# T-5 or CF for 75 gal tank?



## SpaceBug (Jan 10, 2007)

I'm new to the planted tank thing. I've been reading a lot of good stuff here and I was thinking I would go with 4x65w CF bulbs over my 75 gal tank. But today I was told by a LFS to go with 4x28w T-5 bulbs. They said these would put out twice as much light as regular flourescent bulbs and would be more than enough light for my tank and be cheaper to run (lower wattage after all). I'll be using CO2, canister filter, fourite added to the substrate, and maybe gravel heating. So what's yall's take on the T-5 statement? Much thanks in advance.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

4x65w CF = 260 watts
4*28w T5 = 112 watts

And I think you mean PC (power compact) instead of CF (compact fluorescent). I know they're somewhat interchangeable. But from what I've seen on the forums, CF tends to imply those screw-in fluorescent bulbs, and PCs are the bent tubes.

PC bulbs are essentially bent T5 bulbs, so naturally, due to re-strike, they're less efficient. How much less efficient? That's up for argument, but for sure, T5s do *NOT* put out twice the amount of light as PCs.

Depending on your budget, I'd either go for the 4x65w PC fixture or a nice Tek 4x54w T5 HO fixture. The Tek reflectors are one of the best on the market, and coupled with the fact that T5s are a little more efficient than PC bulbs, the 4x54w T5 HO 216 watt Tek fixture will probably put out more light than a 260 watt 4x65w PC fixture.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

T5 HO would be a great way to go. From what I've read, people are getting "better" results using T5 HO than PC. Whether this is 100% true or not, I can't say.

Honestly I'd stay away from T5 NO. HO or not at all.


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

I was at a fellow SWOAPE member's house this past Sunday and he only has two T5 bulbs over his 75gal and I was shocked at how much light they put out. MatPat and I talked about it for a minute and it seems like more bulbs might be too much light. I was very impressed and would go that route if I had any aquariums that were of regular/stock dimensions.


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## SpaceBug (Jan 10, 2007)

epicfish - Yes, I did mean power compact but I didn't see PC listed in the common abbreviations thread so I went with CF which is listed. I don't think the LFS meant that T5's put out more light than PC. They were saying the T5 NO bulbs produced twice the light as a T12 NO bulb. But that doesn't sound right to me. And I guess I didn't ask a very clear question when I started the thread. But I'm back to shopping for PC or T5 HO fixtures now.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

T5 NO putting out twice as much light as T12 NOs? Probably not twice, but that might be getting close.

I'd go for a 4x54w T5 HO fixture. 4 bulbs is a little much, but 2 bulbs won't be enough for more demanding plants and carpet plants...and as far as I know, there aren't any 3x54w T5 HO fixtures out there.

Good luck!


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Well I just got my T5 fixture in today.
Tek-Light 4ft 4 lamp 216 watt HO fixture.
I too am putting it on a 75 gallon tank, and it should be more then enough light to grow most anyghint, as a matter of fact it may be too much light to run for the whole photo period.
I actually plan to run it with 2 lamps for the 8 to 10 hours and turn the other two lamps on for a 2 to 3 hour blast durring the mid day time.

From what I understand, this is about as good a fixture as you can get. If you decide to get one, let me point you to the absolute cheapest you can buy it for. $220 shipped. I may not have looked everywhere, but I looked long and hard, and that was the best price I could find anywhere.

That was on Ebay, and he has more, you can get black or silver but the lamps are not included.

I think Aquacave www.acuacave.com has a great price and gives free shipping for orders over $175, so thay may actually be 2 dollars cheaper.

Sunlight supply also makes the SUN BLAZE and the NEW WAVE, however with one of those or both you only get the option of running all 4 lamps at the same time unless you disconnect the ones you don't want to run, don't know if that will dammage your ballasts or not. amd they don't have a protective lens (tek you have to buy one but they do make one) so an open top tank is not an option unless you hang the light up higher. 
The Sun Blaze is like $170, at Aquacave you have to order something else to get free shipping, but you can get some good bulbs from there.

