# T5 Bulbs



## Fishguy10

I've had my 29 gallon tank up and running for almost a year now, and I think it's about time to replace the T5 bulbs. First off, it is a good idea to replace T5 lights annually, right? 

My fixture is a 24" WavePoint T5HO and I've currently got 4x24 watt WavePoint 6500K bulbs in it. The lights look good on the tank; the light appears nice and white. More importantly, I think that I've had fairly good luck with plant growth. I am able to grow HC, although it isn't a super dense perfect carpet. I've also gotten decent color from my Ludwigia Glandulosa, although its color doesn't really develop to its full potential until it is directly under the light near the surface. Overall though, I have been fairly happy with my current setup.

Today I noticed that the front bulb in my fixture is acting weird. It doesn't appear to be burnt out, but it is definetly not putting out as much light as the others. I think that it is still "on" although it could just be some light from the bulb right next to it shining over. When I look at the bulb, I can see waves going through it in one direction. I'm assuming that is the electrical current? The waves aren't super fast, but they are moving along down the bulb. Can anyone help explain this? Maybe the bulb is a little loose or something? Anyways, if I have to change it out, I figured it might be a good idea to change them all.

Now on to the hard part; selecting new lights. I think that I've got a few options that I could try.
1) 4 new 6500k bulbs, same as current setup
2) 4 6000k bulbs
3) 3 6000k/6500k bulbs and 1 roseate/red bulbs
4) 2 6000k/6500k bulbs and 2 roseate/red bulbs
If I were to add "red" bulbs, they would probably go towards the back in my fixture to hopefully encourage more vivid colors in my red plants. Which one of these options looks best to you? 

The final part of this is the brand of the lights. I know that kelvin temperatures aren't the best way to determine true light output of the lights, but they are a start. Spectral output graphs can be hard to find, and even they don't always tell you how much light of a given spectrum is given off. Therefore, I would like to base brand choice on experience and performance. 

I would like lights that promote healthy plant growth, don't look too strange (I know this varies), and ideally are not super expensive. I've been looking at different lights, and I think that I've narrowed it down a little bit. I'm considering WavePoint bulbs, AquaticLife bulbs, or Giesemann bulbs. Does anyone have any experience with these bulbs? Can anyone recommend one over the other? Does anyone have other suggestions for bulbs? 

I'm sorry for the long post, but since lighting is so important and I will most likely have these new bulbs for at least one year, I want to make a good decision. All comments are welcome and thank you all in advance.


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## Left C

I run two Giesemann 6000K Midday, one Current USA 10,000K and one Giesemann Aquaflora rosette. This combination looks good to me. The plants look nice and green. The reddish and bluish bulbs highlight the fish. I don't have any red plants.


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## Newt

T5 bulbs should be changed every year or two depending on quality. T5HO can go longer IF they are a good brand (not cheapo bulbs). If the ends are blackened then the cathode is kaput and the bulb should be changed.

As far as what bulb to use pick a kelvin that pleases your eyes. Plants dont care what the kelvin is just whether there's blue and red light in the bulb's spectral emissions. I have always found it best to mix kelvins and get a nice white balance.


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## Fishguy10

Thank you for the replys. 

The more I read, the more it looks like Giesemann bulbs might be a good choice for me.

Left C - How often do you replace your bulbs? What type of plants have you had good success with? How red is the light produced by the Giesemann aquaflora? 

Newt - I'm trying to determine what brand is a good brand. Of the brands I listed, which one would you say is of higher quality? Is this a "you get what you pay for"? It would be very nice to replace bulbs every 18-24 months. I do like the current 6500k lights that I have now in terms of color, although I'm not sure if I would notice a subtle shift down to 6000k or so. 

Does the Giesemann aquaflora have a color temperature listed? 

I would like bulbs that put out a good amount of red and blue light because I'm hoping to be able to get some really nice colorful growth from my red plants. Also, what spectrum should I have for the red plants? I'm pretty sure that red plants use primarily blue light for growth and reflect red light, which is why they appear red. If the bulbs over a red plant only put out blue light, would the plant have healthy growth just without red coloration? 

Thanks in advance.


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## Left C

Fishguy10 said:


> ... The more I read, the more it looks like Giesemann bulbs might be a good choice for me.


The Giesemann's are nice, but a bit pricey. Zoo Med's T5HO line are made in Germany plus they are much cheaper than the Giesemann bulbs. Their pinkish bulb is the 5000K Flora Sun.

