# T5 HO Fixtures



## JamesG (Feb 27, 2007)

I have consulted other forums and their lack of concise answers and baseless anecdotes are not terribly helpful. 

Can someone please explain to me the benefit to using T5 HO fixtures vs standard T5 fixtures (mine are all Corallife)? If you have any input as to cost vs tradeoff in plant growth or other experience please post it here. 

Thanks


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Wattage

The difference between the two are that output or capable firing power. In saltwater, the more wattage = more corals you are capable of keeping.

It's sort of like going with a Metal Halide 175w or a Metal Halide 250w. Note that you will not be able to run T5HO bulbs on a standard T5 ballast, there is a good chance the bulbs will not fire.

Hope this helps,
Chris


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## JamesG (Feb 27, 2007)

Thanks for the quick reply Chris. My concern would be that for the extra expenditure there would not be an appreciable difference in the look of the tank. My dilemma is that the tank is close to 30 inches deep, or less when you add in substrate, and my most colorful apistos are not as vivid as they should be when observed in one of my smaller tanks. 

Do you feel that the extra wattage of the HO lights results in an obvious difference as far as light intensity? I only ask because I am of the impression that the wattage rating is that of the power input, not necessarily the light output which has everything to do with efficiency. 

If anyone knows of a site with photos of a before and after please post them. Sort of a "this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs" but with regular T5s and then T5 HO.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Not sure what all the fuss is about, but right off the bat:
- Standard 4' T5 are 28 Watts per bulb
- HO 4' T5 are 54 watts per bulb
I pick HO over starndard because I wanted to have the option of pump 216 watts into my tank with a quadbulb setup.
With a standard T5, I can only do 112 watts.
There are other slightly less significant advantage like the light penetration and such, but the only thing I care about is the temperature (K rating).
The closer they are to true sunlight, the better your fish/plants or corals looks.
So I think in your case, you should be looking at the K rating rather than the wattage.

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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

The Kelvin of the bulbs (or K rating) has a lot to do with the colours in your tanks. The actinics make the colours pop but you need to find a happy place between your white (10K) and blue (really blue = 22K) light

In your situation how many bulbs and what length are we talking about? Why I ask is the more bulbs you have the more of a difference you would notice.

If we assume 4ft bulbs, T5 = 28w and T5HO is 54w.
If you are running only 1 bulb on your tank you are only missing out on 16w, not that much of a difference, but if you are running 10 bulbs on your tank then it's a 160w difference and would be noticeable.

Here is a link that may help you out.
http://www.lightingtaxdeduction.org/technologies/t5.html


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## JamesG (Feb 27, 2007)

Right now the tank has 2 T5 fixtures on it, a 4 footer and a 2 footer and a 4 foot 4x65W PC fixture. Picture below. I need to do some trimming of plants for sure to let more light to the bottom. I am just curious as to people's findings with different fixtures. I just need to locate my balance between blinding sunlight, color, and plant growth and so far my current setup is not doing it for me. 

I just saw that bigalsonline.ca has quite reasonably priced LED fixtures that i have never seen before. I will also see if Harold at Menagerie has any of these to take a look at as big als does not have any in the store.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Are you reffering to the powerbrites by Current? They aren't useful for main light, only as supplementary lighting.

In terms of HO, like was said before, you get more output and better depth penetration. In terms of a planted tank, I think you'd be looking for bulbs with a mix of 6500 - 6700 K (more red for better plant growth), and some closer to 10K for crisp clan white light. The addition of the 10K should bring out more colour in your apistos, since I assume that the lights you have (espcially the 65w pcs) are 65 - 6700K.

For your application, look into a 4 bulb T5HO fixture, so you can mix bulbs better to get the colour temp you desire for your plant tank. Obviously you won't want actinics, as it'll make your plants look weird, but the 4 bulb fixture gives you more play with the low K rated bulbs.


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## JamesG (Feb 27, 2007)

Thanks guys, you have been very helpful, clear and concise. 

Now my question is what is it that you do that enables you to answer all of my questions in the middle of the day?


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

hehehehe I'm working hard


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## JamesG (Feb 27, 2007)

That was a typo I'm sure. What you meant to say was "hardly working"  Don't worry I should be studying for an exam but this is far more interesting.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I'm "working" on my thesis proposal - edit #3...


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## stack (Dec 10, 2008)

just saw this thought you might be intersted

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-pets-acc...-Fixture-Saltwater-Lighting-W0QQAdIdZ93328119


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Same here, working really hard.

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