ho t5 lighting??

shiby1510

Member
I was wondering if there is any kind of conversion to figure out if you are getting more lighting or not.. I was thinking about changing out my 130w of powercompact to 48w of ho t5... would this be better?
 

fanker

Active Member
t-5s. what size tank do u have? im guessing 55g? go with a tek 4x54w fixture, 75g 6x54w fixture, 90g 6 or 8 54w fixture. u can keep what ever u want.
 

chilwil84

Active Member
i have 8 t5 on my 90 and they work great i even had to move all of my mushrooms into caves because it was so bright even on the bottom
 

shiby1510

Member
I have... its that I'm wondering how much ho t5 watts I need...
Also are the odyssea ho t5's no good? What about catalina ?
 

fanker

Active Member
go with TEK. the t-5s that have no individual reflectors are crap. go with tek.
how long is ur tank?
 

shiby1510

Member
24" Long... 18" H...
tek has lights for it... They just seem a bit high... and they don't even come with bulbs... I could probably find a much more powerful metal halide for about the same price... Idk just searching for options... right now I just have 130w pc's.
 

zanoshanox

Active Member
Get a mh retrofit and set it up how u want it...But the bulbs for the t-5 fixtures don't run too much anyways.
 

shiby1510

Member
The t5's seem really nice tho... thats why I was wondering what kind of growth I would get with the 2x24w ho t5.
 

fanker

Active Member
well u could go with mh, but keep in mind they are high wattage, they run hot, and raise ur energy bill. ya t-5s can be expencive but well worth it. less watts but more light . give me ur email and ill show u some good prisesof lights because i cant post here
 

fanker

Active Member
i wouldnt go with the pcs, or VHO. stay with t-5s of mh imo. ill send an email but how much are u willing to spend?
 

saltfan

Active Member
Originally Posted by chilwil84
i have 8 t5 on my 90 and they work great i even had to move all of my mushrooms into caves because it was so bright even on the bottom
LOL, you realize you coulda saved a boat load going with VHO, with half the lights.... And damn near twice the light output. VHO has better PAR ratings than T-5 does. You have 8 T-5, and I have only 4 140Watt VHO, and have 2 BTA in my tank, one of which has split. You gotta look at the PAR ratings of these bulbs also guys. But 8 lamps, you have got to be kidding me.
 

fanker

Active Member
ya there only 54w though, and actually the par rating of vho are low, t-5s are the best thing u can get to mh. and anenomes some times split do to stress, such as low light
 

fanker

Active Member
and also thats why people buy t-5s is because there less watage, run cooler, and last longer. and what size is ur tank?
 

saltfan

Active Member
135G 5 years up and running, and matured.
Don't always take into account what you read. Hands on is the best. And I have done quite a bit of messing up and learning on my own. I don't always trust what I read.
 

saltfan

Active Member
Also, your going to tell me that 8 54w T-5's run cooler than 2 VHO at 160ea? Not the same aamount of watts, but pretty darn close.
 
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