# 108W T5 HO or 130W PC for 55g?



## anthonysquire (Mar 15, 2006)

I can get both of these for roughly the same price, which would be best I think I read somewhere that T5 HO are put out like 4 times the light as a T12 which the watt/gal "rule" was developed using. What kind of range of plants would either of these give me. I know I definitely want dwarf hairgrass.


----------



## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

If you list the size tank that would be helpful in determining effectiveness. I assume 48 inches but dont know the gallons. 

The t-5 HO are pretty close in efficiency with the cf bulbs alone. The t5 HO are more efficent though since cf's are really two t-6's attached. The difference is only effident if effective reflectors are used since a singe thinner bulb allows more light into the tank instead of bounced back into the bulb. Do a search of this forum and you will find an abundance of information on this subject.


----------



## anthonysquire (Mar 15, 2006)

Thanks for the input slickwillislim.
I never thought about the shape of the bulb and the reflector. The tank is 48" and is a 55 gal. I think I'm going to go with the T5 HO exept use 216 watts instead of 108 watts. I won't run all 216 watts all day, maybe 108 in the morning then a 216 watt blast about mid day for a few hours then back to 108 in the evening. Am I setting myself up for problems with algae going this route? I don't plan on planting real heavily but I definitely want a nice carpet of hair grass. I like the setups with just 2 or 3 different plants with a nice hardscape the best. 
I consider myself new to planted aquaria so I'm still in research mode. I don't know a lot about ferts, that is the next "learning phase" for me before I try to start planting my 55 gal. so anything you may mention about ferts will go right over my head until I read up more on that. I know experience is the best teacher but I would like a good base so I don't jump in blind.


----------



## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

I am getting a 216w t-5 made by tek anyday now. I am would suggest the 4 bulbs because it gives you a lot more options plant wise. I think the noon day burst is a common way of using extra wattage. I havent used this method myself so I cant comment.

The 216w would force you to use co2 and in a 55 it would be a real pain and maybe impossible to get a steady flow of co2 with diy. Fertilizers are pretty simple if you use the Estimative index. Do a couple of searchs on that and you will find all you need on fert dosing. 

Where are you going to buy your lighting.(just curious) I did a lot of searching and aquatraders is the cheapest(except ebay), but you get what you pay for. I have heard a lot of good things about the Tek fixtures so I decided to try one. 

Good luck with your setup. I think strong hardscape with hairgrass and a couple other plants could be really nice. I recomend putting in a lot of plant mass from the beggining. You can always get rid of it.


----------



## anthonysquire (Mar 15, 2006)

> I did a lot of searching and aquatraders is the cheapest(except ebay), but you get what you pay for.


I'm not sure of the brand, but aquatraders is where I found the setup I may buy. Is there anything wrong with aquatraders products? I am wondering how they can keep their products prices so low.

I was trying not to have to get into pressurized right now. I'm getting married at the end of this month and don't have the money for the initial investment. Since I'm still new to planted aquaria I may just keep playing around with my 10 gal and 30 gal tanks. Do you think I can get enough diy co2 in the 10 gal to grow some hair grass?

I've looked at the Estimative Index a little. If I recall I need to find out my water parameters from the water company for it to work, haven't done that yet. I'll check that out again though, thanks.


----------



## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

Knowing whats in your water is a real help but knowing the gh kh and nitrate/phos content is probably the most important. In a 10g DIY co2 is pretty easy to do. I cant speak much for hair grass since something in my tank loves to nibble on that stuff. The only dwarf hairgrass that survives in my tank hides in the blyxa japonica. As long as you remember to keep replacing the bottles DIY co2 should work fine. I havent heard anything horrible about aquatraders but the products themselves are of low quality but they do work. I saw one of the 216w jebo fixtures and its not to bad. It has poor reflectors but It looked like it was worth the $100 bucks or so you pay for it. I dont want to scare you away from the bigger tank. With lower light you can go without co2 and upgrade to pressurized later if you ever raise the light levels. From what I have read it isnt that hard to grow dwarf hair grass but then again I cant seem to keep mine from getting eaten so maybe some one else can lend some wisdom in to the requirements of dwarf hair grass. At least you are putting some thought into it before buying everything.


----------



## anthonysquire (Mar 15, 2006)

Thanks for your help slickwillislim. I'm going to keep checking around on lighting and read up more on fertilization. I really appreciate your help.


----------



## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

No problem. Hope you get your tank to look like you want. There is a lot of good information out there if you look for it.


----------



## czado (May 26, 2005)

Here's some data for you. This uses simple deviation (removing samples > +/-20% from the mean) for CF from Ivo Busko's bulb comparison on AB, the average CF bulb so to speak, and manufacturer specs for T5HO for lumens/watt (which is the same as Busko's single T5HO sample). "Eq T12 wpg" uses the same simple deviation on samples of T12 from Busko's article. Lumens/sq in assumes a standard 55gal with a footprint of 48"x13" per AGA's specs. This also assumes a 100% effective reflector.


```
Eq T12 wpg    Lumens   Lumens/sq in
108w T5HO      3.09    10000    16.03
216w T5HO      6.17    20001    32.05
130w CF        3.19    10322    16.54
```
Using lumens/watt, the difference between 130w CF and 108w T5HO is insignificant. 216w T5HO is pretty hardcore and looks to be excellent for a "noon burst."

HTH


----------

