# T5 bulb question for freshwater planted setup



## cheesekipper (Apr 25, 2010)

Which type of T5 bulbs would you recommend for a 75G planted freshwater setup? I'm thinking HO T-5s I'm looking for a specific brand and all that, getting to the point where I'm going to buy them so specifics would be fantastic! 

Cheers


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## trilinearmipmap (Apr 25, 2010)

For my 75 I got two Giesemann Midday bulbs and two Giesemann Aquaflora bulbs.


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## fkshiu (Apr 22, 2010)

GE 6700Ks are the ultimate FW planted bulbs. Relative cheap and monstrous PAR.


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## ibenu (Apr 21, 2010)

sunblaster 6400K and the 2700K from Jons plant factory on hastings, they have been very kind to Alym and myself.. Nice guys great prices..



Tell them Lisa sent you


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## cyber_ecco (Apr 21, 2010)

fkshiu said:


> GE 6700Ks are the ultimate FW planted bulbs. Relative cheap and monstrous PAR.


Agreed...these are the best bulbs for the price. Once tested them and Geismann midday bulbs and growth was on par, but they are more then half the price. I think I paid $13 for them at Albrite. Best combination I found was a mix of 1:1 ratio of a daylight bulb like the GE's and a pinkish bulb like the Geismann Aquaflora or Aquamedic Planta. I am currently running the 2 GE's and 2 Aquamedic Planta bulbs. Best of both worlds. Growth and color. Using all daylight bulbs is great, but I can't stand the color look. Some use daylight bulbs with 10000k as well. Seems to work well too.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Is Albrite the only place you can get the GE bulbs at? I've read the many many rave reviews about them in the past and am considering a t5HO rig in my soon to be new setup.


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

where is albrite?


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## cyber_ecco (Apr 21, 2010)

Its the only place I know of, but I am sure if you call commercial lighting places you will find them elsewhere. 

Albrite Lighting Ltd. Locations
1371 Kebet Way, Port Coquitlam
604.945.9060


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## columbus (Apr 28, 2010)

As I am concerned Albrite does not have a retail outlet. They are wholesale distributor


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## cheesekipper (Apr 25, 2010)

Thanks guys that's some super advice there, I think I'm going to go for those 6700K albrite in combination with an aquaflora bulb, just hoping that light will be sufficient to grow high light demand plants!


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## aaa (Apr 21, 2010)

I recently purchased from King Ed (good prices there for lights) a Hagen double HO T5 for $109 if memory serves me correctly. Then went to J&L Aquatics for the light tubes and bought coralife on sale (6700 Kevin) for about $12 each. Because the light is HO and the wattage is 54 watts (times two), the real wattage is more like 150 watts because of the HO nature of the beast.

http://www.viaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?3915-Lighting-High-Output-T5-Comparison-to-T8-Output


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## cheesekipper (Apr 25, 2010)

Hmm that's very interesting thanks and a great price, if you think thats equal to around 150W then surely i'm only getting 2WPG for my 75G tank so perhaps I should go for a 4x54W T5HO?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Don't make the mistake of interpreting more light equal better. If you do 216w T5 HO with proper reflectors on your 75 gallon and you don't have your CO2 and ferts routine down, you're going to in algae hell. Spend some time perusing various planted tank forums and you'll see what I mean. I would point you to an old journal of mine on BCA, but since the crash, it's all lost. I went through that in my 125 gallon.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but the results may not be what you expect. Algae, outbreaks, heavy prunings every week, etc.


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

important to remember T5HO 54 watt is really 81 watts counted as 1.5 watts per watt.


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## cyber_ecco (Apr 21, 2010)

columbus said:


> As I am concerned Albrite does not have a retail outlet. They are wholesale distributor


They sell retail.


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## Jonney_boy (Apr 28, 2010)

haha.... listen to 2wheelsx2......

I too tried to play with high light not knowing what i'm getting into. Ei dosed the tank, ran a slight over dose of excell and dumped 50w of cfl lighting into a 10 gal and increased the photo period to 8 hours....... in 1 weeks time I had some green filiment algae.... followed by BGA.. upped the ferts and got green water.. hahaha..... learned my lesson..... cut the lights in half and the tank is back in control 

Anyhow.. back onto topic.  I'm not sure if your asking for specific bulbs now or if you are still shopping for a fixture. If you don't have your fixture yet, I would highly recomend looking at something with a nice reflector on it... it makes a HUGE difference!!.

As for the GE bulbs, i'm curious if anybody else sells them too...


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## aaa (Apr 21, 2010)

Why not start with just a double HO T5 as there lots of plants you can have and they will thrive in your tank. Get a decent substrate, research your plants you want - low to medium light demanding - and go from there; this will also save you money on the light, electricity, replacement bulbs over the years (should be replaced yearly even if they look fine).


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## fkshiu (Apr 22, 2010)

Albrite does retail sales of the GE bulb.


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## WCL (Apr 26, 2010)

cheesekipper
What did you wind up getting?
Do you use CO2?


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