# T5 Lighting on a 4x2x2 experience?



## mintygreen (May 25, 2005)

Hi all,

I'm in planning on switching from my current 4x36w t8 (electronic ballast) set-up to T5's to take advantage of their long life/efficiency/higher lumen's and provide slightly better light penetration to the plants at the bottom of the tank (2').

From what I've been reading, I'm thinking of using 3x54w T5 with teklight reflectors.

Has anyone done a similar switch?

Am i "under-watt" ing my tank?


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## Nick (Jan 12, 2005)

I have been using an Arcadia overtank luminaire on a 32 gall. I got them to ship me one with 4 T5 tubes-they advertise it only for marine, but they'll ship it with their plant tubes if you ask. Now, this was a lot of light! At the beginning of setting up I went straight in with all 4 tubes blazing (using seachem ferts, flourite and pressurized CO2). I over did it basically-this thing kicked out a lot of light-glosso went mad, I took a holiday and basically, no ferts and it all went wrong. Glosso got over shadowed and became infested with algae. Ludwigia inclinata had compact magnificent tips but spindly stems beneath..etc. I had these lobelia cardinalis that grew so much they nearly took the luminaire of the tank! But is was a real mess. What I'm getting at is that T5's kick out a lot of light, particularly if your used to T8's.

The other day I cleared out the infestation of blue-green algae that came to take over after a period of neglect and replanted a bunch of stems and some lilaeopsis. I cut down to only two T5's on at a time and resumed my seachem ferts. By the next day, i.e. within 24 hours, new submeresed tips had sprouted on rotala rotundifolia, and ludwigia palustris red that I bought from my LFS had also sprouted deep pink tips (they were otherwise green). I'm now upping the lighting to have a period of 2 hrs in the middle of the photoperiod when all 4 tubes are on, but I doubt I'll go back to 10-11 hours of all 4 tubes-kind of liken this to how you might run a MH HQI/T5 combo. Rambling a bit, but hope this gives you an idea of the punch you'll get from T5's compared to your T8's.

Nick


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## Nick (Jan 12, 2005)

oh and if you work that out, two 24 watt tubes on 32 gall is 1.5 watts/US gallon.....(3 watts/gall with all 4 tubes on).


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

are you talking about the coralife t5?


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

I have 4x39watts teklight fixture over my 36" 40g open top. one of my best investments so far...next to pressurized CO2


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

I have a 75 gallon tank in the works. After looking at some examples of t5s in use and reading threads here on peoples experiences with them, I am putting two 4' 54watt bulbs over the tank with a 40 watt t8 that will run for a longer duration each day than the main lights. Think dawn and dusk sort of.

That will be enough to put me into the high light territory even with just 2wpg total because the t5s are so much more effective. Depending on how it goes I may not run the t8 while the t5s are on during the middle of the photoperiod.


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## mintygreen (May 25, 2005)

thanks for the info folks,

using the rule-o-thumb my 4x2x2 has roughly 100 gal, so my existing 4x36 T8's put out 144w (1.4watt/gal), so my idea is to switch to 3x55 T5's - 165w tot (1.65watt/gal)...

But after reading Tsunami's post earlier this week all light isn't equal and the watt/gal rule starts to blur in aquariums over 90gal...

To complicate the issue my current T8's put out about 2000 lumens each, while the GE 6500k T5's put out 3150 lumen...

At present i'm getting good plant growth, bacopa, stargrass & rotala inca. need prunning each week and a half, rotala macra is ok, essentialy my "carpet" plants, ech. tellus, chain swords and micro. sag. grow very slowly and i'd like that to improve without causing a massive increase in pruning.


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

4'x2'x2' is more like 120 gallon.


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## mintygreen (May 25, 2005)

118 gal to be precise, but what's a few gallons between friends..


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## arellanon (Jan 2, 2005)

shalu said:


> 4'x2'x2' is more like 120 gallon.


Mmmm, my dream tank...


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## Nick (Jan 12, 2005)

I'm using Arcadia T5 Plant Pro tubes, readily available here in the UK. I think these just came on to the market late last year.

Mintygreen, I'm sure you'll find your foreground plants grow better with T5's, although I never had a problem with dwarf Sag using 3 T8's over my 48 gall.

Certainly T5's pack alot more punch, making some of the old wpg rules a little less obviously applicable. 

Nick


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## awrieger (May 20, 2005)

I'm wondering the exact same thing. What to do?

I have a 4x2x2 on order and after reading a lot lately about not needing as much light on a bigger tank, I am not sure what light to put on it. 

Would 4 x 54w T5s be sufficient? And better than if I got 4 x 55w compacts (even with good reflectors)?


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## awrieger (May 20, 2005)

PS. Nick, the Arcadia Luminaire is on my shortlist as it's available here in Australia. What sort of colour/spectrum are you seeing from your Arcadia T5 Plant Pro tubes? 

Are they very green? Or yellowish? Or more like Gro-Lux pinkish (which I prefer)?


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## mintygreen (May 25, 2005)

OK..this is what I'm doing to try...(sourced within Oz)

d.i.y hood, 3x54W T5's - 6500K ($21 Au each) which, by the numbers, is a good step up from 4x36W T8's. (4x54W would be ideal though.  )

To make the most of the T5's I've ordered clip-on parabolic reflectors made by "Aquaz" ,matches tek-light spec's - clone maybe? ($32 Au from reef culture online - Qld) 

If i need more light / better spread, I'll add a fourth lamp.

awrieger, from my understanding T5's and power compacts are comparable for efficiency, output and lifespan. I've opted for T5's because I'm going DIY and the 55w PC's (twin tube) cost $12-15 Au more each.....


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## awrieger (May 20, 2005)

I've just found that Gro-Lux tubes are now available in T5 if you find the 6500Ks too yellow/greenish.


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## Nick (Jan 12, 2005)

I'm not sure of the colour temp of the Arcadia Plant Pro. Check this link for some more info:
http://www.arcadia-uk.info/news.php?action=view&mid=8&lan=en&id=5

It has quite a neutral, white look to it, rather than being distinctly pink-tinged as grolux are, or green, like those with colour temp in the 8000 ball park. Sure Arcadia could give the the value (it isn't on the tube box either).

I can highly recommend the Arcadia overtank luminaire unit-get one with 4 tubes and you won't be disappointed. Excellent build quality, with two switch circuits to allow the tube pairs to be switched independently. Can also get a kit to allow suspension as a pendant. I would say better build quality than Aqua One equivalent, which you might be familiar with in Australia, and outclass Interpet luminaires by a long shot.

Nick


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