T5 Lighting Units

hey guys,

quick question....If you were to get a T5 lighting unit for a 1.8m tank, would you (a) get a single long unit i.e 1 x 1.5m Odyssea Quad Unit or (b) two shorter units i.e 2 x 90cm Odyssea Quad Units. I realise buying 2 shorter ones would work out to be more expensive, but that isn't really what would make it a deciding factor for me. I'm more concerned about ease of use and amount of light coverage. My tank wont be heavily planted to begin with, but I would like to build it up over time.

Any other recommendations for T5 lighting units?

thanks a mil!

 

Up to you really - as long as you stick to 1W/Gallon,either units will provide enough light for a low tech planted tank....

 

I wouldnt touch those odessa units. Rather speak to @Moolis at Pet Stop about the units he imports. I bought two of the 8x54w 1.2m units for my planted tank and they are bloody great!

 

sigh! why not? i bought 2 x 90cm units yesterday :-(

 

Theres much better units out there which isnt much more expensive.

 

Are you talking about the Odyssea? When I got mine nearly a year ago they were just about the only units available and very reasonably priced. I like them. They're neat and functional. Haven't had any problems. @Valenshki - Don't worry, they're fine

 

the odyssea units are known for burning down a house or two but that was overseas, havent heard anything bad about them here in SA...

 

No reason one can't have a tank in the fireplace. :cheesy:

 

fabulous!

 

@Henk Hugo, so out of interest, which other brands are we talking about here?

 

okay so each of my light units come with 2 x 39W 10000K daylight bulbs and 2 x 39W Actinic Bulbs (so a total of 156W 10000K and 156W Actinic).
If I chose to have a well planted aquarium, what would be the best bulbs to swop the Actinic bulbs with? What should I be looking at?

 

Well if you want the best go for the Geiseman units. Or i would have a look at some of the marine units but take out the marine tubes and replace with 6500K tubes.

http://www.giesemann.de/11,2,,.html

I'm really happy with the 8x 54watt units i got from @Moolis at Pet Stop

 

Swop two of them out for 6000K tubes (day light) and two growlux tubes.

 

giesemann are sooooo nice but hows that price for there MH?? R13000 for 150w hahahah no thanks.

ADA grand solar ones are like R5000 ish i think.
but ya as henk said. grow lux and daylight or if you want to go full giesemann get 2x midday 6000k and 2x aquaflora

 

thanks!

 

yea but remember the R13k lights come with sunrise and sunset settings, timers etc etc etc built in.

 

ok but for R13k ??? dude thats me getting it from an import buddy, it retails for R15K its madness for a light. if i had all the money in the world i still could not see that as value for money. i mean its just a light??? look what we doing with T5HO, the only reason the MH is better is the effect it gives the "shimmer" effect also it creates shadows witch make depth so much easier to create. well thats what i read on th UK forums.

 

What you must remember Lloyd, is that it is not "just another lighting unit"... Those units are awesome. If I had the bucks, I would. Especially over a reef tank. Remember that's what they are designed for. They are designed to mimic the natural pattern of the sun. Ja, it might be a little bit of wang factor involved, but the technology in them is awesome. Especially the fact that the cooling systems are often so efficient, that your light tubes could last up to 6 months longer than usual... The savings would be pretty good.

 

@Sean J i'm pondering replacing my reef tanks 2x 250watt MHs with two of those new D&D LED units. :nuts::blink: now THOSE are cool

 

I'm still wary of LED lighting... I was at a LFS the other day and the LED lights had Burnt the corals that were directly underneath them. Bare in mind there was a 30cm gap between the light and the coral... My mind is not yet made up on LED... Plasma, on the other hand??? Bring it!!