarium Lighting T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture: AquaticLife T5 HO Dual Lamp Light Fixtures

 

[jackwagon]

Do you use CO2?

What about this one?

Aquarium Lighting T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture: AquaticLife T5 HO Dual Lamp Light Fixtures

No I dot use co2 or dose anything. What are the demeans ions of your 10? Mine is only 20" long so I only needed a single strip light. The shortest fw one I see there is 30". I would look into something like this.

 

[jackwagon]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002AS5B4/ref=mp_s_a_4?pi=SL75&qid=1349921966&sr=8-4

 

[ianeberle]

They have a 20" 36W Freshwater, CD-73801, $99.99 option there.

What is the wattage on your light? Mine just seems dull in my opinion, but I may be used to my 30W one I have in my 36 gallon tank that is a natural daylight lamp.

 

[fort384]

There were some reports of Odyssea fixture catching fire awhile back. Not seen any recent problems, but not sure if they retained their UL listing or not... something to be aware of.

You can check fish need it;lights; food;Sponge for a good budget t5ho.

Also, yes that would be too much light on a 10. And that says a lot coming from me

Also, for t5ho fixtures, you want individually reflected bulbs - if they aren't individually reflected it pretty much eliminates the advantage of using an HO bulb.

 

[jackwagon]

Only 15 watts I believe. It works fine for me and looks ok

 

[ianeberle]

That link you gave me doesn't have any 20'' fixtures. The smallest is 24''

 

[ianeberle]

Anyone know anything about compact fluorescent lighting?

Small Aquarium Lighting: Mini Compact Bulbs

 

[fort384]

That is true, however I have seen folks put a 24" fixture over a 10 gal tank, if you have your heart set on t5ho.

You could consider LED too. You could get a decent LED for a 10 that would grow plants.

 

[fort384]

This one for instance... Archaea LED light fixture 45cm (clamp-on) All white LED [LED-A45W] - $59.99 : Aqua Forest Aquarium, ADA USA, Aqua Design Amano

 

[ianeberle]

Thanks for the link. Now I have to decide which to buy

 

[fort384]

I would strongly consider LED. While they are still relatively new, they have enjoyed a ton of success in the last couple of years. They run cool, last for 10+ years without bulb replacement, and work really well.

I have run CF fixtures as well - they work well enough on a 10 gallon sized tank. T5HO would probably be overkill unless you want to go PPS Pro and inject CO2.

Overall, LED would be my rec.

 

[jetajockey]

A simple 2 bulb cfl setup is really cheap and plenty of light for a 10.

On an interesting side note, this updated par chart has fni with surprisingly low par readings. The claim is that the ballasts they use are low quality. The oddysea numbers seem too good to be true, as well, but I'm in no position to question their testing accuracy.

From http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=184368

 

[fort384]

LOL Not sure I would call 50 umol at the substrate low in a 10 gal low tech... probably a bit of overkill there, as I said. I would be curious if the issue is with the ballast or the reflectors... David, do you recall seeing where there was discussion on this and where this was posted? Last PAR comparison chart I saw had them on par (no pun intended) with a current USA t5ho... middle of the road as far as t5ho's go. If they are this crappy, I would stop recommending them.

Yes, a CFL fixture would work just fine. In the long run, LED is cheaper to run, and cheaper overall (with no bulb replacements). CFLs have to be replaced every 6-12 months, over 10 years, so a dual fixture would be like, what, $120-$200 not factoring inflation?

Of course, most of us aren't looking at the cost of a fixture over 10 years, so this might be an invalid argument I still stand by my LED rec. I am *probably* a bit biased, but I think aesthetics also matter, and you can't deny those flat LED fixtures look cool as well.

 

[jcolon]

I would strongly consider LED. While they are still relatively new, they have enjoyed a ton of success in the last couple of years. They run cool, last for 10+ years without bulb replacement, and work really well.

I have run CF fixtures as well - they work well enough on a 10 gallon sized tank. T5HO would probably be overkill unless you want to go PPS Pro and inject CO2.

Overall, LED would be my rec.

+1 with Fort! Couldn't agree more. SERIOUSLY CONSIDER LED's. T5HO's on a 10's going to be a lot of light. Are you looking to do relatively lower light plants? LED's I seriously feel do not get plant growing credit they deserve (though T5's and CFL's are still top.)

Consider my 75gal as an example. I'm running two 17 inch Marineland Hidden LED's and a Marineland Single bright 36inch (doesn't even span the length of the tank)LED. By all accounts, these lights should have NO business growing any plants. Their light output should barely qualify as very low light if you go by lumens /Par etc... YET all my plants ... even my Amazon Swords are growing and putting out new growth.

I ran a single T8 fixture for a year and a half both a daylight bulb and then to the Floramax bulb and my plants grew slow. In the last 4 months, my Swords have just taken off. The only other thing I've done different is dose Osmocote instead of root tabs.

 

[tiger terror]

This is my 10g plannted which I use 1 12" Finnex led fixture at 7000k...I get excellent growth from this fixture..