Modern Aquarium Lighting

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merlinblack

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Hi folks,

I notices some 1" fluorescent tubes that said 150% more light than standard fluorescent but I cant remeber what they were called.
I've also seen some that are small tubes doubled over like the low energy light bulbs you use in the house but longer.

My tanks are
5' x 2' x 2'
5'x 2' x 18"
5' x 12" x 15"
Im currently using 5 x 5 foot tubes at about 65W each but are pretty much the same type of tube Ive been buying for 15-20 years.

I have recently bought an RO unit to make soft water and looking into better substrate and adding fertilizer but would also like to see if i can have better lighting.

Ive noticed there are new technologies appearing and would like to know if I could get something brighter and possibly reduce my energy usage at the same time as I'm getting into snakes as well so they are going to increase my bill.
I dont have a great deal of space in the hood so will need it to fit in a similar amount of space that a tube does.

Please can you help if you know as this will be usefull to lots of people and we can all reduce our carbon footprints lol.
PS I've not posted on here so just trying to work out how to do it properly

Thanks
 
T5 are the most efficient tubes, followed by T8's, then T10' & T12's

T5s are 5/8ths of 1" diameter
T8s are 1" diameter
T10s are 1.25" diameter
T12s are 1.5" Diameter

If you can afford it then LEDs are even better, they arent cheap though unless you DIY which will save you a bit more money.
 
Thanks.

The T5 units look very expensive, i was thiinking of getting 5' 80W tube and have only found double units for this and they were £200 plus. I'll keep looking
 
Thanks.

The T5 units look very expensive, i was thiinking of getting 5' 80W tube and have only found double units for this and they were £200 plus. I'll keep looking
The tubes themselves are ridiculously cheap, but the units are indeed expensive.
 
Thanks.

The T5 units look very expensive, i was thiinking of getting 5' 80W tube and have only found double units for this and they were £200 plus. I'll keep looking
The tubes themselves are ridiculously cheap, but the units are indeed expensive.


Thats quite anoying isnt it but then it would be worse if it was the tubes that were really expensive.

I've just been feeding the snake, shes a tiny baby western hognose, she weighed 6 grammes before she had a pinkie and 9 g afterwards, it took her about 30 seconds to swallow it, thats crazy lol, I recon she would have eaten another straight after it if id offered.

Do you use this type of light?
Are they worth the investment?
 
For even cheaper tubes check out lamspecs.co.uk
I paid about £3 for a 4ft 54w T5 tube :D

T5s penetrate the water deeper which would be better considering you have 2' deep tanks! They also have a higher intensity so less wattage is needed compared to T8s
for the 320w your current lighting is comsuming you could probably get away with half of that for T5s


There is a relatively new tube out called T6. These fit into T8 ballasts but output up to 40% more light.
There are other tubes aswell such as T4, these are less common so i am unsure on the price.


Other options include metal halide (MH) and mecury vapour (MV).
 
For even cheaper tubes check out lamspecs.co.uk
I paid about £3 for a 4ft 54w T5 tube :D

T5s penetrate the water deeper which would be better considering you have 2' deep tanks! They also have a higher intensity so less wattage is needed compared to T8s
for the 320w your current lighting is comsuming you could probably get away with half of that for T5s


There is a relatively new tube out called T6. These fit into T8 ballasts but output up to 40% more light.
There are other tubes aswell such as T4, these are less common so i am unsure on the price.


Other options include metal halide (MH) and mecury vapour (MV).

Thanks, Think I'll go for the ones with the spectrum tailored for plant growth. does anyone know where to get cheap T5 units? I need 5 foot really
 
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remember, dont go overboard on lighting, especially for larger tanks, you dont need that much.
it makes me laugh when you see people with 10-20G tank and 3WPG or more. its completely unnecessary and is a huge waste of electricity.
there is no point shoving more and more light over plants as they can only take in a certain amount during the day anyway, as they will begin to close up as the photoperiod progresses. Also, silly amounts of lights, means silly amounts of co2 and ferts.

its daft for anyone to be using over 2wpg on any tank, unless its about 10L, anything more and it shows a complete lack of understanding on what plants need and how they grow.

oh and not to mention the algae issues you risk at high light levels. one amon ia spike and its goodnight.
 
For even cheaper tubes check out lamspecs.co.uk
I paid about £3 for a 4ft 54w T5 tube :D

T5s penetrate the water deeper which would be better considering you have 2' deep tanks! They also have a higher intensity so less wattage is needed compared to T8s
for the 320w your current lighting is comsuming you could probably get away with half of that for T5s


There is a relatively new tube out called T6. These fit into T8 ballasts but output up to 40% more light.
There are other tubes aswell such as T4, these are less common so i am unsure on the price.


Other options include metal halide (MH) and mecury vapour (MV).
Unfortunately, every T8 tube on that site is measured in ft and inches. I have a 60cm T8 which is 23.6"
There aren't any tubes which will fit :(
 
Hmm, that's wierd...
tbETcv.jpg

Sorry it's a little hard to read.
 
have you tried looking in the pet section of Lampspecs?
 

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