# T5 HO bulbs



## Milkdud (Jan 21, 2007)

I have a 6 Bulb Tek Light that will be going over a 110x (48"x18"x30").

Plants will be HC, Swords, Java Fern, Jungle Val, Chain Swords, Red tiger Lotus.

Pressurized CO2; Ferts; substrate ferts, Soilmaster Select




1) Will 6x 54W be enough to grow the above plants in my deep tank? Keep in mind that my substrate will be 3-4" deep so the actual water depth will be closer to 26-27"

2) I don't particularly care for "yellow" bulbs. At the same time I don't want it to look like a marine aquarium. Would a 50:50 combo of 6500K and 10000K-11000K lights produce the most eye pleasing result and best growth?

3) Which manufacture? Geisemann? 

4) Which retailer has the best price and best service?


Thanks,

~Dud~


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Giesemann's Midday T5HO are around 6,000K, but have a spectrum that is closest to what the plants really require for optimal photosynthesis.

Mixing 4 of them with 2 10,000K T5's should result in nice color - not too cool but not too yellow either. You could mix 3 and 3 I guess, crisp white light is alluring... Giesemann's AquaBlue Plus T5HO should do the job for adding "coolness" to the light.

Reefgeek.com has the best prices fpr Giesemann bulbs I've found so far. Do not buy GE's T5HO's - their spectrum is not good for plants. They have free shipping for orders above certain price too - fill your shopping cart and watch the shipping price.

HC will be a challenge as usual if it's on the very bottom - not because of your deep tank, but because its a moody plant. The tenellus (chain sword) will do fine, the rest of the plants will be fine for sure.

For such a deep tank please make sure that the water flow is indeed even. The temperature close to the bottom may be significantly lower from the temperature higher up.

--Nikolay


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## Milkdud (Jan 21, 2007)

Wow, that's an excellent reply! Maybe I will order 2 6000K and 2 AquaBlues and see what combinations I like the best so I can better decide on the last two bulbs and just eat the extra shipping on the last 2 bulbs. 

I have seen the spectral graph of the Aquablues. Will I have less PAR if I were to go with 3 6000K's and 3 Aquablues instead of 4 6000K and 2 Aquablues?

I really am trying to maxmize PAR in my deep tank.  

Thank you again for the wonderful advice. :-D


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

I just got the Tek 4 foot 4 lamp fixture, I am using two 6700k bulbs along with two bulbs made by Aquamedic, one 10,000k and one Planta which is 5000k.
the Planta is a Pink bulb, but I have seen it in some friends tank and it looks good and their tanks are looking real well, so I figured it worth a shot.
I also added one of the newer Coralife dual T5 NO Freshwater fixtures over a 29 that had 65 watts of PC. the Coralife comes with the same combo as I plan to use in my Tek, one 6700k bulb and one 5500k pink bulb. My 65 watt PC is a 10000k, and I really like the look with those combos.
I might add that my tank did a small amount of pearling with the 65 watts of Pc, but as soon as I placed the Coralife fixture on top, the thing turned into a can of 7up.
BTW, you may find with the Tek, being SOOOOOOOO reflective that 6 lamps for the whole photo period might be WAAAAY too much. You may decide to run 4 lamps for the whole time and blast the Mid day with the other two. I think that you could use the Geismann MID DAY bulbs for this, hence the name. (I think the Tek's two switches on the 6 lamp fixture, one runs 4 lamps and the other runs 2 lamps, if it is a 3 lamp per cord, that should still be enough for you.)
you will find that with the Tek on, you won't need any other lights on in that room and maybe the next room also.


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## Chandresh (Nov 18, 2006)

Is there any comparable T5HO bulb to a Giesemann that's only 1' long? The smallest Giesemann seems to make is 2', and I really wanted to try one of these over a small tank.

Suggestions?

thanks,

chandresh


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

I think you will be out of luck, I want to get a 20" fixture, the coralife I mentioned above for 10 gallon tanks, but the smallest they make is 24" (2 foot). I have seen some short bulbs at Lowe's and the Home Depot, but I don't think they are very good for plants, though some say 6500k and others say 10000k and they are Normal Output not High Output, but I don't know, you would just have to try them. The Geismann are HO bulbs, I guess they would make a NO bulb, but not the ones we are using as far as I know.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Chandresh said:


> Is there any comparable T5HO bulb to a Giesemann that's only 1' long? The smallest Giesemann seems to make is 2', and I really wanted to try one of these over a small tank.
> 
> Suggestions?
> 
> ...


There are no T5 HO 12" bulbs. There are no T5 fixtures for 20" long tanks. The "smallest" tank you're gonna have to get is a 15 or 20 gallon tank if you still want to use 2' T5 bulbs.

I'm not counting those disposable Helios units which aren't worth it IMO and only accept over-priced Helios bulbs.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

re: short linear tubes

There's something of a limitation in how short you want a fluorescent tube to be. The ends of the tube are dimmer than the middle, and your efficiency is better with a higher wattage tube.

This was one of the reasons that bent tubes (i.e. Compact Fluoresent) were made. This idea of bending the tube makes alot of sense when the bulb can not take up much linear space. But, the bends really mess up reflector efficiencies, heat dissipation and bulb efficiency to a certain extent.

So the general efficiency concept is that for long tanks, use linear bulbs. For short tanks use CF. (The short linear tubes aren't all that efficient, or that bright, so trade-off works in CF's favor in this instance.)

BTW, I get irritated when I see 48 inch long CF fixtures. So, you get a fixture that requires more expensive replacement tubes and produces less lumens per watt and sends less of the lumens into the tank than using linear tubes.


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## Gary Greguire (Jan 13, 2007)

wow thats allot of light!! I am new to the lighting on planted tanks but if I was comparing that to pc or no lighting I would think it to be about the equivelant of 7 watts per gallon, would be a great reef light....I can't wait to here how the plants look...


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

This is on 2.95 WPG. Even considering the efficiency, I wouldn't go so far as saying it's about 7 watts per gallon...but a little bit more than 3WPG.


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## Gary Greguire (Jan 13, 2007)

oops missread thought it was 8x54.sorry


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