# T5ho grow lights



## MCFC (Feb 12, 2017)

It seems some of the best tanks on here use T5HOs. I think if you have a deep tank or want to go for a dutch style tank, then T5HO is a good route. If you have a smaller tank, there seem to be a lot of relatively cheap LED lights with some pretty cool features. Just my thoughts so far on the big debate haha


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## napaeozapus (Feb 22, 2014)

I used to use ODNO Osram Sylvania Grolux (a mix of wide and narrow spectrum T8 tubes) over my 90 gallon tank. The light was a bit pinkish, but the plants didn’t seem to mind and grew quite well.


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## mgeorges (Feb 1, 2017)

japbart said:


> I’m thinking of using these for my next tank. Anyone out here using these? Some input would be great.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I run a 4 bulb 24" T5HO fixture on my 29 gallon tank. I use 2x TrueLumen Flora - these are a redder bulb, plants love them, and 2x Fluval bulbs that are in the 6500K range. I alternate them in my fixture. Plants grow very well, great color, better results than the LED's I was using. This fixture drives the tank very hard - I have approx. 120 PAR @ substrate, I'm injecting roughly 45 ppm CO2, dose pretty heavy on the ferts to keep up.


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## OreoP (Aug 12, 2016)

Several journals on TPT using T5Ho's. 

What is your tank size? What PAR are you aiming for?


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## japbart (Feb 25, 2014)

OreoP said:


> Several journals on TPT using T5Ho's.
> 
> 
> 
> What is your tank size? What PAR are you aiming for?




I’m planning on doing a 4’ x 2’ x 20” tank. I was looking at the 8 bulb fixture on amazon and it’s less than $200. Was wondering if the 8 bulb can provide a good spread of light on a 2’ wide tank or should I do the 12 bulb fixture? For PAR I wanna do a lot of red Plants and a carpet of dwarf hairgrass mini or baby tears. So I need pretty good par at substrate. 


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Even with 8 bulbs, that will be a hard tank to manage.

The higher the fixture the bigger the spread, with some reduction in PAR. If the fixture has individual reflectors for each bulb, the you will get more PAR then with a single reflector. The quality of ballast is another component to check out.


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## Wobblebonk (Feb 13, 2018)

An 8 bulb fixture has an approximately 4'x2' footprint so I don't know how much more spread you really want unless you're trying to light the room...


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

I think you will have plenty of light with a 6 bulb fixture raised a few inches above the tank should give you even spread.


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## japbart (Feb 25, 2014)

Wobblebonk said:


> An 8 bulb fixture has an approximately 4'x2' footprint so I don't know how much more spread you really want unless you're trying to light the room...




I want to raise it by about 8-10” from the tank. Planning to have about 2” of substrate at the lowest point. 


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

japbart said:


> I’m planning on doing a 4’ x 2’ x 20” tank. I was looking at the 8 bulb fixture on amazon and it’s less than $200. Was wondering if the 8 bulb can provide a good spread of light on a 2’ wide tank or should I do the 12 bulb fixture? For PAR I wanna do a lot of red Plants and a carpet of dwarf hairgrass mini or baby tears. So I need pretty good par at substrate.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


What stands out to me is the tank is only 20" tall. If the unit has individual reflectors, 8 bulbs will be VERY high PAR at that depth (likely unmanageable), unless it's going to be raised quite a bit. 

In reality 6 bulbs will be plenty and still get you to very high lighting at 20", and 4 bulbs would probably grow about anything. 

Once you get things set up, you can also vary PAR quite a bit just with your choice of bulbs. Throw a few high color (red/blue/purple) bulbs in there and it will bring the PAR down. 

You also might want to consider buying/renting a PAR meter once you get it set up. Depending on what you decide to do you could really be pushing it. Better to know what you are dealing with earlier and adjust than finding out the hard way.


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## OreoP (Aug 12, 2016)

japbart said:


> I’m planning on doing a 4’ x 2’ x 20” tank. I was looking at the 8 bulb fixture on amazon and it’s less than $200. Was wondering if the 8 bulb can provide a good spread of light on a 2’ wide tank or should I do the 12 bulb fixture? For PAR I wanna do a lot of red Plants and a carpet of dwarf hairgrass mini or baby tears. So I need pretty good par at substrate.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I think an 8 bulb unit will be an overkill. With a tank dept of 20" and assuming a substrate dept of 2-3", I think you will be fine with a 4 bulb unit. Also depends on how high you are going to position the light. You can always "reduce" PAR by choice of bulbs or height.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

8 bulbs would be way too much light unless you plan on hanging it 3 feet above the tank.

A 6 bulb unit is about 18" wide. Centered over a 24" tank leaves about 3" on each side - plenty of spread.

For a PAR reference, I had a 6 bulb raised 10" above a 4'x2'x2' 120 gal (24" tall) PAR at the substrate was in the 120's, and that was with a lot of heavy red and blue bulbs in the mix, which have considerably less PAR than 6500K types.

