devocole Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 My conclusion about lumens (from readings etc) is don't bother thinking about them. As for Kelvin, its slightly more important and i would say recommend exactly what puhbah said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 They also talk about temperature. 5500K, 10000K, and so on. What's the best temperature for aquatic plants? It's mostly personal preference. As long as the parts of the spectrum for necessary for photosynthesis are being emitted, the plants are happy. See this thread for more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 I have priced out the T5HO fixtures at pisces and Gold's, the difference in price was about $20 less at golds for the 24" fixture I was looking at. Riverfront can be even more expensive for some things, so it pays to shop around for that type of stuff. But like I said from my own pricing Golds has been the cheapest for most equipment. If you can get the shop fixtures for free from work, go ahead and take them. You can always add additional fixtures if you have to, but it will save you money. As far as I saw, I was only able to find plant grow bulbs for the 48" fluorescent bulbs from the hardware store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 My 135 has 6 40W bubls on it, that's not even 2 WPG... and I'm bringing 18 full bags of plants to the auction from this tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegrandpoohbah Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 There's also these fixtures if you're on a budget: http://fishneedit.com/t5ho-ligh.html. I'm planning on ordering one of the 3' 4x39W units soon. They are cheaply made but all the reviews on them seem pretty positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveDude77 Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Oh boy, you got me all excited about that website Poohbah, but when I looked up the 6' fixture, they don't ship that item to Canada. Dam it!! I can't win. Thanks for the link though Poohbah, that's exactly what I was looking for. $250US I could handle. If anyone knows of other deals like ths one that'll ship to Canada, let me know. Please. I guess knowing tank dimentions would help. It's 72"L X 19.5"W X 20.25"D Thanks again everyone for the answers, tips, comparisons, and help. As I've said before, you people are the best. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegrandpoohbah Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 There's always Aquagiant in Edmonton: http://www.aquagiant.com/index.php/cPath/3.../sort/2a/page/2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveDude77 Posted October 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 THANKS Poohbah. That's the one I'm looking at now. The one with 5x 39W T5s in it. 2.6WPG for $390, I'd say that's an awesome price. And T5's are cheaper to get around town then MH. Thanks again, Poohbah. I may be sounding like a broken record (or CD to you young folk ), but you people are the best here. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byte Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 THANKS Poohbah. That's the one I'm looking at now. The one with 5x 39W T5s in it. 2.6WPG for $390... 5 x 39 watts = 195 watts / $390 = $2 a watt Coralife 48" FRESHWATER AquaLight Fixture - 4 x 65W 4 x 65watts = 260 watts / $260 = $1 a watt The coralife light comes with plant bulbs as well (6700K). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegrandpoohbah Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) THANKS Poohbah. That's the one I'm looking at now. The one with 5x 39W T5s in it. 2.6WPG for $390... 5 x 39 watts = 195 watts / $390 = $2 a watt Coralife 48" FRESHWATER AquaLight Fixture - 4 x 65W 4 x 65watts = 260 watts / $260 = $1 a watt The coralife light comes with plant bulbs as well (6700K). T5HO > PC. Also, he meant 8 x 39W so that's $1.25/Watt. Plus he has a 6' tank and the Coralife is only 4' long. Edited October 27, 2008 by thegrandpoohbah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byte Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 (edited) T5HO > PC.Also, he meant 8 x 39W so that's $1.25/Watt. Plus he has a 6' tank and the Coralife is only 4' long. I forgot about that 6 foot detail I also noticed that the 6 foot fixtures use the same bulbs as the 4 foot fixture as they are both 39 watt bulbs. Do they space out the lights or just stick the 4 foot bulbs in the center leaving the ends darker? Edited October 27, 2008 by byte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveDude77 Posted October 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Good catch on that one Poohbah. I do need a 6' fixture. Thanks anyway Byte. What I've noticed about the 6' fixtures is that although they use 39W tubes, or what ever, they tend to use two 3' tubes end to end instead of the 4' tubes. I haven't seen any with missing space on either end. But that's only what I've seen, who knows what's out there. Thanks again for the leads. Keep them coming. I have to wait until after X-Mas anyway so I 've got time to find the best deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegrandpoohbah Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 I forgot about that 6 foot detail I also noticed that the 6 foot fixtures use the same bulbs as the 4 foot fixture as they are both 39 watt bulbs. Do they space out the lights or just stick the 4 foot bulbs in the center leaving the ends darker? Like DaveDude said, they use 3' bulbs placed end to end. 4' T5HO bulbs are 54W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 .... I can't wait until Boom does the lighting on his project. I want to see how he's building it and what he's using. Thanks Dave. I plan on using T5 or T5HO lights. Likely two 3 or 4 foot strips with a few bulbs in each. I'll also have a third strip with blue lights for moonlighting. I'll be building the canopy myself and will post that as I go. I still havn't decided EXCTLY which lights to go with. I'll probably ask for suggestions on my post when I come to that point. Boom :boom: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 There's always Aquagiant in Edmonton: http://www.aquagiant.com/index.php/cPath/3.../sort/2a/page/2. I picked up a 6ft light fixture at aquagiant for my 140gal, It has 8- 60"- 59 watt T-5s for a total of 472 watts. For a 140gal thats 3.37 watts per gal. Preferred customer price was $300.00 incl. tax. Can use the bulbs that come with it or change them out with red or actinic. 4 seperate switches each one operating 2 bulbs. I also only have 3X54w T-5 on my 72gal, Thats only 2.25w per gal. Co2, over plant, over stock, over filter, W/C once a week, and leave it alone and I just cleared out a large jungle this past weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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