Actnic T-8 or T-12?

mademperor

mademperor

Member
I have a regular Fluorescent Fixture. It can take a T8 or T12.
I was looking at a T-12 Uri Actinic would that be better than the skinnier T-8?
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
neither.. regular floursecent is basically providing you no useable light. minimal Lumens / PAR , and bulbs not made for the industry will be in the wrong Kelvin range most likely. I used to have VHO T-12s which are weak at best. and thats VHO - very high output, not NO (normal output). you wont find any actinic bulbs for NO ballasts of that size from what i know. even if you could, you cant support coral life and photosynthesis with it.
i would say just scrap it and get a good lighting system.
 
mademperor

mademperor

Member
Originally Posted by saltn00b
neither.. regular floursecent is basically providing you no useable light. minimal Lumens / PAR , and bulbs not made for the industry will be in the wrong Kelvin range most likely. I used to have VHO T-12s which are weak at best. and thats VHO - very high output, not NO (normal output). you wont find any actinic bulbs for NO ballasts of that size from what i know. even if you could, you cant support coral life and photosynthesis with it.
i would say just scrap it and get a good lighting system.
I have 45w of PC 50/50 (10k/actinic) on the tank now. It's a 15g, so I just wanted to boast it a bit.
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
15g? how long? they dont even make t-12 shorter than 4 - 5 feet. not sure about t-8 either. if you want to be able to hold a lot of corals, switch out to T-5 IMO. worlds better.
 
mademperor

mademperor

Member
Originally Posted by saltn00b
15g? how long? they dont even make t-12 shorter than 4 - 5 feet. not sure about t-8 either. if you want to be able to hold a lot of corals, switch out to T-5 IMO. worlds better.
20" long tank.
T-8 is just reg flourescent lol. I can get either one in 18" length, at 15w.
I already have 45w of PC lighting. I haven't seen any T-5 that would fit.
I working with 4" of depth, so I can't fit another PC or ect.
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
honestly you are just spinning your wheels. the "supplemental" light you are adding is so weak and the wrong spectrum most likely it will do nothing but give your tank a strange look. you are not even "boosting" your existing lights in any effective manner IMO.
 
nate487

nate487

Member
Originally Posted by mademperor
I have a regular Fluorescent Fixture. It can take a T8 or T12.
I was looking at a T-12 Uri Actinic would that be better than the skinnier T-8?

t12 are higher power go with them. carollife makes one or power glo.
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
the number only has to do with the size, as in diameter of the bulb. most T-12 are VHO, which used to be an accepted type of bulb in the trade , usually used for actinic supplementation for MHs, but they are getting tougher and tougher to come across. they are pretty weak. and they dont come in a size anywhere close to 18"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top