T5 lights

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uncleglenny
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:16 am

T5 lights

Post by uncleglenny » Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:02 pm

Hey everyone been a while since my last post, my question is it worth it to upgrade my lights to t5s? I currently run 2 20 watt t8s and dose with flourish excel daily and my plants are just not lush and green like i see everyone elses. I'm looking at a kit called Aruba Sun T5 Low Profile Retrofit Lighting Kit, I need something that will retain the hood as i have cats...lol sorry bout the crappy pic.

Image

trikke
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:53 am
Location: Belgium

Re: T5 lights

Post by trikke » Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:53 am

Valisneria is not a big fan of flourish exell / easy carbo

most plants need more co2 if u upgrade your lights u will need more co2 anyway maybe good to check the co2 in your aquarium first

since i have added a co2 kit my plants started to grow and make flowers

if u dont have any red plants or any forground plants that need more then 0.5w / liter i wouldnt upgrade lights

uncleglenny
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:16 am

Re: T5 lights

Post by uncleglenny » Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:17 am

I would like to add some different plants I had some money wort and some red plants (cant remember the name) that didn't do well, even my Java fern doesn't get much growth

trikke
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:53 am
Location: Belgium

Re: T5 lights

Post by trikke » Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:16 pm

most red plants need about 1W light / gallon

put a co2 checker in your aquarium so u can see how much co2 is in the water

best is to just look for plants that dont require to much light and not to much co2 if u are on T8 without co2

if u put more light u could try adding bio co2 i did it to for a while

tropical has a nice site where u can see what plants dont require to much light or co2

http://www.tropica.com

uncleglenny
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:16 am

Re: T5 lights

Post by uncleglenny » Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:38 pm

i just remove a bunch of that Valisneria and plant some Cabomba and am working on a diy co2 system will post some more pics when done

uncleglenny
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:16 am

Re: T5 lights

Post by uncleglenny » Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:30 am

Ok so heres what I've done I removed a bunch of the Valisneria and added Cabomba ,rigged up a diy c02 system hooked into the intake of my power head let me know what you think

Image

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oh and by the way those plants are not that green my camera sucks.

trikke
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:53 am
Location: Belgium

Re: T5 lights

Post by trikke » Sat Aug 25, 2012 7:42 am

and how are plants doing with the addec co2 ?

did u checked your ph and kh yet to see how your co2 levels are doing ?

Diana
Posts: 4675
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Re: T5 lights

Post by Diana » Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:10 am

pH/KH chart is a not reliable way to measure CO2.
Get a drop checker.

There are ways of making T-8 lights as good as average quality T5NO.
The secret is in the reflector.

Home Depot has a T-8 shop light with diamond plate reflector. Go see that. By properly reflecting more of the light that might otherwise be lost out the sides, or by striking a poor quality reflector you can upgrade the lights without having to buy a new fixture. Just need to figure out a way to DIY one of those style of reflectors.

Here is a great link about reflectors:
http://forums.tfhmagazine.com/viewtopic ... 41&t=27562
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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