T-5

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:12 pm

I'm trying to get back going after a long absence. It's coming along slowly. I probably neeed a new light for my 75 and I'm looking at T-5. What are y'all using? I usually use a lot more light than other people. That's just what I got comfortable with. I had 440wts of CF over it in the past. What would be a little higher than normal T-5 and where would I get it? I already have a 4 bulb 4ft T-5 fixture over some of my orchids. I might try one of those on the 75 first just to see how it goes.

Ben

neilanh · Post by **neilanh** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:15 pm

We're runnning a group buy on TEK fixtures and Geissman Bulbs right now, check the GB forum.

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:54 pm

I knew about the TEX figure thing, but its usually hard for me to get in on those since I live 6 hours away. Still I'll look into.

In the meantime, I still need opinions on how much light I need.

ingg · Post by **ingg** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:17 am

I run mine with a 4x54 T5 from Catalina. If you want to really blast it, get a 6x54... that is an awful lot of light though! I grow about anything fine under that 4x54.

Aaron runs a 4x54 TEK on his 75g, and I know it puts out more light than a Catalina... 6x54 TEK would possibly be unmanagable amounts of light, heh.

jcali10 · Post by **jcali10** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:08 pm

The 48" 4x54 Solar T5 from Catalina Aquarium is nice, I just ordered one yesterday online. I got the the glossy black model with 2 10K and 2 65K bulbs, and mounting legs.

As long as you have other lighting for your orchids, you should give your 4x54 a try.

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 9:00 pm

Dave, do you an Aaron hang your lights over the tank or have legs? How far is the light from the water?

Thanks!

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:13 am

This is what my 75 gallon setup looks like. The light is hanging on a DIY stand made from 1/2" EMT conduit that was bent and spray painted matte black. The light sits about 6" above the surface of the water, just enough so I can reach my hands in the tank without moving it up all of the time.

PaulS · Post by **PaulS** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:31 am

Aaron,
It looks like you keep the top of your tank uncovered. I'm wondering, do glass covers really reduce the amount of light by any significant amount? And without covers do you have a lot of evaporation?

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:35 am

Did you spray the chain black or did you find black chain?

Post by **krisw** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:40 am

There's black chain available by the foot at Home Depot. You may need to paint any connections/S-hooks/etc, as I didn't see those when I was building my conduit stand. (I ended up using the chrome color for everything to match the conduit color.)

Paul, I have both covered and uncovered tanks. Evaporation is definitely something to deal with on the uncovered tanks. My 75G falls below the upper trim after about a week. Rates vary slightly depending on the time of year. (humidity and temp in the air) The problem with covering a tank with a hanging fixture is that you get light reflected off the glass. If you're sitting the fixture on top of the glass, that's not as big of an issue. (Make sure you have fans in your fixture if you sit it directly on the glass, as I've cracked glass from the heat)

T-5

T-5

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