# T8 Vs T5?



## zach (May 28, 2007)

I have 4x 30" t8 bulbs (2 x flora pinky plant bulbs, 1 x daylight plus, 1 x triplus) over my 31 x 12 x 15 (25G) tank.
i was just wondering if this is adequtie for most species of aquarium plants as it is 4 wpg, would the same bulbs in T5 make that much diferance, as the lower leaves on my plants in dense bunches always seem to decay, is this dueto teh t8 light?


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Jun 7, 2007)

from what i've learnt of recent it would boost the equivilnet figue to about 6wpg. (i was told that T5 is about 50% more light per watt.) and is also supposed to be able to penetrate deeper water.

T5 use a fraction more wattage than the equivilent length T8, (24"T8=18w, 24(22"actually)T5=24w, 48"T8=36w 48"T5=54w) 

the biggest addvantage to T5 is they use up less space, and therefore you can fit more in (not that its needed) or you can reduce the total number of bulbs used. 

they require an electronic ballast however, and are therefore incmpatible with normal T8/T12 ballasts


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Either you guys talk about reef aquariums, or got the Watts/gal mixed up with something else. 4W/gal is plenty, and normally requires a strict fertilizer and CO2 supply. My tanks are all running around 2W/gal, electricity costs money too.

You can get the same T8 light levels with less T5HO bulbs. Reflectors also help directing the light into the tank.

What are you dosing? CO2? What kind of plants? Maybe post a picture to give us an idea.


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## zach (May 28, 2007)

the picture in my signature was my tank, but im ready to restart wen i get my eco complete, but its pretty much teh same plants as in that pic, i have 5 diy c02 excel flourish kent freshwater plant fertilisers


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## zach (May 28, 2007)

are the lower leaves of cabomba jsut proen to rotting?


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

It is quite a jungle in there :smile: Could be that bunching them too much leads to problems down the stem.

Kent Freshwater -- what does that contain? You might need to dose macros (NPK) if they are not in that fertilizer.


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## zach (May 28, 2007)

Got the bottle here - soluble potash (k20) - 3%
copper .00001%
iron .24%(chelated)
manganese .01%
molybdenum .0009%
zinc .00014%

yeah my new friend LondonDragon told me of a uk shop that has dry ferts and all kinds.
yeah il soon be re doing my tank, with part of the tnak eco comp and teh rest sand, its guna be decent.( i hhope ). might doa journal if you guys are lucky


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## Burks (May 21, 2006)

Wasserpest said:


> 4W/gal is plenty, and normally requires a strict fertilizer and CO2 supply.


Depends on how crappy or good the reflectors are, if there are any. So he might only get 2WPG.


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## zach (May 28, 2007)

i have 2 x juwel reflectors , which cover all 4 bulbs ( cos ther crammed together


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