# Hagen Glo t5ho and Hagen Glo t8/t10/t12...



## breeze905 (Feb 1, 2009)

So today i picked up two hagen glo ballast kits. One is a 2x54watt t5ho ballast with endcaps and the other is 2x40watt t8/t10/t12 ballast with endcaps. I got these for my 90 gallon. I'm also gonna need to buy reflectors... so if anyone knows of anywhere to get good reflectors... i'm all ears.

Does anyone else have any experience with these ballast kits? 

t8's at 48" are around 32 watts... the hagen brand t10's at 48" are 40 watt... regular t12 daylight bulbs from philips or ge at 48" are also 40 watt. Can i just use any of these options? What's the big difference between lets say hagen's life glo t10 at 40 watt 6700k vs philips alto t12 at 40 watt 6500k? I'll tell ya one big difference... COST! But other than that... any input would be appreciated. of coarse the t8 daylight bulbs by philips is clocking in at 32 watt... but is more efficient?

For the t5ho... Philips makes daylight bulbs 6500k 54 watt. Hagen makes there life glo's t5ho also 54watt but 6700k...

So what should i do? Currently i plan on getting the t12 philips bulbs or the t10 life glo's. probably the philips because the cost is so much less. I beleive hagen's life glo t8's at 48" are also 40 watt but i'm not sure. I know that the 36" life glo2's are 30 watt and so are there t10's at the same length. What do i do? What would you do?

And for the t5ho... i'll probably go with the hagen life glos cause i don't think i can find the philips daylight bulbs locally.

any advice would be greatly appreciated!


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I have a Hagen T5 HO 36" fixture.

I haven't used their ballast kits before though.

If you can, I would suggest using non Hagen bulbs, as long as they fit your needs, because they will no doubt be cheaper.

In my fixture, I use 1 power-glo bulb and 1 life-glo bulb. Both bulbs are 34" in length and both are 39 watts. I'm assuming a 48" fixture is going to hold a 54 watt bulb, not a 39 watt bulb.

The life-glo bulbs are 6700k, and good for plant growth, while the power-glo are full spectrum and not really ideal for growing plants, but they sure as hell make the fish look good! It probably slightly explains the algae I get in that tank, but it looks nice so oh well.

Hope this helps a bit.


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