Anyone using T-5 Lighting on their Freshwater Planted?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
D

dapellegrini

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Messages
870
Location
Phoenix, AZ
A friend I work with, who maintains a couple of large, high-tech Reef tanks (180g and 300g I think), turned me on to T-5's instead of what seems to be the much more popular CF hoods. I guess they are much more prevalent in the world of saltwater... He actually swears by MH but was adament that for my application T-5's were the way to go, if I didn't want to invest in MH.

After some research I determined that 216w of T-5 provide just a bit more lumens than 260w of CF. They also supposedly run cooler, last 24mo instead of 18mo and are definitely a few dollars cheaper for the replacement bulbs.

Armed with those ideas I went out and bought the cheapest 216w T-5 hood I could find - Odyssea (I know, I know). I hear A LOT about CF hoods, but I am wondering if there are any other T-5 users that hang out here? I am curious to figure out where my 72g ranks in terms of lighting with only 216w.

As I have mentioned in previous threads I have been very dissappointed with the Odyssea hood that I bought, but I am not completely turned off to the idea of a better T-5 hood. I am planning on trying some high-light/maintenance plants and am wondering if I should stick with a T-5, get a better fixture, maybe with 6 lights (324w) or maybe just go with a solid Coralife 260w CF... Or is my current lighting good enough?

Any other T-5'ers out there?
 
Lets see, I believe it is the twin tube odyssea, 78 watts on 20 gallons.
 
That's virtually 4 WPG, and of T-5! Are you using the Odyssea bulbs, or did you find something else that would fit in your fixture?

Cool tank BTW.

Do you think that 216w over 72g (exactly 3 WPG) is enough to tackle things like Rotala macrandra, assuming all other variables are in place?

http://www.plantgeek.net/plant-185.htm
 
I am using the odysea bulbs, thanks for the compliments on the tank. I would think that it would be enough. I could not say for sure as I have not been fortunate enough to get a clipping of the macranda as of yet.

I will also add that I do not use additives except for excel when I remember to dose...which isnt all that often and definitely without regularity.
 
i like t-8 bubls. i have never used the t-5 but was thinking i would try them in my next hood. i am a DIY kinda guy so u can make a t-5 hood for a quarter of what u would pay in a store. i made my 4X 24" t-8 hood for 30 bucks. and the ballast i used can run up to 4 bulbs at 48" so i can change it whenever i want. i forgot to ask the price on t-5 ballast but i am sure it isnt much more expensive. i but the t-6 bubls that fit into the t-8 ballast. i think lightning rod makes them. great bubls and alot of light.
 
Well counting Toirtis that makes three of us with T-5 hoods.... I guess I didn't realize what an early adopter I was going to be. I went on a crusade for Nerites this last weekend and in discussion with a couple of independant LFS owners, it sounds like CF are on the way out and the T-5's are the new thing. Still lots of stock to sell off though before a real transition can start...

I was also considering doing a DIY T-5, but I don't have a canopy, would be hard to make one for my BowFront that would meet my standards, and to buy one is just over $400 at the LFS... Ideally, I think I would have liked to have 6x T-5's over 72g, but 4 seems to be working out ok. Unfortunately I bought a hood with non-standard length bulbs, so I will probably be buying a new T-5 setup in the not-to-distant future.
 
just make the hood to fit over the square part of your tank. it only needs to be about 7" for 6 t-5 bubls. then just get a glass hood for the tank. if u use sold wood(like pine) and not ply u can just make a square hood and then router all the edges to get a decorative and nice looking hood. then put the ballast on the back of the hood. this will keep it out of view aswell as keep it exposed to the air for good cooling. u will probabaly need 2 ballast to support the 6 bubls but you are still looking at max $150 including wood ballast and accessories. the ballast are extreamly easy to wire up aswell.
 
then just get a glass hood for the tank.
Click to expand...

That may cause a considerable rise in tank temps. I run mine open and it stays in the 78 degree range. Although they do run cooler, it isnt THAT cool.
 
if u get a ballast rated for higher than the bulbs u are running they will barely get above room temp. my bulbs in my hood run so cool that i can simply take them out after running for 10 hours. and they are only just slightly warm to the touch. u could make the hood have small legs so it sits a few inches above the glass. how long is the tank? u could also put in a small cooling fan to keep it even cooler. my bulbs are t-8 so i dont know how that reflects in comparison to t-5s but i cant see it being that much hotter.
 
My tank is 48" long and the hood does get warm/hot to the touch, but it isn't that good of a hood. I had it sitting on top of my glass tops and it actually shattered one of them.

Now my hood is up on legs with no top, and I actually really like it that way.

So what types of ballasts should I be looking for to drive 6x 48" / 54w bulbs?
 
I have 2 t-5 dual units on my planted 55. I just added the second one since I figured one wasn't quite enough. I am very pleased with them. And I DIY'd the hood, so the cost was only the lights themselves.
 
Where is the best place to get the supplies for the T-5's?

Can you get shorter bulbs? I am interested in getting them for my 20 Long, But like someone said, they are new... So I am having trouble finding the stuff, I almost bought a PC hood, but I would rather DIY a T-5 hood...

TIA
-Steve
 
That looks good, I was thinking more of a DIY kit with Ballasts/endcaps etc.

Does that come with legs or anything?

Is 36 watts of T-5 a decent amount of light over my 20 long?

Do the lights look good together or would you suggest picking up some different bulbs?
 
It has some wire legs that extend to either side of the fixture but they are pretty useless for me. I put the fixture on a glass Versa-Top from All-Glass Aquarium and it just rests on the glass. I wouldn't have picked the ColorMax to use by itself but with the 6700K bulb the lighting looks very natural. It provides plenty of light for my plants so much so that I need to inject CO2 for proper plant growth and keep ahead of algae.
 
u will not find a t-5 "kit" yet. but if u go to an electrical supply store(not home depto lol) and say exactly what ua re trying to do they will hook u up with everything. all u will need is 2 ballast 1 rated at 4 bulbs and 1 rated for 2. i dont think u will find a 6X48" t-5 ballast. then get 12 end caps and a few bubls(if they have ones with a k rating of 6500 or higher) and a small roll of wire. then build your hood and screw it all together. make sure u go to an actual electrical supplier though since that will be the cheapest and they will have a better selection of ballast.
 
So for a 30" tank i should overrate the ballast by getting a 48" rated ballast?

Or were you thinking that for over the 72?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Advice needed to transfer live plant ecosystem to new tank
Replies
2
Views
200
af2018
af2018
F
Definitely need some help with my planted tank
Replies
6
Views
593
Caliban07
Caliban07
J
New Freshwater tank setup
Replies
5
Views
681
Big Ron
B
M
Models of Planted Tanks?
Replies
14
Views
1K
mikeb
M
B
New plants propagating but not growing
Replies
3
Views
655
Colin_T
C

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom