ques abt t5 light

[laona]

hi guys,

recently went shopping ard for lights for my 1.8 x 1 x1 (ft) tank..found a 2ft dymax set 2 tubes (1 blue 1 white) with only 1 switch control for both tubes..the price was ard $45...both shops claim the tubes are t5...is there anyway to verify if they are really t5 lights?

judging frm price, i think its t5 no..which i think is suitable for my tank as its rather shallow..also if any brothers here hav advice on where to buy lights for my tank can pls advice me? went to jireh, marinelife and clementi 328 so far...really lookin for help as workin on a tight budget..thanks...

[Clownfish]

u r rite, it's a NO.... depends on wat u intend to keep... if wat u wanna keep needs high intensity then ur shallow depth wont help at all

[YzF]

IMO, get a HO t5 to save yourself some money in case you need an upgrade. And Dymax t5 may not last too long because of some ballast issue (First generation, not sure abt now).

Or you can try to diy one.

[laona]

thanks bros

i won't be keeping any high light intensity corals..so i believe the t5 no would suffice for me..in the event if i want to keep them, i will be doing it in my future bigger tank haha...

how to differentiate between 1st generation or later generation dymax??and wat are the ballast issues? was thinkin of buying the dymax and changing the ballast if need to...

abt DIYing i was thinking abt doing it...but still new to the hobby, still doing my research on where to get the housing for the lights as my tank has no hoods..so was thinking of getting a ready built housing to stand on my tank..

any bros got any advice where i can look ard for other brands/models for the t5 no lights? currently the model i am looking at, dymax, controls 2 tubes wif a single switch..was thinkin of controlling each switch individually...my take..wld like to listen to other bros advice..thanks!!

[woonming]

Nature Aquarium have custom made t5-ho sets with t5 eballast. If i am not wrong it is only 120 for the set with 3 tubes.

[Maxstar81]

I recommend DIY from DE Lightings.

Really cheap & easy to install.

U might want to expand your variety in the tank

in the near future.

Even after U get bigger tank you will want to

keep the old tank for other purpose wan lah.

Trust me... we just can't get enuff.

Click on my DIY link below to check it out.

There are other links in the DIY forum.

[valerossi]

If u intend to get Dymax! Go to Paris Ris....recently buy 1 for my friend...cost abt $33.

[zeotz]

IME, i find PL lights, for the same tube length, to be more intense than the T5NO. altho t5NO has more diffused light and lights up tank more evenly and also has advantage of running cooler and can fit more tubes in the same space. needless to say these advantages would be more prominent in t5HO.

[dreamzcape]

got pm bro!

[laona]

thanks bro valerossi...but can u tell me which part of pasir ris?? its nt e pasir ris fishfarm right??

anyway i hope some bro can shed light on the different k (is it kelvin) ratings on the t5s?? know there is 20,000k 10,000 and 65,000 hope i am right..wat does the different rating mean??

currently bought a used pl light housing frm a fellow reefer here, intending to use the housing to diy and house 2 t5s, 1 white 1 blue..still will take some time..but will update when ready..hahaha...thanks bros one more time!!

[zeotz]

the kelvin rating, or sometimes refered as temperature rating is in layman terms, the color of the light.

higher rating means bluer light (20,000K). lower rating (6500K) means more yellowish. bluer light give a cooler effect and deep water effect. but some corals/invertebrate need certain rating to grow best or show certain colors. also, when you buy "blue" light, make sure it is actinic to make luminescent colors glow. not all blue are actinic.

I hope you are DYIing t5 HO and not NO as I dont think the T5NO will give you more light than your existing PL.