With a 20" tall tank you'd need to raise a 6 bulb unit it at least a foot and use a lot of color bulbs to even be in the manageable light range.

Personally I'd go with 4 bulbs raised the 10" you mentioned. The angled reflectors will give plenty of spread at that height.


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## japbart (Feb 25, 2014)

burr740 said:


> 8 bulbs would be way too much light unless you plan on hanging it 3 feet above the tank.
> 
> A 6 bulb unit is about 18" wide. Centered over a 24" tank leaves about 3" on each side - plenty of spread.
> 
> ...




May I ask what kind of bulbs you were using?

Also what kind of reflector is the best among these?
























Am I able to light a 5’ long tank with these? Or will light be weak at the side and corners?
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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

TruLumen Flora
Zoo med Flora Sun
3000K
Powerveg 633
ATI purple
Zoo med 420 Actinic

Some combination of the above with usually one 6500K in the mix


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

japbart said:


> Am I able to light a 5’ long tank with these? Or will light be weak at the side and corners?
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yes, it will be weak at the sides and corners. I know from experience running a 5 ft. tank. 

The drop off with 4' bulbs is quite a bit. Doable if you stick with low light plants in those areas.

For a 5' tank, either 5' bulbs or staggered 4' bulbs will work. It gets a little complicated though, as you also need to keep in mind that there is much less of a selection of 5' bulbs.

Here's mine. Combo of 5' and 4' bulbs. But this is mounted up inside a canopy, so might not be too helpful.


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

japbart said:


> May I ask what kind of bulbs you were using?
> 
> Also what kind of reflector is the best among these?
> 
> ...


A member in our aquatic plant club has a 6 bulb 4’ fixture common reflector as in the #1 over a 5’ tank and he’s growing pantanal on the very edge of the tank. We measured about 60-70 par with that fixture which has one common reflector. Individual reflectors as in #2 and #3 should push a bit more par than his fixture.


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## japbart (Feb 25, 2014)

vvDO said:


> A member in our aquatic plant club has a 6 bulb 4’ fixture common reflector as in the #1 over a 5’ tank and he’s growing pantanal on the very edge of the tank. We measured about 60-70 par with that fixture which has one common reflector. Individual reflectors as in #2 and #3 should push a bit more par than his fixture.




So I should go with the reflector same as the other two then. Is that 60-70 par on the sides?


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

vvDO said:


> A member in our aquatic plant club has a 6 bulb 4’ fixture common reflector as in the #1 over a 5’ tank and he’s growing pantanal on the very edge of the tank. We measured about 60-70 par with that fixture which has one common reflector. Individual reflectors as in #2 and #3 should push a bit more par than his fixture.


The thing is, there are so many variables (bulb color/brand/height above tank/reflectors) that could affect PAR on the edges.

In general all bulbs start losing PAR as they get to the end of the bulb. So with any fixture, you might have 100 PAR right below the center, but only 70 at the ends. The peak is always at center due to overlap. Then you couple that with NO coverage over a portion, and you can see how things can really drop off. 

For a frame of reference, here are some PAR readings from my tank (120G 60"x18"x26"). In the rear are two 5' bulbs, and the center and front each have two 4' bulbs staggered for better coverage. Bulbs about 12" above water line.

The first reading is with 4 bulbs running (back/front/no center). The second reading is with all six bulbs running. The reading I added below each set of numbers was the result of changing just one bulb (Plantmax 3000 vs Powerveg 660). So you can see the jump up from 4 bulbs to 6 bulbs, and how changing out just one bulb can change the PAR values. Before I added the five footer and staggered the bulbs, my drop off on the ends was much more drastic.


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

The best reflector possible is a parabolic with anolod miro-silver 98%. You are only going to find that on the very top of the line units.

First you need to decide if you want more tubes for better color selection or less tubes with more penetration. If you want the most in color choices which means most tubes possible then choose a t5 unit with specular reflectors. If you want less tubes go parabolic.

Bulb selection is key. Reds are less PAR than 6500K whites, etc.

An 8 bulb hydrofarm being too much PAR at 20" is nonsense if you choose your bulbs carefully. Those use specular reflectors so penetration is much weaker but the horizontal dispersion is fantastic so better bulb mixing.


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## japbart (Feb 25, 2014)

gus6464 said:


> The best reflector possible is a parabolic with anolod miro-silver 98%. You are only going to find that on the very top of the line units.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I would wanna do an 8 bulb for more choices on bulb combination. I really want to get that natural color but I also want the fishes and Plants color to pop. If I do an 8 bulb fixture should I do the fixture with the individual reflector or the single reflector? I would also be sloping my substrate so it’s starts at 2-3” in the front and goes up from there. Probably about 6-8” at the back. 


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## Pyae Sone Maung (Jun 25, 2018)

Hi all bros,

I just arrived here and very late to read this before i order light.

I have 120cm x 45cm x 45cm tank with following lighting already ordered.









