T5

[Catfish]

Thanks Tanzy.

Glad to know ur one of the night owls afterall n not a sea turtle.

Thanks for responding this time of the night.

[dodo]

Catfish,

Tanzy is rite...tank of tat size probably uses T5 as a supplement. In terms of intensity & penetration abilities, MH is second to none

My tank is jus 3ft...hence easily can fit a T5...next upgrade will be VHO lamp and maybe 10yrs down the road to MH (hmmm....is my wife reading tis? )

BTW...T5 max comes in only 46" not 49"

Another downside of T5 is tat it doesn't come wif cheap casing. Well, a casing of T5 cost easily $300++ *faint* Hence I DIY myself cheaper

[nleong]

Dodo,

i share your sentiments, $300++ for a T5 fixture is really steep.

So you mind sharing your DIY T5 fixture ?

[dodo]

i haven't really got my DIY hood going yet...may post a blue print later on. rite now, it is jus some bare wire & some connector to the pins of T5 via an Eballast

no time leh....always kena complain by wife

DIY Wooden Hood

[BarraCudaTM]

for $300 .. you can wire up an 150watts MH already

btw vho will cost you more than MH

[dodo]

btw vho will cost you more than MH

barracuda...u sure? never seen a VHO b4 anyway aiyah...if really so ex...then i can 4get abt VHO liaoz...Tanzy told me not to also unless VHO actinic

do u have any idea y VHO so ex?

[Tanzy]

Because VHO tubes must be imported from US and they are super bulky. The freight cost many times more than the price of the tube. Use MH instead.

Only reason to use VHO will be for their actinic.

[KingFish]

Here's a pic of 02 x 54w T5s (6.5k & Actinic) 'screaming' away at 84w each on a ICECAP 430 eballast .... pretty darn cool ... then again, its a 430

Problem attaching picture, so here it is.

[TanGo]

Here's a pic of 02 x 54w T5s (6.5k & Actinic) 'screaming' away at 84w each on a ICECAP 430 eballast .... pretty darn cool ... then again, its a 430

Problem attaching picture, so here it is.

How much for a setup liddat?

I'm in the process of planning a 5fter..

[Tanzy]

An Icecap 660 eballast is US$160, add about $24 for conversion to 220V and some more for shipping.

It will be good enough to fire 16 feet of tubes or 440W. Comes with 3 years limited warranty.

[TanGo]

An Icecap 660 eballast is US$160, add about $24 for conversion to 220V and some more for shipping.

It will be good enough to fire 16 feet of tubes or 440W. Comes with 3 years limited warranty.

So it should be cheaper to run comparing to MH?

[Tanzy]

Not on the long run cause the tubes will need replacement every 6 months. Freight of FL tubes cost more than the tubes themselves.

[TanGo]

Not on the long run cause the tubes will need replacement every 6 months. Freight of FL tubes cost more than the tubes themselves.

But locally got arcadia T5.. Henry in Marine Life gonna bring in the other brand of T5..

[spade]

was at ML juz now. Henry shown me the demo set of 24w 22" Arcadia T5.

My opinion: Can forget abt it

BTW. henry has installed the Wave2K onto his display tank. pretty cool rather weak compare to the Tunze stream ....

[Hon]

Can dodo show us a pic of the T5 in operation??

Really keen to know hows the output like.

[spade]

Can dodo show us a pic of the T5 in operation??

Really keen to know hows the output like.

is in the beginning of this post

[Hon]

Errrr...that 2 thin tube is T5???

[spade]

Technically, any fluorescent tube should be referred to by the letter T followed by a number. That number indicates the diameter in 8ths of an inch, so the one inch diameter tubes that most of us are familiar with are T8 (eight 8ths of an inch), and the fatter tubes that used to be the standard, and that are still used by some are T12.

So T5 actually only means a light with a diameter of 5/8s of an inch.

from eAquaNature

[dodo]

err....spade...did henry use the correct wattage eballast did u ask him? sorie i have no experience in 22" T5...but so far so good on my 34" T5...IMO brighter than FL/PL dropout rate of T5 is less than 15%

T5 can easily powered by eballast from Nature Aquarium

Hon, those 2 thin tubes are indeed T5 very thin and can install many of them Useful life,according to Arcadia themselves can last 2 years with an average daily usage of 8-10hrs. But they advise to change their actinic more often

haven't try T5 on any Acros yet...butta may try eventually after I fully installed 8 x T5

YES...I am waiting for new brand of T5...MID MARCH'03...COME NOW!!!!!!

[Tanzy]

Realistically speaking, T5 tubes have a max livespan of nine months to one year on normal eballast and six-nine months on an Icecap ballast. After that, it will be a waste of electricity as light output decreases to too low a level.

[dodo]

ok...point taken...

to all who intend to have T5, pls take note also

[Anthony]

ehh dodo. are u using 40w eballast for ur 39w T5?

yesterday i pass by sinter . they say 39w T5 need another special type of eballast.

It cost around $10-$20.

izzit true?

[dodo]

pls enlighten apa sinter?

[Anthony]

ops. paiseh

sinter is 1 of the lighting shop in SimLim Tower

[dodo]

not neccessary...those at Nature Aquarium can light up my T5 pretty well. even original arcadia casing also don't light up so well j/k

i am using Elbiru 36w-40w eballast...so my T5 is effectively lighted up wif a 39w eballast

i believe it should be the same for any eballast. unlike MH which need certain specs....T5 still belong to the family of FL...hence i think it should be ok to assume that normal eballast from nature is as good as those recommended by sinter

anyway, mrjoe, could u tell me the contact number/address of sinter? may seek their view on this special eballast they were talking about....they may mean special ballast which is equal to eballast.