Lighting--- now I feel DOF

Hi guys...

A big warning:

T5 GLOBES DO NOT FIT T8 FITTINGS!

Humph. Learnt this the hard way! I sourced and purchased 2 x T5 daylight globes in the hope of bettering plant growth in my tank.. only to fint that a 2foot T8 globe is much longer than a 2 foot T5... and the fittings are not the same.

I'm willing to bet someone is going to tell me that the ballusters aren't even compatable...

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do... I am pretty conviced the T5's will give me more and better light!

I don't really hae much space in the hood it is shaped like follows:
__________
l_/'''\,,,/'''\_l

the globe fits in the /'''\ part
and the ballusters with in the \,,,/ part.

(Please excuse the basic drawings. All the DOS talking earlier on has got me thinking in simple computer terms.

 

ZOOM only option that I see is to use the T5's in the new tank you did not plan on buying this weekend :bigsmile:

 

Weird, I don't see why the fittings wouldn't be the same.

Then again I don't think I've ever had T5's.

 

The thought did cross my mind... but the budget is leaning more towards modifying the current one. I am just trying to find out if all the effort in changing from the T8's to the T5's would justify itself. I'm trying to find out if the T5's will give me better lighting than the T8's.

What I don't understand is this:

The tank came with 2 x 14w globes. I don't know the K rating, but they looked like the original globes, and the tank was a few years old. I then purchased to T8 AquaGlo globes rated at 20W 18000K. But when I put these in, the light was about 1 third dimmer than the original globes. So I now have one of the original globes in (14w) and one of the new ones (20W). The AquaGlo is rated for good plant growth.. which I don't understand because it is dimmer than the 14W. Maybe it's got to do with the spectrum it gives, because it also gives a lot more blue light than anything else.

The reason I went for the T5's this week is because I believe they are better for tanks, and give off more light for better plant growth. I unfortunately do not know the K vaue of the T5's... just that they are 28W, Daylight made by Radiant. Guess I'll have to do more research.

 

T5 runs off electronic ballasts and T5 end caps... duh

T5s give off WAY more light per cm of tube than T8s, you can also fit more ofthem in

btw - T12, T8, T5, T4 and now T2s are all size - like shoe sizes

 

Yes and note that the T5's are thinner and the end caps smaller.

 

from wiki

heres the tube sizes attached

 

new member here, dont know if this is the right place, but hi everyone !

 

inteduce yourself by the new member thread SomethingAbstract.... o and welcome

@Zoom won't it be cheaper to go and buy a T5 baluster?

 

Zoom you will need to buy a new ballast and end caps for the T5's - but they will give much more light than the T8's. Just NOTE : you need to buy the correct ballast for the globe, so when you buy the ballast tell the guys which T5's you have...

 

This is getting more and more complicated by the minute...

I think I need to stop being so headstrong, and stubbor, and TAKE HENK'S ADVICE...

Research/research/research

 

Will just check with Dale, but if I remember correctly he somewhere said he swopped out end caps of his t8's for t5's and they work perfectly. Solex69 is not on the forum that frequently anymore, but e-mail him and check. The end caps you can order mail order of SARF forum webshop. Not sure about the ballasts though, check with Solex on what worked for him.

 

Roger please dont send users to SARK - TASA has a sister marine forum MASA

 

Sorry Zaf.
Meaning the wattage.Otherwise either the ballast or tube will overheat.

 

So do I understand correctly that T5 and 8 and so on actually refers to the size of the end cap?

As in 8cm in circumference or something?

 

Thats how I understand it and the size of the tube ( width)

 

i think it refers to the diameter of the tube, a 54w t5 = 1.2m and a 38w t8 = 1.2m and so on...

 

T5/T8/T12 is ref to a size in inches.... ask Zaffie

at least a % of size or something like that....

 

Ok guys here you go

Fluorescent tubes for aquarium use come in two commonly used sizes, T5 and T8, which refers to the diameter of the tube. The number refers to how many eighths of an inch in the tubes diameter, so a T5 is 5/8ths of an inch and a T8 is 8/8ths of an inch - or just 1 inch!
A Tubes wattage depends on its length and diameter. The table below shows the wattage for different types and lengths.

T5
cm / inches wattage
54.9 / 22" 24 watt
84.9 / 34" 39 watt
114.9 / 46" 54 watt
144.9 / 60" 80 watt
T8
15" 15 watt
18" 15 watt
24" 20 watt
30" 25 watt
36" 30 watt
42" 40 watt
48" 40 watt
60" 58 watt

Sorry but the yanks LOVE their inches

 

Zaf every inch matters