T5 for a 10 Gallon Tank ...

From what I've read I would need enough T5s to line the tank for adequate light? Can anyone please enlighten me, I need to figure out if I'm keeping or returning this fixture tomorrow.

I would recommend getting a Solarmax foxture from petblvd.com they are very inexpensive and I've heard good reviews. In the case you end up returning this one.

Sorry I can't help with the fixture that you have, but wanted to share the Solarmax in case you ended up returning the coralife


You can call me Bob

Can you find the product online anywhere?
If its not a HO (high output) t5 it is probably going to be insufficient.

Zareth said:

Can you find the product online anywhere?
If its not a HO (high output) t5 it is probably going to be insufficient.

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You can find it at petblvd.com. I think it's ho, because I was told it would be way too much light for a low yech yen gallon unless it wad about 1foot above the water surface.


You can call me Bob

I don't know anything about 6 watt T5 bulbs, so I can't guess how good that light will be. Intuitively I think it will be inadequate.

Hell, even 2 T5NO's are inadequate.

I put 2 T5NO, each one is 8 watts and i can;t even grow egerias there...

Eddie80 said:

Hell, even 2 T5NO's are inadequate.

I put 2 T5NO, each one is 8 watts and i can;t even grow egerias there...

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Thank you, this is what I was thinking too. The guy at the LFS told me that becaues it's T5s and used for growing coral it'll be more than enough. But I'm telling you my tank is pretty dark. He told me that watts per gallon doesn't matter here, but I don't even have one 1.5 watt per gallon with this fixture.

The shortest T5HO bulbs are 24" long, so a tad too long for 10gal tanks.

You can look at PC fixtures (36W for high light).

There a minimum threshold which means as the tank volume shrinks, the wattage needed to maintain plants doesn't go down proportionally. One of the issues with our beloved Watt/gallon formula. That's why the shorter T5's are not that well suited for our small tanks. PC's to the rescue.

Wasserpest said:

The shortest T5HO bulbs are 24" long, so a tad too long for 10gal tanks.

You can look at PC fixtures (36W for high light).

There a minimum threshold which means as the tank volume shrinks, the wattage needed to maintain plants doesn't go down proportionally. One of the issues with our beloved Watt/gallon formula. That's why the shorter T5's are not that well suited for our small tanks. PC's to the rescue.

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Exactly, Its not like 2 watts is ever going to be enough light for a 1 gallon tank.

Hadley said:

Thank you, this is what I was thinking too. The guy at the LFS told me that becaues it's T5s and used for growing coral it'll be more than enough. But I'm telling you my tank is pretty dark. He told me that watts per gallon doesn't matter here, but I don't even have one 1.5 watt per gallon with this fixture.

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He is probably thinking because its made by coralife its for growing coral, but you probably wouldn't see anyone really attempt to grow coral with this.

Go with power compact fluorescent.
One thing to think of is that if you go to 1000bulbs.com you can buy a ballast to run any wattage bulb and make your own. Or if you buy the Hampton Bay desktop lamp from home depot you can open it up and swap the ballast and plug in a higher wattage bulb. I dont know how much "high light" you really want.
What size is your tank? Do you do pressurized co2?

if you want t5ho, current makes an 18" dual t5ho fixture. check marine depot or similar. yeah 18" bulbs are not as common as 24's, but i have a couple and they work fine. with the legs on it will be a little short of the standard 10g 20" width, but you could lay it on the glass top or mount inside a hood. you WILL need co2/ferts though as this would put you in the high light range.

I have pressurized CO2, ADA Aqua Soil and I'm going to be adding ferts. The fixture I had before was 36watts but it crapped out on me, I'm just going to return it today with the T5 fixture, stick with the 36 watts and that's that.

The only reason I was looking for another fixture is because there is a possibility the store I got the first light fixture from isn't going to take it back, and I was tired of looking at a dark tank... but it never hurts to try...