# Moving “high tech” to “low tech” – what should I expect?



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

You'll need to reduce your lighting at least by half if not lower with your T5HOs.


----------



## maxthedog123 (Jul 23, 2007)

I looked online today - I can get the Coralife 48" bulbs in 28w. I think they will fit my fixture without any issue. As I mentioned - I was thinking of taking out the 10000K HO bulb and replacing with the lower watage. that would give me 54+28 or about 1.49wpg. If I take out both it will only be 1wpg - is that TOO low?


----------



## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Raise the existing lights up off the tank if that's an option.


----------



## paulrw (Apr 14, 2009)

maxthedog123 said:


> I looked online today - I can get the Coralife 48" bulbs in 28w. I think they will fit my fixture without any issue. As I mentioned - I was thinking of taking out the 10000K HO bulb and replacing with the lower watage. that would give me 54+28 or about 1.49wpg. If I take out both it will only be 1wpg - is that TOO low?


putting a lower watt rated bulb into a a ho fixture will not lower the wattage you will effectively be over driving an inferior bulb which could lead to problems of at best a dramatically shorter life of the bulb. it's the ballast that determines the watts going to the bulb not the bulb it self. IMO just unplug one of the bulbs in the fixture and just run one bulb


----------



## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Just take one bulb out, that is a good start...


----------



## maxthedog123 (Jul 23, 2007)

I got a couple of the 28w bulbs, so I could turn one off or replace one or both.

The light question aside, what can I expect out of my plants when I turn the gas off? Will it be a bad transition for a couple of weeks or will the plants adapt?


----------



## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I converted my 65gl down to low tech. One thing I can tell you is it didn't stop producing excess algae until I stopped dosing completely. I'm running two 39 watt T5HO bulbs, when I jumped down to one bulb to slow algae, the plants survived but barely grew at all. So I would say use one of your 54 watt bulbs and leave it at that, I believe it will work with a T5HO, just be prepared to have patience watching such slow growth. For example, I used to have to pull a few gallon bags of plants out each week or two, now I take a few clippings every few months. :tongue:

Your plants should react slowly, remember I have only made this transition once so I'm guessing. Everything was fairly stable in my tank for the first month, aside from a halt in growth. Certain plant species started to fade away. or become overwhelmed with algae. I think it all comes down to how fast they can grow in the new conditions, some are just too slow and become a fixture for algae. Most of my species were already low maintenance ones when I began, same as you. I think your Alternanthera is surely going to parish, probably pretty quickly but the others should adjust with few problems. You will get a halt in growth, algae will encrust on leaves, then newly acclimated growth will eventually spring forth as if someone added magic potion, this is the time to do the first tight pruning. 

Converting to low tech has thrown a whole new learning curve into the game for me, aside from fighting off my urge to dose, one thing I've noticed is that water changes really seem to help. That goes against a lot of what I've read on low tech and the rubisco enzyme, but in my experience it seems to help for whatever reason. Every tank is different, though. Just be aware of what happens the next few days after dosing ferts, then decide if it's helping or hurting.


----------



## maxthedog123 (Jul 23, 2007)

I am totally fine with very very slow plant growth. That is one of the main reasons I am switching. I want more natural growth without having to take a bucket of plant matter out every 3-4 weeks.

The scarlet temple is what I am worried about not growing or just dying off with the reduced light and no CO2. Will the other plants make a quick adjustment or will I have issues?

As I mentioned before, I am going to cut the light down from 2wpg to about 1wpg. Then I am going to follow Tom Barr's recommended dosing for a low tech tank.

Regarding paulrw's comment about lights - if I put a 28w bulb in my fixture, will it really overdrive it or will the wattage be based on the bulb itself?


----------



## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I used to keep a lot of Alternanthera and I'm almost positive you are going to lose it. That said, I have only grown it in high tech, but it was a finicky SOB even then. The others should be fine but their health may waver for the first month or two.

And yes, the power is dictated by the ballast, you'll overdrive the bulb and it'll burn out faster.


----------



## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

dont under estimate the power of t5 bulbs. 2 wpg with t5(especially HO) is a lot more light than your gonna want or need for a low-tech/light set up. trust me ive learned the hard way.


----------



## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

If you change nothing but co2, you will have an algae mess. Co2 will be limiting, nothing else will. If you change co2 and light(much less light) you will have more success.


----------



## fish h20 (May 5, 2009)

Dude, don't put a 28W bulb in a 54W fixture. That isn't going to do anything to help. It may even be dangerous. You have a 54X2 fixture, take one bulb out if it will work that way. 1WPG T5 HO is more like 1.5 - 2 WPG. That will be plenty of light for low tech.


----------



## maxthedog123 (Jul 23, 2007)

For an easy fix, I took the 54x 10000K bulb out last night. (As an observation, 1x54w 6700K is still pretty nice light.)

I'm not sure I understand the light issue. The ballast will have a constant voltage regardless of the bulb used. If you think of a typical lamp, you have constant voltage with different light output based on the bulb up to a max wattage. For this to be a potential issue, the Current ballast would have to operate on a different voltage than the Coralife ballasts. The lamp next to your bed at home with a 60w bulb doesn't "overdrive" a 40w bulb if you put one in.

Watts = Volts x Amps. The voltage should be constant - a lower watt bulb should simply draw less amps (current). Or do flourescent ballasts work on a different principle?


----------



## maxthedog123 (Jul 23, 2007)

OK - 5 minutes on google has informed me that fluorescent bulbs are "negative differential resistance devices" and require a ballast to regulate current flow.

So is a NO T-5 bulb in an HO T-5 fixture unsafe or just resulting in a shorter lifespan?


----------



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

There are different ballasts in this world, which will react differently to different conditions. There are instant start, rapid start, and programmed start ballasts. So something that might work for one might blow up for someone else.

With that out of the way: the ballasts that I have been dealing with don't know the difference between NO and HO bulbs. In other words they drive both types to exactly the same wattage.

Some of the NO-run-as-HO bulbs had short life spans (a few months). Others lasted a long time (year+). I also had the pleasure to meet HO bulbs that lasted only a few months.

Based on my experience, I would think that swapping your HO bulbs to NO bulbs will NOT lead to reduced wattage and light output. As you learned, incandescent bulbs and fluorescent bulbs work very differently.


----------

