T5 Lighting
- Thread starter markc
- Start date
Not certain what you're asking specifically, but I'll try to tackle the question the best I can.
Is this T5 lighting double-tubed? Power Compacts are T5's and are commonly sold in the aquarium industry. Their maximum length is 36" (~900mm) each bulb. You'll need at least 2 of these bulbs per half tank (4 total) to keep low light photosynthetic inverts (e.g. soft corals and mushrooms). Ideally, you should have at least 4 bulbs per half tank (8 total bulbs for a 6' tank). That's a whole lot of bulbs. I would rather go with 3x 250 watt or 400 watt metal halides instead. Brighter lights and cheaper long-term upkeep.
Double the figures for 33" single-tubed T5 lighting. It gets costly. Again, MH is the way to go.
Is this T5 lighting double-tubed? Power Compacts are T5's and are commonly sold in the aquarium industry. Their maximum length is 36" (~900mm) each bulb. You'll need at least 2 of these bulbs per half tank (4 total) to keep low light photosynthetic inverts (e.g. soft corals and mushrooms). Ideally, you should have at least 4 bulbs per half tank (8 total bulbs for a 6' tank). That's a whole lot of bulbs. I would rather go with 3x 250 watt or 400 watt metal halides instead. Brighter lights and cheaper long-term upkeep.
Double the figures for 33" single-tubed T5 lighting. It gets costly. Again, MH is the way to go.
sahin over at nano-reef.com is the only person i know using marine quality T5 lighting since he's also in the UK. you may want to shoot him a pm or email for specific info. he's raising stonys and clams under them with great success.
i've seen commercial T5's (around 3000K) in action in here in the US and they are brighter (imo) than comparable pc's of similar (or larger for that matter) size and wattages. i have vho's and 96w pc's and they can't compare with the new T5's (single tube) in output.
as always your light requirements depend on your inhabitants and configuration (aquascaping). sahin can probably point you to good deals as well as share his on-hands experience.
i've seen commercial T5's (around 3000K) in action in here in the US and they are brighter (imo) than comparable pc's of similar (or larger for that matter) size and wattages. i have vho's and 96w pc's and they can't compare with the new T5's (single tube) in output.
as always your light requirements depend on your inhabitants and configuration (aquascaping). sahin can probably point you to good deals as well as share his on-hands experience.
i knew it, i knew it! %*@#$%!All sources have informed me conventional "Power Compacts" are T5 bulbs. I am not aware of any T7 fluorescent bulbs.
I wonder what's taking so long for bi-pin T5 bulbs to hit the reefkeeping industry here (I would think the current Icecap drivers would power these with little if no tweaking). I've seen them used for industrial purposes on numerous occasions. They're bright for their size; not anything I would replace MH with, but definitely an option for smaller tanks. If I recall, mini-bi pin T5's come in NO, HO, and VHO configs much like T8 and T12's. I think the one's we've been all seeing in the aquarium industry are VHOs (~triple the amps of NO).
I wonder what's taking so long for bi-pin T5 bulbs to hit the reefkeeping industry here (I would think the current Icecap drivers would power these with little if no tweaking). I've seen them used for industrial purposes on numerous occasions. They're bright for their size; not anything I would replace MH with, but definitely an option for smaller tanks. If I recall, mini-bi pin T5's come in NO, HO, and VHO configs much like T8 and T12's. I think the one's we've been all seeing in the aquarium industry are VHOs (~triple the amps of NO).
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