Zoo Med: http://www.bigalsonline.com/fish/lighting.html?brand=85&cat=307

Giesemann: http://www.marinedepot.com/Gieseman...Light_Bulbs_for_Aquariums-GL-FILTBUT5-ct.html



Fishguy10 said:


> Left C - How often do you replace your bulbs? What type of plants have you had good success with? How red is the light produced by the Giesemann aquaflora?


The bulbs are about 10 months old now. I have since swapped out one of the 10,000K bulbs for a 6000K.

This shows 1 Giesemann 6000K Midday bulb, 2 Current 10,000K bulbs and 1 Giesemann Aquaflora bulb. I originally used this combination. The white bulb is a 6000K Midday. The 10,000K bulbs look extremely blue in this picture, but they look white with a slight blue tint when looking at them. The pink Aquaflora still looks pinkish.









This is what the aquarium looked like with this combination. It has glosso, hairgrass, moss, fissidens, crypts and tape grass. All are easy plants with Amazonia substrate.


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## Newt

Giesemann bulbs: use the Midday with an Aquaflora


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## Left C

Here are the spectral charts for the Giesemann Midday 6000K and Aquaflora T5HO fluorescent bulbs. I have not seen a Kelvin value for the Aquaflora bulbs. You can see that both bulbs have excellent spectral data.

*Midday 6000K*









*Aquaflora*


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## Newt

Left C said:


> ......I have not seen a Kelvin value for the Aquaflora bulbs...........


That's because they don't have one. Neither did the old Sylvania GroLux Standard. It's rather meaningless.

The Midday and Aquaflora are designed to work together. The Aquaflora helps balance the yellowish/blue tint of the Midday. IMO the midday alone is rather unappealing lighting to view a tank.


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## Fishguy10

I agree the Giesemann spectral graphs look pretty good. Both the midday and aquaflora seem to have great blue spikes at the correct nanometer range for photosynthesis. The red spikes seem a little bit lower in terms of frequency than what photosynthesis peaks at, but I would guess that this is still good? 

If I do go with Giesemanns, what combination do you think would be good? I'm sort of thinking 4 middays might not be the best choice. So either 3 middays and 1 aquaflora or 2 of each. What do you think?


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## AquaBarren

I use Geissman as well and I agree with Newt that the Midday have a yellow/green cast to them. I like the Aquaflora, I think it brings out the best in red and bronze plants and most fish. But by itself it is def pinkish. 

Together they look great. They are high-quality, but may be a little over-rated if you practice annual replacement.


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## Newt

Fishguy10 said:


> ..............Both the midday and aquaflora seem to have great blue spikes at the correct nanometer range for photosynthesis. The red spikes seem a little bit lower in terms of frequency than what photosynthesis peaks at, but I would guess that this is still good?
> .................... So either 3 middays and 1 aquaflora or 2 of each. What do you think?


You are correct about the red being low > 625nm. This is where most fluorescents have the spike; orange/red. That's because true red phosphour is verrry expensive. The old GroLux Std used it and got 650/660nm spike. There are a few other bulbs made (or used to be made) that have true red.

2 of each bulb for best results.


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## Left C

Fishguy10 said:


> ... If I do go with Giesemanns, what combination do you think would be good? I'm sort of thinking 4 middays might not be the best choice. So either 3 middays and 1 aquaflora or 2 of each. What do you think?


Some folks like a ratio of 3 Midday's to 1 Aquaflora. They say that when mixed 50/50 that the Aquafloras are just too pink. I suppose that it depends on your ratio of red/blue animals and plants to green/dull colored ones.

I don't have any red plants but I have a mix of Asian rummynose rasboras that the males have red heads and blue bodies and South American rummynose tetras that have red heads and silver bodies. My 3 white to 1 pink ratio works in my case. A 2 to 2 ratio may work well in other situations.

I used to have an aquarium that used all 9325K PC's. Many of us remember how pink that these are, but they really brought out the colors. There are some pictures that show how they look. Here is one set.

from: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/lighting/723-9325k-difference.html


jerseyjay said:


> Where did you get those frameless tanks ?
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> Here is more 9325K vs. 6700K samples (**those tanks are not mine*)
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## Fishguy10

Aquabarren - How often do you replace your Giesemann bulbs?

Newt - This slightly lower red spike is still fine, right? I saw an interesting spectral graph for a WavePoint bulb that is coming out soon. 
http://www.wave-point.com/Lighting_folder/LampMain.html
Look at the graph for the Ultra Growth Wave. It looks like it has its main spike at about 650-660nm. Looks interesting.