Sun blaze light
AquaCave - Detail

Aquamedic "planta" bulbs (pink)
AquaCave - Detail

I plan to run one of these with the sun blast along with a 10000k lamp
AquaCave - Detail

and run two GE 6500k lamps for the whole photo period
This is my plan to start, If I don't like it, I will try something different.

for the Tek-Light that is the best deal anywhere, here is the link
eBay: TEK LIGHT T5 HO 3ft / 4 LAMP FLUORESCENT AQUARIUM (item 7763541057 end time Jan-26-07 09:19:35 PST)

Hope this helps some and good luck.


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## SpaceBug (Jan 10, 2007)

Thanks goalcreas, that's helpful information. What about Nova Extreme T-5 Fixtures? They come with protective lens, integrated cooling fans, and bulbs for around $200. I think the 2 actinic bulbs that come in it would need to be replaced, but the 2 10000K bulbs are probably okay. Anyway, seems to have a little more for less than the Tek-Light. Oh, these also come with LED lunar lights, but I don't suppose I need to use them. Any thoughts?


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Current makes pretty good stuff, I have some PC fixtures that I like real well.
The problem that I see with the Nova is basically it is an Orbit frame which is made for CF and I think they just put the clips in, changed the ballast and you have the Nova, so with that you get one single reflector for all bulbs.

I have never actually opened one, but I am pretty sure this is the case.

And because TEK-Light uses individual reflectors, they get 95% or greater reflection of the light down into the tank with very little wasted light.

I thought about the Nova and when I learned of the reflectors, I decided to go Tek.
That, and I finally decided I wanted to hang my light, and the Tek is very cool looking, the nova to me is kind of big and goofy looking.

Do keep in mind, the Tek comes with just the light and power cords.
No bulbs
No moon lights
No protective lens (about $18 )
No legs (they are like $60 if you want them)
No hanging kit (that is about $30 - but I plan to make my own hanging kit when I fab my frame)

I have heard terrible things about *Catalina* lights on many forums, but I have a friend who *LOVES* his, it is a complete light with legs, moonlights, protective lens, multiple power cords, and they come in a varity of hood styles, colors, and lamp configurations (2,4,6,or 8 bulb fixtures) - you can find them all over e-bay, but I have heard the customer service is iffy at best, even from my friend who loves his light, said they are tough to work with.
for the money he spent - more then i did, I , well obviously went the other rout. So I mention them here as another option, but don't really suggest getting one.

Same with Aquatraders, you can get a 4ft 4 lamp fix with moon lights and the three power cords with 2 white and two blue bulbs for like $89 plus ship, but I don't reccomend getting one unless you are just going to use it for a year or less, kind of just to get you started. The fans will rattle, the lights will be very hard to replace, they are an odd, non american size, and you won't be able to buy the bulbs from anybody but Aquatraders. And even then only when they offer them. 
So I am letting you know that you can get a T5 or T6 216 watt 4 lamp fix for less then $100, but again, like with Catalina brand, I don't advise doing so

hope this helps more.

If money is not the issue, go with Tek, or anything made by Sunlight Supply. You won't regret it.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Oh, but if you decide you want PC fixtures, check out this site

tri-city tropical fish

Like with the Tek, this is for the Current Satelite or Orbits and I looked long and hard, and can't find anywhere else on the web that can touch their prices.

that is New prices, the Refurbished prices are even better.
If you go Refurbished, for a small fee, they will change out the 50/50 daylight / actinic bulbs for the dual daylight 10000k / 6700k or the 6700k bulbs. they do that for like $5 a bulb which is very good.

