What's your personal preference(T5HO)???

[Titansfever83]

OK, I am setting up a heavy planted 29 gal with CO2. The tank is 30" long and 18" tall. I have looked at soooo many lights I think I have overheated my brain!!!! I have never setup a heavy planted tank and I just want to make the right choice since the light will probably cost me about $200-400.

If you were setting up this tank, what brand and what bulbs would you get? Thanks in advance!!!

[CrownMan]

I am sure you will get a lot of different opinions, but my favorite light for a 30inch tank is the Coralife Aqualight T5 30". I believe it is the only freshwater 30" T5. I have it on my 29 and growth is adequate. 2 lights would be better and you could stagger the lighting times. It comes with a 6700K bulb and a Colormax bulb. I bought mine at BigAlsOnline and bought an extra 6700K bulb. Total was 42 for the light, 10 for the bulb. It is not a HighOutput T5 but has very good coverage for this size tank.

Mike

[Jeff5614]

For bulbs I'd go with Giesemann Midday and mix in an Aquaflora if you want to highlight the reds a bit more.

[epicfish]

Originally Posted by Jeff5614

For bulbs I'd go with Giesemann Midday and mix in an Aquaflora if you want to highlight the reds a bit more.

Giesemann bulbs are T5HO.

The only 30" T5 fixtures I know of are NO (normal output).

With that said, you're going to have a hard time looking for T5HO lighting. Too late to change out to a 24" or 36" tank?

Otherwise, sticking with two of the Coralife T5 30" 2x18W fixtures will be your best bet.

[Titansfever83]

Originally Posted by epicfish

Giesemann bulbs are T5HO.

The only 30" T5 fixtures I know of are NO (normal output).

With that said, you're going to have a hard time looking for T5HO lighting. Too late to change out to a 24" or 36" tank?

Otherwise, sticking with two of the Coralife T5 30" 2x18W fixtures will be your best bet.

Yeah that is a prob unless I get a brand that offers the option of hanging the light rather than placing directly on top of the tank.

I don't think the 2x18W bulbs will be enough. I have two OEM lights on there now with 17W each. I'm looking for more than enough light. I can always set them on timers with a burst at noon or even remove one bulb if it is a 4 or 6 bulb light.

The tank will have lots of driftwood covered in moss and mostly ground cover with very few tall growing plants. Sorry I should have listed my entire plan from the beginning.

I can make any light work even if it is 36". I just don't wanna blow money on a P.O.S. I don't know of the reputation of these HO lights cause I have never purchased one before.

[Titansfever83]

OK, can someone tell me if this light will be fine for what I have planned? I know it is not a t5HO but the price is very nice "IF" it will be enough for my tank.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...7&pcatid=13637



It comes with a dual 6700k/10000k 65W and a dual 420nm/460nm 65W lights. Total 130W.

I'm gonna have to buy a replacement for the 420/460. They offer a 6700k, a 10000k, and a dual 6700k/10000k. Which should I get to replace the actinic bulbs???

Jamie

[Jeff5614]

Originally Posted by epicfish

Giesemann bulbs are T5HO.

The only 30" T5 fixtures I know of are NO (normal output).

With that said, you're going to have a hard time looking for T5HO lighting. Too late to change out to a 24" or 36" tank?

Otherwise, sticking with two of the Coralife T5 30" 2x18W fixtures will be your best bet.

Sorry, I thought the question was about T5HO's.

[Titansfever83]

Originally Posted by Jeff5614

Sorry, I thought the question was about T5HO's.

It was Jeff, you were in the right. Thanks again for the info and 'epicfish' was just stating that he is unaware of a t5HO light that will fit my 30" tank.


My last post was just asking if I can use that specific CF with my 29 gal instead of using a t5HO light which would save me lots of money!!! All in all, I just need to know what light will work best for my 29 gal setup.

Jamie

[Left C]

Originally Posted by Titansfever83

OK, can someone tell me if this light will be fine for what I have planned? I know it is not a t5HO but the price is very nice "IF" it will be enough for my tank.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...7&pcatid=13637



It comes with a dual 6700k/10000k 65W and a dual 420nm/460nm 65W lights. Total 130W.

I'm gonna have to buy a replacement for the 420/460. They offer a 6700k, a 10000k, and a dual 6700k/10000k. Which should I get to replace the actinic bulbs???

Jamie

The Satellite fixture has a poor reflector. I have two of the Orbit fixtures. Their reflectors are about as good as AHSupply's. One of my Orbit's has the dual actinic bulbs replaced with a Coralife Colormax/6700K bulb.

Orbit fixture:
http://current-usa.com/orbit.html
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...8&pcatid=11348
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...tw2lunarlights

Satellite fixture:
http://current-usa.com/satellite.html
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...ghtwlunarlight

Colormax/6700K bulb:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...mpactlampsqpin

[Titansfever83]

Thanks Left C!!!!!! Haha, well I turned this thread into a CF discussion instead of T5HO.

Do you like the look with your added colormax/6700k bulb???

And do you think the Orbit will be enough for my setup?

[Left C]

It will be enough light. The Orbit reflector is very good.

You will have the equivalent of:
32.5 watts of Colormax
65 watts of 6700K
32.5 watts of 10,000K


But, If you have the $, a 30" T5HO fixture w/24" bulbs or a 24" T5HO DIY kit with the Giesemann Midday and Aquaflora 24w bulbs may work OK.

Whether you go with a 30" PC with 22" bulbs or 24" HOT5's, your sides of may be a little dim. Many times, this is OK. It's one of the problems with 30" aquariums. You can help matters if you get DIY kits and stagger the bulbs when you mount them.

There are 2, 3, 4 etc. bulb HOT5 kits with either a Work Horse or similar ballasts. There are also some with kits with IceCap 430 or 660 ballasts. The IceCap ballasts will overdrive a 24w HOT5 to 40w. You will need to make or purchase a canopy for the installation.


I'm working on setting up a 30" 37g with a 3 bulb 24" IceCap kit. Two of the bulbs will be over driven to 40w and 1 bulb will be driven by a Work Horse 3 ballast to 24w. I have everything but the bulbs and they have been on order for a while. FedEx lost the shipment.

There will be multiple lighting cycles using the Midday and Aquaflora bulbs plus Lunar Lights. It is like this, but it is definitely overkill :
- Sunrise and Sunset will be a 1x24w bulb.
- Morning and Afternoon will be 2x40w bulbs.
- Noon Burst will be all three bulbs which is 104w.
- White Lunar lights will come on before and after the Sunrise and Sunset bulb.
- The White Lunar Lights will be turned off and at the same time Blue Lunar Lights will come on and stay on during the Night.


You can also do this with AH Supply PC kits too.

[dragonthoughts]

how about 2 Sun Blaze T5 Fluorescent Single Strip Lights? they're 2ft 24W. you could set them slightly offset so the outer 3 inches on either side would get 1/2 light.
25-30 each, an individual reflector runs 10-15 more and just snaps over the outside of the whole unit.
comes with a 6500k bulb...