Best T5 or T8 for red plants

[Bicyclemaster]

Hey there! I want to put together a 5-10g shrimp tank with mostly red plants and I don't really know what light to put on it. I don't have that much money so I was thinking that maybe 1 or 2 T5 could work. I wanted to ask if there is a company that makes good bulbs or if I should just look for certain characteristics. I was also thinking about the twinstar B series 30B but it's a bit too expensive for me... Here are some that I found where I live:

JUWEL Aquarium | Colour-Lite | purchase online

T8 fluorescent tubes - Colour-Lite. JUWEL Aquarium

www.juwel-aquarium.de

JBL SOLAR COLOR T5 ULTRA, 24-39 W

Fluorescent tube Solar for vibrant colours in freshwater aquariums, promotes plant growth.

www.jbl.de

OPTI PLANT FLUORESCENT tub fluorescent 450 mm/ 15W T8 | ABC-ZOO

OPTI PLANT FLUORESCENT 450 mm/ 15W T8 tub fluorescent - pentru acvarii de apă dulce.

abc-zoo.ro

^this is the cheepest one

 

[Essjay]

One thing to bear in mind is the EU plan to ban the sale of fluorescent tubes by September 2023. This means you won't be able to replace them as they degrade (it is recommended to change fluorescent tubes every 12 months).

News

 

[Byron]

The Juwel Colour-Lite I would not recommend. It has a Kelvin of 11000K which is very blue and this has been shown to assist problem algae more than plants. I had a tube of 11000K combined with a 6500K tube for a year, and the plants remained alive but not as thriving as when I used a 5000K and 6500K which has more red (the 5000K). Also had less algae issues. Also keep inmind that T8 tubes need replacing every 12 months, that can get expensive; this is because as the tube "burns" the intensity decreases.

The JBL Solar Colour I would not recommend. First, T5 is usually brighter, too bright, for freshwater tanks. T5 was developed some years ago to provide more light with less tubes than T8 over marine tanks with corals. I have seen freshwater tanks with T5 lighting and they are extremely bright, detrimental to fish and I would suspect shrimp, and algae would likely be an issue. As for spectrum, they talk about "full spectrum" but mention blue and red and cannot provide the colour temperature (the Kelvin). The latter is extremely questionable. They say the tubes need replacing every 24 months, same reason as T8.

The Opti Plant is probably the best of these three, but I have never seen it. The 5000K is on the warm side (more red, less blue) so that should be good. Being T8 the tube needs replacing every 12 months.

Edit. Saw @Essjay post, that is certainly something to recognize. You would be better finding an LED. I had trouble getting replacement T8 tubes recently, they are just not being made these days because of LED advancements.

 

[Bicyclemaster]

Thank you so much for the replies! I was also aiming towards the Opti Plant but as you said, it is a no name brand. It's very cheap (about 7€ for a 40 cm one), and this is kind of alarming, but hey, I need something cheap.

I didn't know that fluorescent tubes will be banned here in the EU... I might try to get an LED instead but it depends if I can find one that is good and not too expensive.

From what I understand i should look for lower temperatures, around 5000K for more red spectrum? Are lower temperatures better by any chance? Like 2400K or less.

 

[Byron]

Thank you so much for the replies! I was also aiming towards the Opti Plant but as you said, it is a no name brand. It's very cheap (about 7€ for a 40 cm one), and this is kind of alarming, but hey, I need something cheap.

I didn't know that fluorescent tubes will be banned here in the EU... I might try to get an LED instead but it depends if I can find one that is good and not too expensive.

From what I understand i should look for lower temperatures, around 5000K for more red spectrum? Are lower temperatures better by any chance? Like 2400K or less.

The colour temperature scale (Kelvin)indicates the overall colour of the light as we see it. The lower the number, the "warmer" the white light because there is more red and less blue in the mix, while the higher the number the "cooler" the white light as there is more blue and les red in the mix. A Kelvin in the range of 5000K to 6500K is close to mid-day sun, so plants will tend to respond better in this range. It also has a very true rendition of colours of plants, fish and decor.

Scientific studies have shown that aquatic plants grow fastest and best in this range. The high red and blue drives photosynthesis, and the high green makes quite a difference probably becaue of the intensity and the fact that green-leaf plants reflect green (which is why they appear green to us), and plants have evolved under this light from the sun, so none of this is a surprise.

Some members here have mentioned good results from light around 4000K. I won't doubt them, but I also would not do this, as I like a more natural colour rendition for one thing, not withstanding the fact that blue light penetrates water better than red (which is why the ocean underwater is blue) and plants do use blue light to some degree. I had my best results over 15 or more years using a mix of 5000K and 6500K on my largest tanks where I had two T8 tubes.