Before I decided to go with the T5, I had origionally planned on getting this fixture

Dual Satellite 48" Refurb. - 01016refurb

Check that out, $130, and if you add $10 to change the two Actinic bulbs out, you won't find anything that cheap
accept on Aquatraders, but their fixtures are not ones I would buy.

good luck


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

If you are good with DIY and don't plan to hang the light above the tank, you can go with workhorse 7 and icecap water resistent T5 endcap. I have 3x 54 HO T5 and the results are just as good as 4x 55 watt PC. 


This is the much cheaper than going with commercial lighting. Cost me <$200 cad for this 3 bulb setup.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Of course, I hadn't thought of DIY since you were asking about fixtures, but they give you the option of fully customizing your set up. 
Depending on how you want it to look, and if you have a canopy that you can hide one in or not will determing how much you actually have to spend.
I don't have a canopy and am not good enough with wood to build one that would be nice enough to put in my house. I also don't really like canopy's, I prefer the hanging light look,.
But if you are to do a DIY you need to think of where they will be, if you don't have a canopy and want one for you DIY lighting, then you need to add that to the cost, for me that would cost much more then the comercially available fixtures.

And about the lunar lights,
You won't need them unless you are keeping / breeding fish that need them for their spawning (don't know how many fresh water fish would need them) But:
I think they are great. I love to look at my tanks in the evening with the light off. 
I am going to do a DIY Moonlight fixture on the back of my tank because I love them so.


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## SpaceBug (Jan 10, 2007)

I would go DIY if I had a canopy, but I don't. So I just about decided on the TEK Light T5 HO fixture and then thought of this .... I won't be suspending it from above and I can't see paying $60 for their legs, so I'll be laying this on top of the glass cover. It is my impression that this fixture only uses convection for cooling with no fans. So is this going to too much heat to have directly on top of the glass cover?

The Nova at least comes with cheap looking legs if I need to raise it up a few inches. While the reflector is probably better in the TEK unit, do you think it would really make a noticable difference in my plant growth?


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Very hard to say if it will impact your growth or not because I have not personally used one.
this is where somebody who has used one would come in handy, for them to chime in, but it may be that you would have to go to a REEF forum to find people who use them.
It might be a good Idea to go over to one and look for some reveiws on the fixture itself, there might be good, and might be bad, Current seems to be a second choice to alot of people, don't know why but it just seems to not be talked about very often.

Why don't you hang the fixture? It would be easy and stylish.
You can make a hanging system out of conduit that you can buy from Home depot and some black spraypaint, a couple of rubber end caps, some lamp hanging chain (think chandalier), the Tek comes with some eye bolts and two hanging brackets.

...or like this done with plant hangers from Lowe's, very cheap but looks great.

The ADA journey (56k be warned)

I will look for more threads on the type I am talking about, but in most cases, cost is less then $30 and it looks really cool.
In either way it can be mounted to the wall, or to the back of the stand.
when I find the thread I am thinking of, it will show you how to fix it really simple to the back of the stand.
I will post more later

Or it would be possible to make some of your own legs with some creative thinking. I will look my fixture over tonight and see if there is something I can come up with.


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## SpaceBug (Jan 10, 2007)

Actually, the plant hangers might not be a bad idea. If I can find some that could be attached to the back of the tank stand, that might just work for me. And you're right, I could make my own legs if the heat is a problem.

I think my real problem is that I'm overwhelmed by all of the choices to be made. Which substrate? Which lighting fixture? Which filter? etc, etc, etc!! But hopefully I'm making progress. I do appreciate your input!


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/science-of-lighting/34350-tek.html

this is the link with all the cool ideas of how to hang.

The other thing is I was at my friends house this weekend and he took some bike racks, the kind with hooks but they were black, I will try to find you a link to ecactly what I am talking about,

He mounted then on the wall about 7ft up and hung some chain from that and hung two MH fixtures that are easy double what the Tek weighs.

I personally am planning on doing the set up you will see at the top of that thread at the top of this post.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/attachment.php?attachmentid=3972&d=1167119965

This is a photo of a tank using the legs that Tek sells for it's fixture


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