Lighting freshwater

[Eugene]

I'm in the process of setting up a 180 gal tank.After reading and asking questions I have come to the conclusion T8 are the best and most cost effective way to go .I heard T5 are not reliable and not as good as T8 in terms of k-value,color spectrum, phosphorus coatings and bulb life they run hot.I trust my source who has had very much experience with aquarium lighting. He's an electronics engineer.I did ask him about T2 lamps but he has never had experience with them , supposedly one 13-15 inch bulb puts out 960 lumens thats almost double what a 15w T5 puts out .So I'm going to use 6 4ft grow tubes T8's from Totem and if I can find a ballast for 6 tubes I'll buy it if not a 4 and 2 lamp ballast and build my own canopy.Never buy anything made in china there have been numerous problems in the past with lighting products in the aquarium hobby.I am a newbie but a wise one and also an electrician, just thought I'd pass this info along .

[Wingin' It]

You can usually buy the big industrial type T8 fixtures at Canadian Tire on sale for like $25 and they even sell the plant grow bulbs for cheap too.