T5HO Lighting

[molly100a]

I will be setting up a 75 gallon dirted tank and would like to know if anyone has used these from The LA Shop. I'm not sure if one will be enough.

 

[foster53]

Never used that brand of light. I would be concerned about the hinge being plastic. It could become loose after wearing for a while, so it might not stay in position.
Check out the Quad Oddysea HO light. You can get a four bulb light for about $10 more. Look on Topdogsellers.

 

[Mebbid]

A word of warning, Odyssea brand lights have been known to catch on fire. Over a 75 gallon tank though I would look into 4 t5ho bulbs which would probably give you enough coverage over the entire tank. I don't think 2 will cut it for a planted tank.

 

[Calqless]

I got a zoomed quad t5ho off amazon for anout 100 bucks....i use a 24.over ky 36bf and a 48 over my 75

 

[foster53]

Oddysea lights have improved greatly over the last few years. At one time they had issues with overheating, and a potential to catch on fire. The newer ones are of much higher quality. The fore potential issue has been rectified.

 

[molly100a]

Thanks for all the feedback, I think I'm going with the LA t5 ho, I like the idea of being able to secure it to the tank with the plastic screws.

 

[aqua_chem]

I would imagine that that brand is on par with odyssea in terms of quality. Most of the budget T5HO are made with very similar designs/hardware.

 

[molly100a]

If anyone knows of a different or better fixture with similar mounting designs let me know. Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

I like the Aquatic Life T5HO fixtures.

 

[molly100a]

Thanks, I will check them out

 

[SteelersFan]

I have one on my 38g. It is 2x 39 watt. I got it from that exact website in the 36'' version

 

[molly100a]

SteelersFan, which fixture did you get, the Aqualife t5ho or LA Shop t5ho

 

[SteelersFan]

the LA shop t5. Had it over a month and working fine so far

 

[molly100a]

Thank you, that's the one I will most likely get. I'm thinking two 48in double fixtures for the 75 gallon planted I will be setting up.

 

[liberator123]

fulham workhorse 7 used on ebay: $20.(saw it, too bad i dont need it)
sockets: $20
each bulb: $20 (could find cheaper) x4= $80
diy case and reflector materials from homedepot: $20
**$140 give take $150**
just fruit for thought if your feeling ambitious, not to mention you have full control of customization.

 

[aqua_chem]

Steelersfan, do you think you could post a picture of the reflectors on that fixture?


As far as a DIY job, it would be better to cheap our on the bulbs ($10 GE/Zoomed rather than $20 Giesemann) and get quality reflectors. Dramatically more light.

 

[liberator123]

Steelersfan, do you think you could post a picture of the reflectors on that fixture?


As far as a DIY job, it would be better to cheap our on the bulbs ($10 GE/Zoomed rather than $20 Giesemann) and get quality reflectors. Dramatically more light.

Aqua_chem, you really emphasis on quality reflectors . But I was wondering, how do you get/make good reflectors? what material is it made of? is there somewhere you can purchase them? What exactly constitutes a good reflector to you?

 

[aqua_chem]

Aqua_chem, you really emphasis on quality reflectors . But I was wondering, how do you get/make good reflectors? what material is it made of? is there somewhere you can purchase them? What exactly constitutes a good reflector to you?

Really, it's the reflectors with the most variability between fixtures. Essentially, the main differences between fixtures is reflectors, cooling, and ballast in that order. Some fixtures have ballasts that don't pump out the wattage to fully utilize T5HOs, but those are mostly the cheapest fixtures. Active cooling can increase like by 30-50%, but it's exceedingly uncommon on non-high range, non-DIY fixtures, so reflectors provide by far the most variability. Some of the worse fixtures are essentially a single polished aluminum plate along the back of the light housing. Most of the mid-level fixtures are wavy/V aluminum sculpted around each bulb but not parabolic (eg Aquaticlife, Zoomed, most mid-levels) or a single parabolic reflector over two bulbs, which isn't ideal either (eg Hagen Glo). The best reflectors have a single polished MIRO parabolic mirror over each individual bulb that is at least 2" wide for each bulb (Tek, ATI). You can buy individual fixture from many suppliers (This is a good one).


If you were going insane about it, you could use Icecap reflectors with a VHO Ballast (Icecap/Coralvue), but you would need to cool it and that would be insane amounts of light.

 

[liberator123]

oh man if i knew about those reflectors before i would have bought a set and cut it in half to make fit for 2 lamps for my 10g planted... i really didn't know which reflector was considered good till now. i ended up making my own reflector using aluminum vent tube, but its one reflector for 2 bulbs :/ it was cheap to do,
but disheartening to know its not an effective setup. dang i should have asked you aqua for advice earlier lol.