# T6 HO lighting?



## cyber_ecco (Dec 4, 2006)

Anyone here using T6 HO lighting fixture for plants. I know the LFS is carrying them now and I've seen some online as well. Anybody using them? How do they compare with T5 HO?

Gord.


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## southernflounder (Nov 5, 2006)

There's a T6?

I have the Tek T5 for my tank and have been working w/ T5 for commercial lighting for almost 2 years but have never heard of the T6.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Yeah, tell me about this T6, I am just about to buy a Tek T5 4ft 4 lamp fixture.
Tell me more about this T6 if there is one, I might want to investigate before making my purchase.


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## NE (Dec 10, 2004)

What i could find on Google T6 is a "T5" adaptation for T8 fixtures, it seems they are better than T8 but not as good as T5.
They are said to fit directly into any T8 fixture.


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## cyber_ecco (Dec 4, 2006)

Like this. My lfs is carrying it as well.

48" 216W (4-54 watt) Quad T6 Fluorescent Light Fixture (W/P) - 506042


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## southernflounder (Nov 5, 2006)

I looked at the link but there's not much info on the T6 bulb. 

Is there a T6 bulb?


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## NE (Dec 10, 2004)

This was the first i found:
Naturallighting.com - Natural Full Spectrum Lighting[title]

Then i found this, but it's not to much information about it technically:
Linear Fluorescent Light Bulbs


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## cyber_ecco (Dec 4, 2006)

The LFS here sells the 6700K HO T6 bulbs. They look to be made in Asia soI have no idea how good they are. Thats why I actually posted here, I actually wanted to get more info as well. Seems like a good deal and same wattage as T5 HO. Was just curious.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

We need more information to compare the bulbs against.

For example, what is the purpose of the bulb?

* If this is a plug-compatible T12/T8 replacement, then it has alot of potential.

* If this is a special bulb for a special fixture, where the fixture vendor wants to lock people into buying expensive custom replacement bulbs, then this doesn't have alot of potential.

Custom tubes are more expensive to make than standard sized tubes, and standard sized tubes generally work well enough, so I'm somewhat skeptical of special sized tubes.


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

Hi guys, thought I'd chime in seeing I have been using T6 for a year now. I have had the naturallighting.com 54W T6HO bulbs on one tank since Jan '06 and on another tank I've been using "lightning rod" samples I received about 6 months ago. The lighting rod bulbs which are available at many LFS are T6NO and are made as a direct replacement for regular T8 and T12 fixtures. They are rated at 40W and I have them running in an AGA tripple 32W T8 fixture. I had my reservations as to how the 32W T8 ballast would hold up with a 40W tube, I have burned out my fair share of T8 ballasts running 40W T12 tubes on them, but luckily no such problem to date. The 54W T6HO bulbs on the other hand I used in a previously overdriven fixture, each bulb receiving 64W: ( Overdriving )

I am also expecting a T6VHO order to arrive at my LFS in a couple weeks, they are relatively new and rated at around 110W each for a 48" tube.

Personally I do prefer them over other fluorescent diameters, the T5 bulbs are very similar but not as practical from a retrofit perspective as T6 use regular G13 medium bipin sockets, so no need to change sockets in existing fixtures. The T6HO are in many ways identical to 55W PCs, infact many PC bulbs are T5 or T6 sized, these perform pretty much the same only they are linear. I have fired them up using T12, T8, Workhorse and Sylvanya T5 ballasts. Just like the advantages between T8 and T5 technology lies in part in the ballast itself, same thing applies with T6, if fired up with a 20KHz T5 ballast they really stand their ground.

As for spectrum, there are various models available from both manufacturers, the lightning rods seem to have more red in them but they don't disclose the kelvin or spectral chart for their plant bulbs. They do on the other bulbs however... I won't be able to compare the T6VHOs as I'm getting actinics, I plan to run them first on a dual 96W PC ballast...

Now if GE will only bring us a 9325K T6 I'll be in heaven... 

I think with time the practicality and compatibility of T6 may give T5 a run for it's money.

Regards
Giancarlo Podio


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

gpodio said:


> I think with time the practicality and compatibility of T6 may give T5 a run for it's money.
> /QUOTE]
> 
> I don't disagree with you that T6s are practical, but T5s are highly popular and are becoming more so in the reef community, where every watt counts.
> ...


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

gpodio said:


> Hi guys, thought I'd chime in seeing I have been using T6 for a year now.
> 
> ...
> 
> I think with time the practicality and compatibility of T6 may give T5 a run for it's money.


Of course what I'm hoping for is they completely displace Compact Fluorscent fixures for long aquariums


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

epicfish said:


> gpodio said:
> 
> 
> > I think with time the practicality and compatibility of T6 may give T5 a run for it's money.
> ...


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

While visiting Japan and Singapore I noticed that T8 is getting pretty popular, but T5 was quite difficult to find.

Plug compatability will be a big deal.


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## pjf (Jan 10, 2007)

gpodio,

I want to replace my 48” normal output (NO) T12 fluorescent lamps with T6 lamps. My ballasts are 40-watt electronic ballasts. I have two choices in actinic T6 lamps:

• T6 normal output (NO) that are “rated” for 40-watts
• T6 high output (HO) that are “rated” for 32-55 watts

Which will be brighter when driven by 40-watt electronic ballasts?

Thanks!


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

pjf said:


> gpodio,
> 
> I want to replace my 48" normal output (NO) T12 fluorescent lamps with T6 lamps. My ballasts are 40-watt electronic ballasts. I have two choices in actinic T6 lamps:
> 
> ...


I would go with the high output, there will likely be little to no difference running either bulb on your existing ballast, however if you decide to upgrade the ballast down the road to a 2x32W T8 ballast, you'll be able to combine the feeds and run the T6 bulb at 64W, in which case the HO bulb will perform better and last longer.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo


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## pjf (Jan 10, 2007)

*48" T6/T6HO Actinic Lamp/Vendor Recommendations*

I need two 48" T6 lamps to replace two T12 lamps. They will supplement 2x150w MH HQI lamps. The ballasts are 2x40w electronic ballasts. From the previous post, I believe that I can use either T6 or T6HO lamps and get 40 watts of output from each bulb.

Any recommendations for actinic T6/T6HO lamps and web retailers?

Thanks!


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

The main ones I know of are the "lightning rods" available at some LFS and these from naturallighting.com:

Naturallighting.com - Natural Full Spectrum Lighting[title]

The other vendor I know requires bulk orders still, hopefully soon that will change.

Giancarlo


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