Lighting

[mackay55]

I have a juwel rio 300 fish tank and I need to buy some lights which are better the t5 or t8

 

[Essjay]

Are you talking about a whole new light bar or just the tubes?
If it's the tubes, you have to get the type that fit in the light bar, they are not interchangeable. If you want a new light bar, do they still sell T8 ones? If you do want a new bar, you might have to get a T5 bar unless you can find someone with a stock of old T8 ones.

 

[Aquascaper]

Lighting in ascending order of 'power':

T8
T5
T5HO (High Output)
LED
Metal Halide

As essjay says, you cannot just change the tubes. T8, T5 and T5HO use different starter ballasts as well as the mountings being different sizes between T8 and T5/T5HO.

You can either just replace what you have, buy a new factory fit lightbar, buy aftermarket starter kits and modify the hood, buy an aftermarket luminare/pendant or custom build your own hood with your choice of lights.

 

[mackay55]

The tank I bought didn't come with a light unit so I was just wondering which is the best one to have

 

[Aquascaper]

What are you planning on putting in the tank?

T8 is rather 'old' technology so I would suggest either T5 or T5HO which will allow you to grow plants perfectly well.