Lighting, I'm Lost.

[Proxo]

Think both of my (very old ) lights on my fluval roma 90 have just died, i've tried everything and i'm still getting nothing.
Recently they've been either working or not working & taking along time to come on, 1 been alot faster then the other.

Anyway this light business confuses the out of me, T5 T8 watts
So can anybody recommend some decent light for my fluval roma 90?

it's going to be slightly heavy planted with some easy plants, java fern, moss ect but it's possible i could get addicted to the planted side of things too .

Thanks people

 

[StandbySetting]

If you want to keep things simple then a single T8 running the length of the tank would be fine, but if you were wanting to go for high-tech then a single T5 or twin T8's would be suitable but CO2 injection and additional fertilisation would be required.

 

[Proxo]

Tank was running "Aqua-Glo 15w T8" and "Power-Glo 15w T8", means nothing to me though .
It confuses me because there's so many different bulbs haha.

If you want to keep things simple then a single T8 running the length of the tank would be fine, but if you were wanting to go for high-tech then a single T5 or twin T8's would be suitable but CO2 injection and additional fertilisation would be required.

This makes abit of sense now, i've just did a little reading

 

[hanny93]

the T8/T5 thing is just the width of the bulb, 5 is a lower number than 8 so the T5's are thinner than T8's.

i think its an inch but im not sure,

wattage is the power output of the bulb, for example a 15W bulb will put a lot more light out than say, an 8W bulb

just dont buy the bulbs that the manufacturer recommends because you will be able to find much cheaper ones

 

[Proxo]

the T8/T5 thing is just the width of the bulb, 5 is a lower number than 8 so the T5's are thinner than T8's.

i think its an inch but im not sure,

wattage is the power output of the bulb, for example a 15W bulb will put a lot more light out than say, an 8W bulb

just dont buy the bulbs that the manufacturer recommends because you will be able to find much cheaper ones

I thought T8/T5 thing was something to do with power but it confused me because i know wattage is power output, so that clears that up thank you.
What about this aqua-glo/power-glo and all the other crazy stuff? lol.

I just read "aqua-glo is a poor mans power-glo" on a website lol, although to run 2x power-glo they said i'd need co2 to stop algea problems?
This is prob plain simple and i'm confusing myself

 

[StandbySetting]

The aqua glo etc are just brand names, you don't need to buy them, hardware store tubes are just as good and a fraction of the price.

 

[Proxo]

The aqua glo etc are just brand names, you don't need to buy them, hardware store tubes are just as good and a fraction of the price.

Ten four, cheers for help
Gonna borrow a mates bulb first and see if it was actually the bulbs that went, little odd them both popping at the same time.

 

[Proxo]

Another question, what is all this 6500K, 3500K, 18000k business?

 

[StandbySetting]

It's the colour temperature of the bulb, 7500K is daylight so will look the most natural 6500K will have a slight yellow glow to it, 3500K will have an even more yellow-orange glow and 18000K is near actinic and is unsuitable.

 

[Proxo]

Cheers pal, makes sense now..

 

[fellfrosch]

the T8/T5 thing is just the width of the bulb, 5 is a lower number than 8 so the T5's are thinner than T8's.

i think its an inch but im not sure,

wattage is the power output of the bulb, for example a 15W bulb will put a lot more light out than say, an 8W bulb

just dont buy the bulbs that the manufacturer recommends because you will be able to find much cheaper ones

I thought T8/T5 thing was something to do with power but it confused me because i know wattage is power output, so that clears that up thank you.
What about this aqua-glo/power-glo and all the other crazy stuff? lol.

I just read "aqua-glo is a poor mans power-glo" on a website lol, although to run 2x power-glo they said i'd need co2 to stop algea problems?
This is prob plain simple and i'm confusing myself

The T number is actually eights of an inch. A T5 is 5/8ths, while a T8 is 8/8ths of an inch (so one inch exactly), a T12 12/8ths, ect...
Simply put, the lower the T number, the more efficient the bulb is. Ex: I cant remember exact specs, but i think a T8 is 1.4 times the output of a T12 (watt to watt comparison). So in the watts per gallon calculations, using 2 t8 35watt bulbs is about 98 watts worth of output (since people started using the 2 watts per gallon calculations when T12 was what was available).

As far as the K numbers, if you dont mind a slight yellowness to the light, I suggest going to home depot (if there is one around you) and getting some phillips daylight deluxe 6500k bulbs. i use 48" 35 watt T8s of these and get them 10 for $25. I am however building a blue led moonlight system which i plan on leaving on 24/7 to add some blueness to the 6500k light (i have a sand substrate so the yellowness is a lil annoying).

Disclaimer: All this info i have gathered from extensive research on forums like this one. If my info is wrong, feel free to correct me. If you just dont like my info or believe that your info's better, bite me (unless you actually do have better info. then i thank you for your input).