# Converting CF Ballast to T5HO



## Sharkbait (Jun 15, 2010)

I have a feeling that it's almost time to change out my bulbs on my tank on my 90 gallon planted. Currently, my lighting setup is:

48inch 2x 54w T5HO (Hagen GLO)
48inch 4x 65w Coralife Compact Fluorescent

After getting a nasty attack of blue green algae, I think my CF bulbs have finally kicked the bucket - about a year old. My T5HO are a lot older though, and look fine.

I was talking to a guy at my LFS and he mentioned that T5HO is the way to go and that I should bring my CF ballast in for him to convert to T5.

The main reason I'm interested in this is because it's $60 a bulb here for CF bulbs and only $25 for a T5 bulb. Doing the math, it's a lot more cost effective to go the T5 route. He says he can do this conversion for $100, new bulbs included. Now, I probably should have thought more about this when I purchased the ballast a year ago for about $200, but I just wanted some more opinions before I went through with it. With this conversion, I assume I'd be going from 4 smaller bulbs to 2 48 inch bulbs - Does this make a difference?

For a planted tank, is T5HO really better? 

Thanks for the input. Cheers!
-Aaron


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## Sharkbait (Jun 15, 2010)

No thoughts? Really interested on what you guys have to say


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