Left C - Are those pictures of the same tank at the same time just with different lights above it? When I first saw those I thought they were two very different tanks. After looking closely, I am still having a hard time believing that those are the same plants. If the difference is truly that noticeable and really looks like that in person, wow. The reds in the upper picture look great, but it looks like there aren't any red plants at all in the bottom picture. If you say that the upper picture is the one that appeared slightly pinkish, I really hope they it looks that good in person and it isn't altered by the camera. I think I'm leaning towards 2 middays and 2 aquafloras. If it's slightly pinkish, I hope it looks like that upper picture. Different lights sure make a huge difference.


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## Left C

Fishguy10 said:


> ... Left C - Are those pictures of the same tank at the same time just with different lights above it? When I first saw those I thought they were two very different tanks. After looking closely, I am still having a hard time believing that those are the same plants. If the difference is truly that noticeable and really looks like that in person, wow. The reds in the upper picture look great, but it looks like there aren't any red plants at all in the bottom picture. If you say that the upper picture is the one that appeared slightly pinkish, I really hope they it looks that good in person and it isn't altered by the camera. I think I'm leaning towards 2 middays and 2 aquafloras. If it's slightly pinkish, I hope it looks like that upper picture. Different lights sure make a huge difference.


Those are two pictures of the same aquarium with different light bulbs. It is from a Sticky on this forum. I posted the link to the Sticky right above jerseyjay's post. In that same Sticky a few posts down (Post #6) used to have some pictures showing a bulb comparison that Tony (Gomer) did. They have been removed recently. These were excellent "benchmarks" for showing the differences that those 9325K bulbs made.

More info from the same Sticky: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/lighting/723-9325k-difference-5.html#post357883


imeridian said:


> Here is another comparison photo series, this time using Current USA dual daylight 6700K / 10,000K lamps and the GE 9325K lamps.
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> *This is 2x 6700/10,000K with 2x 9325K lamps:*
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> *This is 4x 6700/10,000K lamps:*


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## Fishguy10

When I looked through the post you referenced, I did notice the missing pictures (just boxes with an x in them now), and I had wished I'd been able to see those as well. 

It appears that the bottom picture in each set of pictures you posted is brighter than the top. The light in those pictures seems very bright, almost to the point of blurring plant textures, at least on camera. The light in the upper two pictures seems slightly dimmer, but it really brings out the colors of the plants, especially all of the red plants in the first picture you posted. The upper pictures also seem to have more depth and the wood in the first set of pictures looks more real in the upper picture. I think that it is interesting that a 9325K bulb makes the light appear more pinkish, rather than slightly more blue like the kelvin temperature indicates. 

I think that I'll get 2 middays and 2 aquafloras. The slightly pinkish light really seems to make the red plants stand out, at least in the first picture. Since I have red plants, a slightly more pink light should help them color up. 

Now, how should I place them in the fixture? My first thought was just alternate them so I have a midday in the front and an aquaflora in the back. Would it be better to have the two middays in the front and the two aquafloras in the back?


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## Left C

Those aren't my pictures. They are from the 9325 Sticky that I posted.


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## Fishguy10

Sorry, I worded it wrong. I know that those are not your pictures, I meant that they were the pictures that you posted here. 

So what do you think about bulb placement?


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## Left C

If you have a lot of red/purple plants or you want them highlighted, a ratio of 2:2 as suggested should work fine. You could purchase 3 Midday's and 2 Aquaflora's. This way you can try both a 2:2 and a 3:1 ratio to see which combination that you really like for your aquarium setup. For my setup, one Aquaflora in the mix works fine.


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## Fishguy10

I thought about getting 3 middays and 2 aquafloras, but I decided to just go with 2 of each. I really like red plants; hopefully the light doesn't look strange. Right now all of my red plants are towards the back of my tank. Do you think I should arrange the bulbs accordingly? Either mid,aqua,mid,aqua front to back, or mid,mid,aqua,aqua front to back. What do you think would be best?


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## Left C

Do you have 2 bulbs come on and then a little later 2 more?

It is hard to say which way to go. We haven't seen your aquarium. In your case, I suggest experimenting to see what you like best. You might like the Aquaflora's in the rear or you might like them alternating with the Midday's. Will you post pictures?


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## Fishguy10

I'll try them both ways and see which I like best. I'll try to take pictures of my tank with my current lights, and then comparison shots with the new bulbs in both combinations. 

My fixture only has one on/off switch, so it's either all on or all off. I could probably mess with it and add another switch so I could turn on only 2 of the bulbs, but I don't think it's really worth it.


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