Hydrofarm FLP46 Agrobrite Flp46 Fixture with Lamps, 4' 
Includes 6, 6400K T5 Tubes
Up to 30,000 Lumens 

Could you please help me the idea of light system for my tank? After reading this thread, I am confusing for my lighting system.
- My tank will be dutch style with 3" substrate. 
- And I will use the 6400K T5 Tubes (hard to find the color tubes). I will change Sylvinia Grolux and Aquastar bulbs later.
- I don't have any PAR meter, expensive, even can't find in my location.

If 6 bulbs are way too high for me, i will use 4 bulb instead, will takeout 2 bulbs on both edges. So how many inches should I rise from water surface?

If 6 bulbs full on case, with 6 units of 6400K Tubes, how many inches should I rise from water surface?

Thanks in advance bros.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

@Pyae Sone Maung

About 10"-12" above the surface.

If at all possible you should change your order to a 4 bulb unit. Not because the 6 bulb is too much light, but because the 6 bulb unit is at least as wide as the tank, probably a fuzz wider. Due to the angle of the reflectors, most of light from the two outside bulbs will be reflected outside of the tank.

Also Im not sure you can turn off just the two outside bulbs. I had a different model Agrobrite, the 2 middle bulbs were on one switch and the 4 outside bulbs were on the other. 

And yes definitely replace at least half the 6400Ks with Syvania grolux or something similar. All 6400Ks will have very poor color rendition


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## Pyae Sone Maung (Jun 25, 2018)

@burr740

Really thanks for your comment and explanation.

Unfortunately, not possible to change the order. So I am planning to rise 12" above. 

If I can't turn off the only outside bulbs, I will manually remove out that 2 bulbs from fixture.

And I will replace 2 mid bulbs with 2 Grolux bulbs. Like 6 bulbs fixture will be as follow.

0 - 6400K - Grolux - Grolux - 6400K - 0

Planning lighting on as follow 
6 hr - 1st month, 
8 hr - 2nd month, 
and rise to 10hr depend on condition after 2nd month.

Are these good for me?

Thanks.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

@Pyae Sone Maung (quote function broke)

Doing the 6 hrs/8 hrs sounds like a good plan

I dont believe the fixture will work unless all the bulbs are installed...but it might. You may just have to run 6 and deal with the over spill. You could always let a bulb or two hang over the back instead of centering the fixture over the tank.

As for the combination you'll have to play with different positions and see what looks best, both to your eyes and to a camera. Sometimes having a red bulb in front looks better, but not necessarily. So just try it different ways and see


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## Williak (Jun 26, 2012)

Just to add in my bid here

I have a 48x24x16 tall tank 

I was running 4 bulbs in a 4 bulb T5 hydroponic light around 20” above tank, with CO2 via Rex Griggs reactor and was hitting 1.6 ph drop. 

For me even at 4 bulbs with the 16” depth (- 2-3” of substrate below) was causing some plants to become covered in algae despite CO2 and fert levels being good. It was manageable but took a lot of cleaning and detailing. 

I’m sure I could have wrestled with it to make it work, but going down to even 3 bulbs on this aquarium still gives great light spread and coverage. And algae disappeared for me also. 

See my journal if you’d like exact pics 


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

So the $150 hydroponic fixtures are ok for our purposes? They aren't frying ballasts? Just lost one of the ballasts on my 8 year old Catalina, but seems like aquarium T5HO lights have doubled in price in that time


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## [email protected] (Jan 8, 2010)

Thats a lot of light .


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## Pyae Sone Maung (Jun 25, 2018)

Hi all,

I just got AgroBrite T5 with 4 bulbs 6400K.

I also collect following bulbs which can be able to get in my region.

2 x Ultra Growth Wave - http://www.wave-point.com/images/LampMain2_enlarge.jpg
2 x Sylvania Grolux T5 (Pink) - https://www.sylvania-lighting.com/product/en-int/products/0002746/
1 x Sylvania Aquastar T5 (10,000K) - https://www.sylvania-lighting.com/product/en-int/products/0002747/
4 x AgroBrite T5 6400K

Could you please give me some idea for color spectrum with my bulbs? 




burr740 said:


> Trying out a new WavePoint Ultra Growth.
> It is extremely blue, and extremely red. Here it's in the middle, 6500K beside it, Trulumen Floras on the outside.


I found out one post in different thread as above and can I reference with this?

I wanna try 3 options for my Dutch style 240L tank as follow. I am not really sure for this, so kindly give me some idea.

option 1
Back-to-Front
>> AgroBrite 6400K + Sylvania Grolux + Ultra Growth Wave + Sylvania Aquastar 10,000K


option 2
Back-to-Front
>> Sylvania Grolux + Ultra Growth Wave + Sylvania Aquastar 10,000K + Sylvania Grolux 


option 3
Back-to-Front
>> AgroBrite 6400K + Ultra Growth Wave + Ultra Growth Wave + Sylvania Aquastar 10,000K 

Thanks in advance.
Pyae


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