I've been doing more and more reading. I've read that normal t5's and only slightly better than t8's though they penetrate water better due to their size and design. Is this the case? Is the difference between a normal output t5 and t8 fairly negligible?
T5 and T8
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T5NO bulbs are more efficient at converting watts to light than a T5HO bulb. Therefore a T5NO bulb having half the wattage of the same length T5HO bulb produces more than half the light, assuming both use the same reflector. But, I don't know of any T8 bulb reflectors that are that good, and I know of no T8 light fixture using such reflectors. That should mean that a T5NO bulb, with a good T5 reflector will be much brighter than any T8 bulb. Of course few T5NO fixtures use reflectors as good as T5HO fixtures use. So, your guess is probably as good as mine about how much brighter a real world T5NO light is vs a T8 light.
Shrug, i just sat making myself blind staring at the difference in home depot.. not a very useful trip really. I was looking for a t5 fixture for a 3 foot tank but sadly all i found was a dual bulb fixture with no reflector.. craptastic. In the perfect scenario I would just buy the 36 inch fixture from fishneedit.com but since that's money I don't need to spend at the moment I am looking for alternatives. So, to begin with I will stay low-tech. I have a 4' t8 fixture that I can take apart and wire into a custom canopy with diy reflectors. Once it's all done I estimate that the bulbs will be 20-32 inches above the substrate with 24 inches of water to push through.. Laura suggested t5no, others have suggested 3 t8's... i've got 2 t8's basically with a little work..
at Home Depot, you won't notice much difference between T5NO and T8 as the reflectors aren't good on those lights and the bulbs are all different as T5NO likely are under cabinet light fixtures and T8 are overhead fixtures.
For the time being, T8 would be the inexpensive way to go and might be all you need. If you find more is needed upgrade later.
For the time being, T8 would be the inexpensive way to go and might be all you need. If you find more is needed upgrade later.
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If you're going to take apart the fixture(s) anyway. Check the ballast. An electronic ballast for 48" T8 bulbs will run T8 36" tubes as well. Might as well make the top fit the tank.
that's exactly what I was doing just now. I have a model YC-322517E-2 ballast which is made by Jiangmen Pengjiang Yucheng Electrical Appliances Ltd Corp. It states that it's "Electronic ballast for fluorescent lamp, instant start, enclosed and potted, Type 1 outdoor, Class P protection". It has 4 blue wires, 2 red, and a yellow. Can I overdrive this for these two bulbs or will it only run one overdriven and two normal?
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If that ballast is made for 2 bulbs then you can overdrive 1 bulb. If that is the case, you will need to get another 2 bulb ballast to overdrive the second bulb. Or you can get a 4 bulb ballast and overdrive 2 bulbs, in addition to the first bulb overdriven with the original ballast.
I have a 4 bulb ballast overdriving 1 bulb (4x overdriven) right now.
I have a 4 bulb ballast overdriving 1 bulb (4x overdriven) right now.
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a lot of the t5 advantage is that you can get them with individual reflectors, which they say are much better, and that u can have more of them in a smaller space, which is a huge advantage for thin tanks.
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That model is a two bulb ballast. A weird one
http://www.jm-yucheng.com/chinese/producthtml/YC-322517E-2html .
You may have to go here first though.
http://hi.baidu.com/yc028/blog/item/9803182b7ae24ef9e7cd4060.html
It is rated for two 14 - 32 watt T8 or two 14 - 40 watt T12 bulbs.
Personally, I'd be hesitant to use this one other then as is.
The model number shows this as a two tube ballast, but the wire count is a new one for me. I found the wiring diagram though and it makes sense after looking at that. Here is the label.
http://www.jm-yucheng.com/chinese/producthtml/YC-322517E-2html .
You may have to go here first though.
http://hi.baidu.com/yc028/blog/item/9803182b7ae24ef9e7cd4060.html
It is rated for two 14 - 32 watt T8 or two 14 - 40 watt T12 bulbs.
Personally, I'd be hesitant to use this one other then as is.
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