So I am planning to start a lightly planted tank and decided to buy a newer better light fixture and someone suggested that I get a Coralife aqualight T5 (not high output model). So I put an order in for one from petmountain but I soon saw some reviews on it saying that it uses 30in bulbs and coralife is the only company who manufactures 30in bulbs. I couldn't find any regular 30in bulbs anywhere online or at my LFS, but I have found 30in T5 HO bulbs and was wondering if it would work in my light fixture.
T5 HO bulb in a T5 lamp? Newbie in need of help.
- Thread starter ythao01
- Start date
You can run a HO lamp in a NO fixture, it will still be NO because the ballast is NO.
Nothing wrong with T5, but IMO, you could have gotten an LED fixture for less money.
Nothing wrong with T5, but IMO, you could have gotten an LED fixture for less money.
That's debatable.
I'm assuming the OP paid about $45 for this fixture. Great price, great fixture, but there's LED fixtures in that price range for planted tanks too, and you'd never have to worry about re-lamping.
I'm assuming the OP paid about $45 for this fixture. Great price, great fixture, but there's LED fixtures in that price range for planted tanks too, and you'd never have to worry about re-lamping.
Here's one example Mr. Smarty Pants: http://www.aquatraders.com/LED-Aquarium-Lighting-Beamswork-Tropical-Fish-p/56325p.htm
Whadda you got?
(I'm kidding.... mostly)
Not as bright as the T5.
2550 lumens at 26 watts = 98 lumens per watt. A bit higher than average (probably doesn't count power loss to the transformer).
On average, an NO T5 produces 86-89 lumens per watt (actual wattage). http://ecmweb.com/archive/t5-fluorescent-lamp-coming-strong
The Coralife fixture uses two 30" 18 watt lamps (36 watts). On average it will be producing 3096 lumens or 21% more light output than the Aquatraders LED fixture.
And don't forget that LED's are very directional with most of their light output in a very narrow band directly below the fixture. This will make the area directly below the light fixture brighter than the fluoresecent, but the fluorescent will have more spread. This illuminates more of the footprint of the aquarium and reduces shadowing which is a problem with LED's.
Andy
2550 lumens at 26 watts = 98 lumens per watt. A bit higher than average (probably doesn't count power loss to the transformer).
On average, an NO T5 produces 86-89 lumens per watt (actual wattage). http://ecmweb.com/archive/t5-fluorescent-lamp-coming-strong
The Coralife fixture uses two 30" 18 watt lamps (36 watts). On average it will be producing 3096 lumens or 21% more light output than the Aquatraders LED fixture.
And don't forget that LED's are very directional with most of their light output in a very narrow band directly below the fixture. This will make the area directly below the light fixture brighter than the fluoresecent, but the fluorescent will have more spread. This illuminates more of the footprint of the aquarium and reduces shadowing which is a problem with LED's.
Andy
Also if you compare to the HO T5 fixture at 31 watts per lamp (but a reduced efficiency of 81 lumens per watt) then you are looking at 5022 lumens or 97% more light output.
It's important to remember that LED's are generally compared to older incandescent and T12-T8 fluorescent in terms of energy efficiency. When you compare them to brighter and more energy efficient lamps like T5 and HO T5 there is not as much of a difference in energy efficiency. When you couple the slight difference in energy efficiency with a dramatic drop in energy usage of the fixture you are going to have a reduction in light output.
Andy
It's important to remember that LED's are generally compared to older incandescent and T12-T8 fluorescent in terms of energy efficiency. When you compare them to brighter and more energy efficient lamps like T5 and HO T5 there is not as much of a difference in energy efficiency. When you couple the slight difference in energy efficiency with a dramatic drop in energy usage of the fixture you are going to have a reduction in light output.
Andy
Andy, I'm with you, but at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure it's the PAR, PUR and color/temp given off by the fixture that grows plants. You can have intensity up the wazzoo, and if there's little PAR/PUR and the wrong color/temp, you're going to give off nothing but heat and grow algae.
I have no direct experience with either of these specific fixtures to say which would be better for someone's planted setup. There's WAY too many variables to say for sure.
I agree with you, in that when you're talking the small wattages these 30" fixtures consume (T5 or LED), you're only talking 10-20watts of difference in regards to energy consumption.
Given the expense and relative rarity of the 30" T5 lamps, I was just offering an alternative.
I have no direct experience with either of these specific fixtures to say which would be better for someone's planted setup. There's WAY too many variables to say for sure.
I agree with you, in that when you're talking the small wattages these 30" fixtures consume (T5 or LED), you're only talking 10-20watts of difference in regards to energy consumption.
Given the expense and relative rarity of the 30" T5 lamps, I was just offering an alternative.
If you are comparing white light to white light then the lumens-PAR comparison will correlate. Only time it will not correlate is if you are comparing blue light (which has very low lumen value) but has high PAR and PUR values.
Fluorescent spectrums are actually better for growing plants than white LED spectrums. A typical Triphosphor fluorescent lamp will produce 2/3 of it's energy in the blue and red spectrums ideal for growing plants. A white LED produces about 50% of it's light in the green spectrum and very little red and is not ideal for growing plants. Using a warmer LED (2000-4000K) will help as it adds more red.
With the availability of lamps from online retailers rarity of them isn't much of a problem.
I am not saying that LED's are not capable of growing nice planted tanks. But they will need to be higher end fixtures that will have a similar wattage and higher cost than a comparable fluorescent fixture.
Andy
Fluorescent spectrums are actually better for growing plants than white LED spectrums. A typical Triphosphor fluorescent lamp will produce 2/3 of it's energy in the blue and red spectrums ideal for growing plants. A white LED produces about 50% of it's light in the green spectrum and very little red and is not ideal for growing plants. Using a warmer LED (2000-4000K) will help as it adds more red.
With the availability of lamps from online retailers rarity of them isn't much of a problem.
I am not saying that LED's are not capable of growing nice planted tanks. But they will need to be higher end fixtures that will have a similar wattage and higher cost than a comparable fluorescent fixture.
Andy
